Artists

Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generation

Bio

Back in 2000, when Grammy Award-winning comic Jeff Foxworthy, fresh from his unprecedented "you-might-be-a-redneck" success, took his pals Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White out on the road for the inaugural Blue Collar Comedy Tour, no one – least of all the performers themselves – could have guessed that they were living chapter one of what would become one of the most successful franchises in entertainment history.

Engvall's deadpan "Here's-Your-Sign" salutes to stupidity, Larry the Cable Guy's trademark
“Git-R-Done” and Ron White's hard-drinking, two-fisted soliloquies provided the perfect foil for Foxworthy's well-established musings on the redneck lifestyle, and that initial tour soon led to a live album in 2001 and a DVD, "Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie," in 2003.

With thousands of Blue Collar Comedy fans filling concert venues and scooping up albums and DVDs, the comedians recorded a second live DVD, "Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again," and unveiled "Blue Collar TV," a hit series on the WB Network. In 2006, a third movie, "Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One for the Road," was released, with the DVD appearing in June 2006. The movies and CDs have received many accolades including a Grammy nomination for Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One For The Road. The movies, some of the highest rated movies in Comedy Central history, have sold a combined total of more than 8 million DVDs.

With all those laughs, all those sold out concerts and those kinds of CD/DVD sales, it was bound to happen … and here it comes! On February 26th, Warner Bros./Jack Records will release "Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generation." Originally filmed for a 2007 TBS comedy special and hosted by Blue Collar Comedy veteran and standup comedy superstar Bill Engvall, the CD/DVD release spotlights four new members of the Blue Collar Comedy family – John Caparulo, Reno Collier, Jamie Kaler and Juston McKinney – captured live in a knock-'em-dead performance from Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The next phase of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour has arrived, as the most successful comedy franchise in history spawns … Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generation.

John Caparulo
On his way to "Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generation," Ohio native John Caparulo filled potholes, mowed grass, worked at several "customer service" jobs and graduated from Kent State University, among many other things. None of those subjects goes untouched in this fast-rising comic's show-stopping standup monologues.

"I don't think I'm smart enough to make this stuff up," Caparulo says. "The kind of comedy I like takes real life and makes it funny. That's the cool thing about comedy; it's stuff that everybody can relate to. I could tell this stuff to one person or a thousand, it doesn't matter."

Caparulo started his career in the clubs of Cleveland and Pittsburgh. After college, he headed west, taking the doorman job at LA's famed Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard. With top comedians like Eddie Griffin, Joe Rogan, and Andrew Dice Clay in regular rotation, the young performer received a one-of-a-kind second education.

"The Comedy Store is not run like any other comedy club in the world," he says. "It's an artist colony and a comedy bootcamp. Everybody working there is an aspiring comedian."

When he finally hit the Comedy Store stage, Caparulo proved a natural, and the Hollywood industry began to catch the buzz almost immediately. Making his national television debut on "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn," Caparulo was soon slaying audiences on shows like "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and Comedy Central's "Premium Blend."

His first big break actually came in 2003 at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, where he impressed industry observers enough to offer him a sitcom development deal. Caparulo brings a true blue collar work ethic to the stage, and his slam-dunk comedy and down-to-earth approach have already earned him his own half-hour special on Comedy Central and a spot in the upcoming film, "Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Tour," scheduled for release in February, 2008. But even with all of his success, being a part of "Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generation" is the right gig at the right time for this up-and-coming comic powerhouse.

"It's so perfect for me it's unbelievable, and it really is awesome," Caparulo says. "Throughout my career people have asked me, 'How come you don't work with those Blue Collar guys?' So it's really cool for me to be in that group. The Blue Collar crowds really love standup comedy, and before the show even happens, there's an excitement that's generated by the brand name."

Reno Collier
Having spent the better part of 2007 crisscrossing the country as opening act for Larry the Cable Guy, West Virginia native Reno Collier is already very familiar with the Blue Collar Comedy audience, and vice versa. Drawing on his former double life as a daytime Physical Education teacher/nighttime bartender, Collier's absurdist view of life provided the perfect foil for Cable Guy's patented redneck one-liners.

"I was tending bar at this comedy club, and I got booked for two weeks on the road," Collier says of his comedic beginnings. "I quit my job, ditched my apartment, and went on tour. I would be in Lubbock, Texas one week and in Myrtle Beach the next, and I was too dumb to know it was hard. People would say, 'I can't believe you can live like that,' but I was having the time of my life."

Collier has also drawn inspiration from his grandparents, who he describes as "hilarious."

"My grandma was the first person who really made me laugh," he says. "She used to work in an old folks home and take me with her, and that is some of the funniest stuff I've ever seen in my life. The first time I went in there I was 8 years old and I set them all free. This lady said, 'I'll give you a dollar if you'll un-strap me,' and I let like five of them go. Hey grandma, I just made five dollars!"

After spending his high school years at a military boarding school in Virginia, Collier was ready to cut loose when he finally got to college. Invited onstage to join his roommate's band, the fledgling performer knocked 'em dead with an on-the-spot song about the unfortunate results of a bad Taco Bell meal, and (no pun intended) his career was off and running.

"Being in a band, these guys got lots of chicks, so I came up with this horrendous song and people were like, 'Get the taco bell guy up there!' That prepared me for saloon style comedy. When you first start out you're doing one-nighters in biker bars and stuff like that."

It wasn't long before Collier had graduated from the bar circuit and was enjoying cushier gigs, including arena tours with Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Ron White, before joining Larry the Cable Guy as his regular opening act. His TV credits include NBC’s "Late Friday," "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher," "The Martin Short Show," VH-1’s "The List," and Comedy Central’s "Premium Blend." Country music audiences are familiar with Collier from his regular appearances on the syndicated "Bob & Tom Radio Show" and his occasional hosting duties for CMT. He can also be heard during his weekly call-ins to the Blue Collar Comedy Channel on Sirius Satellite Radio. But even with such an impressive resume, for Collier, becoming an official member of the Blue Collar Comedy family is something else again.

"I have no expectations of huge success or anything like that, but it is such an honor to be a part of this whole thing," he says. "We've all been doing this for 10-12 years, but people may buy the DVD just because it has the words 'Blue Collar' on it. Those guys have set that brand up to the point where people will give it a shot, and that is so cool."

Jamie Kaler
With a starring role in the hit TBS sitcom "My Boys" and regular appearances on TV shows like "Will and Grace," "Monk," and "Friends," Jamie Kaler is already a familiar face to many Blue Collar Comedy fans. But those fans will get to see a whole other side of this actor/comedian when he brings his carved-from-real-life standup style to "Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generation."

"I wish I was a better writer, but I am literally just a storyteller about things that happen to me," Kaler says. "I'll pull over to the side of the road or just sit down in a mall and write out the story that just happened. You get better at it."

A veteran of countless comedy clubs and a member of LA's acclaimed sketch comedy troupe, ACME Comedy Theater, Kaler fine-tuned his standup schtick on shows like Craig Ferguson's "Late Late Show" and opened shows for all four of the original Blue Collar guys before joining forces with "Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generation."

"The new 'Blue Collar' guys might be more blue collar than the original guys," Kaler laughs. "Those guys were rednecks! Blue Collar is like Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago. I'm from Maine, and John Caparulo is from Ohio!"

A self-proclaimed "Navy brat," Kaler comes by his working class credentials honestly. The last of six children, his dad had retired into the automobile business by the time he came along, so Kaler grew up washing cars and watching "Monty Python" and "Saturday Night Live" before heading off to Boston University on an N.R.O.T.C. scholarship. After earning "a degree in drinking with a minor in political science," he spent five years traveling the world – from Hong Kong to Perth to Karachi to Bangkok to the Persian Gulf – on two separate Navy destroyers before settling into life as a professional bartender and "beach bum."

"Any job where you can control the alcohol while being surrounded by women in a beach community is a good job," Kaler says.

Falling into comedy and acting was a natural move for Kaler, who points out that they're basically the same job with different stages. When he's not busy with any number of small-screen roles, he's been working comedy clubs coast to coast, preparing for the kind of big standup break that only "Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generation" can provide.

"I'm so honored to be a part of the whole Blue Collar Comedy thing," Kaler says. "I'll be doing some shows with Bill Engvall in January, and he's been a great guy and a mentor. They all have, so to be chosen to be a part of 'Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generation' is pretty amazing."

Juston McKinney
From the time he was a little kid growing up in southern Maine, Blue Collar Comedy's Juston McKinney knew exactly what he was going to be when he grew up.

"I was destined to be a cop," McKinney says in that unmistakable New England accent. "I grew up around cops, and there were always cops at my house – arresting my dad."

Funny thing is, from McKinney's early career ambitions to the not-so-savory description of his dad, it's all true, and that's just one of the reasons that – from the stages of nation's top comedy clubs, to primetime guest spots on hit shows like "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" to "King of Queens," to his own upcoming March 14 special on Comedy Central – Juston McKinney's career was already on a fast track when he signed on with Blue Collar Comedy.

McKinney was 19 when he went to work as a rural patrol deputy, working a beat that covered some 500 square miles. He was soon splitting his time between the squad car and the classroom, teaching for the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program. After repeatedly imploring kids to take control of their own lives and follow their dreams, the advice finally sunk in, and McKinney began making weekend trips to Boston's comedy clubs. By the late '90s, his standup career had enough momentum that he made the move to New York, becoming a regular performer at top venues like the Comic Strip, Stand-Up New York, Dangerfield's and Caroline's.

By 1998, McKinney had found himself an LA agent and signed a development deal with Warner Brothers to write and star in his own sitcom. When that show didn't make it to the screen, McKinney rebounded with another development deal, this time at CBS. The subsequent rise of reality TV signaled the end of McKinney's second big chance, and the comedian/actor/writer dug in, moving to Los Angeles full time in 2001 and settling into a regular spot at the Improv. Appearances on "Leno" and "King of Queens" followed, and McKinney was soon a Comedy Central regular, appearing on shows such as "Comic Remix, "Premium Blend," "Reel Comedy" and "Shorties Watchin' Shorties."

These days, McKinney splits his time between his home in New Hampshire, trips to LA and New York, and regular appearances at clubs and colleges across the country. And as part of "Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generation," he's ready to make a little history and make a lot of people laugh.

"I've done Leno, I've taped my half hour Comedy Central special, and I've done a bunch of other shows, but being a part of Blue Collar Comedy means a lot to me," he says. "It's been a blast, and it's the biggest break I've had. In this business, it's all about exposure and about people knowing you … you've got to get out there and build that name recognition."