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Growing up in Pawnee City, Neb., Dan Whitney lived in awe of Memorial Stadium.
It's where his beloved Nebraska Cornhuskers play, where his favorite Nebraskan, Tom Osborne, roamed the sidelines.
But Whitney never went to a game as a kid. His working-class family couldn't afford it.
Well, things have changed.
Using his more famous moniker — Larry the Cable Guy — Whitney will perform in front of 50,000 fans in the stadium he grew up idolizing. As if that's not enough, he's doing it on the Fourth of July while taping a special that will air on Comedy Central in January.
If it all sounds like a bit too much, that's because it is. Whitney is nervous about the show, and he took time to explain why.
Q. So you're a Nebraska boy who gets the keys to the most hallowed house in the state. How's that feel?
A. I'm wetting my pants, man. I'm pacing. I got stomach problems. My jaw's been snapping. I did the Grant Wistrom golf tournament, and I asked a dentist there about it. He goes, “You under a lot of stress?” I told him I was nervous about the show. He said, “That's it. You're nervous and grinding your teeth at night.” This show's killing me.
Q. What exactly is so nerve-racking — the crowd, the Fourth, the stadium?
A. Just for the fact that it's Memorial Stadium and all the stuff that's happened there. The show, it's like riding a bike. I've done this forever. I have experience. I did 84,000 at the University of Florida, 64,000 at Rodeo Houston. This will be the biggest taped comedy event in history of stand-up comedy. But it's the stadium that's doing it. That's a special place to me and a lot of people in this state. If I wasn't nervous, there would be something wrong with me.
Q. Have you thought about what it will be like to have 50,000 people screaming for you?
A. It'll be insane. It'll be a lot of fun. We're all alike. We share a common bond because we're huge Nebraska Cornhusker fans. Well, there will probably be some Iowa State Cyclones fans and Kansas State Wildcats fans who make the drive, too.
Q. Oh, man. I hope not.
A. Yeah, but it's hard to keep the riffraff out.
Q. Tell me you're doing the Tunnel Walk.
A. I wanted to do it. I wanted to be in a Herbie Husker suit and pop out of it on stage. Then they told me it was going to be on Comedy Central and the national audience might not get it. So I'm not doing that, but I've got a pretty good intro. It'll be a surprise.
Q. So this isn't a show specific to the Fourth of July and Nebraska football?
A. Yes and no. I'm going to go up and do my regular act, walk off and that's the end of the taped show. Then I'll come back out and do some more local stuff, “Happy Fourth” stuff.
Q. How'd they let a guy like you get control of a place like Memorial Stadium?
A. When the economy started doing poorly, I told my manager it would be cool to do a big show in Nebraska. A thank-you show that was real affordable. I wouldn't make a dime, and any money I did make would go to my Git-R-Done Foundation. My manager said he'd do me one better. He'd get Memorial Stadium. I thought, “Good luck with that.” A month later, he calls me and says he thinks he's got the stadium. I'm freaking out. Then he told me he got July Fourth. My initial response was, “Oh, boy. No one will come because they're at the fireworks show.” But he told me Lincoln would move the show to the 3rd. I know some people are mad about that, but it was my management, my agents and the university that made that decision. I was on a tour bus in Pennsylvania.
Q. Are you going to have fireworks at the show then?
A. We're definitely having fireworks. My manager will do it up right. He figured out Lincoln's budget for their show and upped them one.
Q. All that for $6?
A. I'm charging $4 and the university gets $2. It needed to be cheap. I wanted anyone who wanted to come to come. Then it's up to me to make them laugh and show them a good time.
Q. Well, how are you going to do that?
A. I'm calling this the Tailgate Party because it's a football stadium, and people tailgate at the stadium. The material is a range of everything, all one-liners. Topics include NASCAR, kids, marriage, dating, shopping, Wal-Mart. Everyday kind of things. I talk about TV shows, commercials, Viagra. I talk about my grandpa. He's on Viagra just to keep his hopes up.
Q. So how dirty will things get?
A. I would consider my show like my movies. They're PG-13, but I'd say it's PG-15. I just have a goofy sense of humor. It's boom, boom, setup, punch. It's very junior-high-type material. That's what makes me laugh. I tell people you're not coming to see a Billy Graham crusade. We're not going to have an altar call after the show. It's not Mater (from “Cars”). It's Larry the Cable Guy. It's what I do.
Q. Another thing you do is cheer for the Huskers.
A. I schedule my tours so I'm in Lincoln for home games. I never miss a home game. It's a dream come true for me because, growing up, I didn't get to go to any games. I don't like away games, though. When I was at the USC game a few years ago, the fans were cool before the game. The USC band took pictures with me. They let me ride the USC horse. Then the game started, and I was the biggest (jerk) on the planet. They said, “Will Ferrell's funnier than you.” They wanted to kill me. When I left, we had lost and an entire section of fans stood up and yelled, “You didn't Git-R-Done. You didn't Git-R-Done.”
Q. Clever.
A. Yeah, well, this year it's my turn. I switched skyboxes this year. I got a big one with a bathroom in it, so I don't have to chase my kids around. It's on the very south end in West Stadium. I'm right above the opposing fans. I'm going to get a megaphone and yell at them.
Q. Anyone sitting in your skyboxes for Saturday's performance?
A. My friends and family. They'll have fun.
Q. Hopefully they don't hear anyone heckle you with a megaphone.
A. Yeah. I think it will be a fun time. I'm totally looking forward to it. But I tell you, the minute it's over with, I'm going to collapse. It's a miracle I don't have polio from all this stress.
Contact the writer:
444-1220, dane.stickney@owh.com
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