Known for his straight forward candor, comedian and Texas native Ron White warns that audiences should prepare to be abused.
"Fans can expect for me to hurt em’," said White in a recent phone interview. "I beat em’ up. You are going to walk out with your face hurt. I hope. It’s a pretty severe ass whopping."
White, or best known as "Tater Salad," will be performing at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown on Saturday.
Just as when he is on stage, whiskey and cigars are White's way of warming up before he hits the stage. And not for nerves but pleasure.
"I don’t get nervous, unless I am getting pulled over," White said. "It’s whiskey, it just starts my night. Backstage I pour myself my first drink of the day, theoretically, and light a cigar and play some loud rock and roll and go out and tell some jokes."
On stage, White is very honest with his fans as he talks frankly about his personal life, marriages and even his marijuana arrest in 2008.
"It was perfectly in the open that I smoked pot," White said. "It was a stupid arrest. (The fans) forgive me in advance for whatever I do. But they will look at it and go that’s a stupid waste of a police day, because it took four guys and a dog to bring in me, the wrangler."
Most of his material is taken by "bafooning" his way through life and taking notes. But he also improvises with the audience.
"That’s where I work," White said of the stage. "If I have any thoughts I just work them out on stage in front of (fans), a couple thousand people. I have been doing it for so long. Usually by the time I get to the stage it will work and if it doesn't, it doesn’t matter, it's still pretty funny. If no one laughs its hilarious to me."
His two French bulldogs named Purdy and Pearl also make their way into White's skit, but politics don't.
"I am not political at all on stage," White said. "I don’t like it when entertainers get on their soap box and start yelling because what if you have influence on someone and you are wrong? I’m always wrong. I’ve been married three times."
Humor comes naturally to White, who said he figured out he was funny at a very young age.
"I got my first big laugh when I was 5, I didn’t understand it but it killed," said White. "I apparently delivered it well."
The joke was a simple knock knock joke, “Knock knock. Whose there? Madam. Madam who? Ma dam foot is caught in the door?"
"It murdered them," White said. "I mean it killed cause a five-year-old cussing in that part of the world. That’s where the seed was planted."
White also attributes his humor to his uncle.
"My uncle was preacher and very funny," White said. "I really have his cadence whenever I talk on stage. He was a very big influence on me."
Along with touring, White recently starred in "Jayne Mansfield's Car" directed by Billy Bob Thorton and featured Kevin Bacon, John Hurt and more.
White also released a solo comedy stand-up routine titles "A Little Unprofessional," which is available for digital download for $5 at tatersalad.com.