SARASOTA — Comedian Ron “Tater Salad” White will perform on Sunday, Sept. 13, 7:30 p.m., at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota.
Tickets start at $43. Visit www.vanwezel.org or call 941-263-6799.
White first rose to fame as the cigar-smoking, Scotch-drinking funnyman from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour phenomenon, but since 2004 he has established himself as a star in his own right. Over the past nine years he has been one of the top three grossing stand-up comedians on tour in America.
During this time, all four of his comedy albums have charted No. 1 on the Billboard Comedy Charts. He is a three-time Grammy-nominated comedian and has sold over 10 million albums.
White began performing comedy in 1986 and was quickly opening for legendary comedians, such as Sam Kinison and Jeff Foxworthy. In 2000 as a comedy club headliner, White joined the Blue Collar Comedy Tour as a founding member alongside Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, and Larry the Cable Guy. Their show toured for over three years to sold-out audiences in over 270 cities and grossed more than $35 million. In 2003, Warner Brothers filmed the show, “Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie.” When the film premiered on TV, it was the most-watched movie in Comedy Central’s history.
Also in 2003, Ron released his breakthrough comedy CD “Drunk in Public” followed by his first one-hour TV comedy special, “They Call Me Tater Salad.” The special had the highest viewership for a Sunday program in Comedy Central history.
The DVD version was released in 2004. In 2005, White’s second one-hour special “You Can’t Fix Stupid” aired on Comedy Central to 4.5 million viewers, making it the third largest audience in Comedy Central’s history and the No. 1 show on primetime basic cable. The CD reached No. 1 on the Billboard Comedy Charts and remained there for nine consecutive weeks. This success also earned White his first Grammy nomination. In 2005, the second Blue Collar show — “Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again” — was filmed and released on TV and DVD/CD.