Early Life and California
Bill Engvall was born in Texas and after getting his Bachelor’s degree, initially chose the professional path of teaching. However, he dropped out of university later on and had to work several different odd jobs, which included being a tour guide as well as a disk jockey in a nightclub in Dallas. During his job as a DJ, he recognized his talents as a comedian and entered the standup comedy world through armature open mic events around the city.
In 1990, Bill Engvall decided to pursue career as a comedian and for that moved to California. He started off by being the host of the cable show named “A Pair of Jokers”. His co host was Rosie O’Donnell. This was followed by his appearance on The Golden Palace, where he played the role of Mathew, the son of Blanche who was a stockbroker by profession, but wanted to be a comic. Apart from that, Engvall’s initial appearances also include the hosting of shows like A&E Networks, An Evening at The Improv. He also performed several standup routines at Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show, which helped in bringing him mainstream exposure.
Career Breakthrough and Blue Collar
Bill Engvall’s career breakthrough achievement was when American Comedy Awards named him the “Best Male Standup” in 1992. This was followed by his casting in Delta and ABC series, as Delta Burke. The series ran for only a year and after that Engvall was once again seen making comedy club rounds and occasional television appearances. This stopped when in 1996 he was featured along with Jeff Foxworthy, his friend and fellow comedian in The Jeff Foxworthy Show by NBC. Eventually he was signed to Warner Bros. Records in the year 1996. With the label he released the first in his series of famous comedy albums. It was titled “Here’s You Sign”. Soon it was platinum certified and made it to the number five spot on the Billboard Country chart. It included a video in collaboration with Travis Tritt. This successful release was followed by eight more. The latest one was “Aged and Confused” released in 2009.
Bill Engvall, along with his fellow comedian Foxworthy, embarked on the first of the six famous Blue Collar Comedy Tours in 2000. They were joined by Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White. The tour was one of the reasons for the latter two’s successful comedy career. The gang continued to tour for six years, each one highly successful, leading to release of three films and launching of a satellite radio program. It led to the TV show by The WB Network by the name of Blue Collar TV as well.
Lingo and Dancing with the Stars
In 2011, Engvall embarked on a new road by becoming the host of Lingo. Later in an interview he mentioned that he instantly took up the opportunity to host a show because he envied the fun his friend Foxworthy was having by hosting the show, ‘Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?’. This was the re-launch of the show and it had been successful before, when it was aired in 2007. In 2013, Engvall got chosen as a contestant for ‘Dancing with the Stars’ 17th season.