What you don't know about Jeff Foxworthy, in Phoenix on 7/29

Jeff Foxworthy is known for a lot of things. Jokes that end with the phrase "you might be a redneck," hosting the game show "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" and being part of the smash Blue Collar Comedy Tour. Basically, he's an all-around genial presence.

Something that isn't as well-known: The guy has a heart of gold. He devotes much of his time to charity work; for the past eight years, he has led a weekly bible study for homeless men in his hometown of Atlanta. He doesn't seek attention for that kind of thing.

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The subject of Foxworthy's philanthropic nature only came up because of why he's coming to town. He's headlining the 19th Annual Dry Heat Classic Comedy Show, a benefit in which proceeds will benefit two charities. Foxworthy, always a fun conversationalist, was perhaps a bit more pensive than usual; he called the day after five police officers were killed in Dallas.

Question: I’m guessing you got a lot of requests to do benefits. 

Answer: I get about 1,200 requests a year. Some days, I will get eight or nine. It’s not just me; you get them because you can speak and you’re funny. You can’t possibly do a tenth of them.

Q: It must affect your income. 

A: If I do something benefit related, I never take a penny. I just do it for free. Some months, my wife will go, “You’ve got nine gigs this month, and you’re getting paid for two of them.” I think what you have to do is pick the things kind of closest to your heart. Even with the Blue Collar tours, we wanted the first 20,000 DVDs to get to shipped to the troops. God almighty, if anybody needs a couple of hours of laughter, it’s those people. I’ve worked in a homeless mission for eight years. I’ve got a heart for homeless people. You pick the things closest to your heart.

Q: I read about your work in the mission. You don’t talk about it very much. 

A: When I first started having success, they were giving someone a humanitarian award. I always thought it was weird, and I won’t even mention the celebrity, but Dick Clark said, “Pull the camera in on them. They’re going to cry on one-two-three!” And they started tearing up! I’m like, when you do something kind for somebody, you really don’t have to have a camera on your face.

Q: You must really believe that. There’s really only one article on your work with the mission. 

A:They tried to do that for six years, and I kept saying no. The guys at the mission trust me. I don’t want to exploit them. But I thought the reporter did a good job. But to me, if you’re only doing good stuff when there’s a film crew, you’re probably not doing it for the right reasons.

Q: When the country is as divided as it is now, how does that affect comedy? 

A: Well, in my case, it’s not in my material. But it is sad and scary. I was saying to my daughter last night, “there’s a divide and tension in the air that I don’t remember.” I lived in LA during the riots, and this almost feels like that, where you have that underlying tension all the time. On one hand, I would never want to joke about it, but people need to laugh. Laughter is kind of the release valve that keeps someone boiled from exploding over.

Q: You’ve never really touched on politics in your humor. 

A: I watched that early on. I think it’s my job to make everybody laugh. It’s not that I don’t have opinions on things, but there’s a time and place for them. Sometimes, too, when entertainers get political, I think, “ Why does your opinion weigh more than other people’s?

Q: Back to your material: Is it hard always coming up with new stuff? It’s not like a singer where you can do your greatest hits. 

A: That’s why not many people make stand-up their life’s work. If you write four hits, you can play until you’re 90. People will tolerate the new songs for those four hits. I look back through the years: I’ve done nine albums, two HBO specials, two Showtimes, three Blue Collar Movies, 35 “Tonight Shows,” and the bizarre thing is it never gets easier to come up with stuff. I mean, after 30 years, a carpenter knows the way to build something, but for a comic, you go back to little clubs and play for 20 people and say, “Is this funny?”

Q: But when you go to a little club, isn't there immediate laughter because you’re Jeff Foxworthy? 

A: I have to give them permission not to laugh. I always set up three boxes for material: There’s gold, silver and certificate of appearance. And let’s be honest: Either it’s funny or it’s not funny. I wished I had filmed this last time around, just to show how it goes from a little smoky room with 20 people to an arena with 12,000 people.

Q: In concert, how much goodwill do you get because people already like you? 

A: You buy yourself maybe four or five minutes, but if they’re not laughing pretty soon, they’re not happy. It’s a little bit of a dance every night. You’re trying to figure out who they are, if they’re older, younger, married or single, and you’re trying to find something that fits into their wheelhouse. That’s what comedy is: Finding the common threads in different parts of the country. Finding out what we have in common.

Q: Is that why “you might be a redneck” jokes work so well? You see memes with the same jokes, but it becomes “you might be a Mexican” or “you might be Polish.” 

A: Oh yeah. “You might be a pilot” or "you might be from Nebraska.” They get applied to everyone.

Q: Were you surprised that became your thing? 

A: The thing is, even at the height of it, it was maybe five minutes out of a two-hour show, but that’s what people came to know me for. It was weird, too, because they’re one-liners. I don’t do one-liners! I’m more of a storyteller. But you can retell them and get a laugh. They're not geographical. And if you’re not guilty of it, you’re related to someone who is.

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Q: Can you do a show without including some? 

A: I’m scared people would start throwing things.

Reach the reporter at randy.cordova@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8849. Twitter.com/randy_cordova. 

Jeff Foxworthy

What: The comedian headlines the Dry Heat Classic Comedy Show, a fundraiser that benefits Hope for the Warriors and Arizona Spinal Cord Injury, a chapter of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Association. Michael Finney and Mark Cordes host; Nate Bargatze, Bruce Baum and Fielding West also appear. 

When: 8 p.m. Friday, July 29. 

Where: Celebrity Theatre, 440 N. 32nd St., Phoenix. 

Admission: $45-$80. 

Details: 602-267-1600, celebritytheatre.com.