Comedy review: Engvall's 'just a guy humor' just works

I am trying to decide why I like Bill Engvall so much. I mean, I am not a "country" kind of guy. I have never bought anything recorded by Elvis (although I must admit that I have looked at the covers of Faith Hill albums with interest). I've never watched "Dukes of Hazzard" or "Smoky and the Bandit," and the only Stampede Rodeo I've ever attended was in 1978 when I was paid $3.65 and hour to keep the cowboy's girlfriends out of the paddock. Until tonight, I'd never heard of "Country Fried Videos," and I'm pretty sure I won't buy the DVD of Engvall's film "Delta Farce." So what is there about this Texas native that makes me think about buying one of his CDs?

The sold-out crowd at the Civic Center's 6 p.m. show on Saturday gave me the answers. They laughed at Engvall for the same reasons I did: Engvall is a nice man, an average Joe, a relaxed fella who doesn't force himself on you. In his own words, he's "just a guy."

The audience was one I hadn't seen or been a part of at the UCCC before: not the Greeley Phil crowd, not the Greeley Chorale crowd, not the Broadway musical crowd. But we WERE a crowd of nearly 1,500 folks who came to hear somebody very much like us tell stories about himself in situations we have all experienced.

When Engvall's stories involved his "cool" experiences, such as riding in an F-16 -- experiences we definitely haven't had -- he brings us into his world in such ways that we were all thinking, "That's exactly how I would react."

If I had no idea who Bill Engvall was, and you told me that two-thirds of his 90-minute routine would be about "poopin' fartin' and boobs," I would have said that such juvenile humor would equal 3 minutes of laughter, and 57 of boredom. But Engvall's self-effacing delivery (he is the "dork" who is butt of nearly all of his jokes), and his ability laugh at himself, made for a delightful evening of warm, generous humor that the 80-year-old grandma in front of me was cackling as hard at as the 18-year old kid sitting next to me.

Does Engvall play on stereotypes? Of course. That's the stuff of nearly all humor. But never is he cruel, never is he mean. He always seems to be "just a guy" who's not trying to impress us, or going for shock value. He's simply making us see the world as a pretty funny place, and he certainly made it a tad bit easier for the happy crowd to venture out of the Monfort Concert Hall into the cold night.

A great act, new people at the UCCC, jokes that I could even tell my Mom. Well done, Civic Center staff. Well done, Mr. Engvall, and thank you. Oh, and Bill, what's the name of your new CD again?

Noel Johnston is now retired from 37 years of teaching public school theater and English.