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Larry the Cable Guy is very good at what he does – which is a little hard to define. The comedian has adopted a character and simply disappears into it: a strange yet fitting amalgam of Andy Griffith (southern folksiness), Rodney Dangerfield (crude one-liners) and singer Toby Keith (jingoistic politics).
I’ve enjoyed his appearances on morning radio, Blue Collar TV, and his voiceover work in the animated movie Cars. So I looked forward to hearing what Larry might do with Christmas.
The CD takes the form of the annual “Christmas Spectacular” that Perry Como and others used to do in olden days. So the special is stuffed with skits performed by a passel of good old boys and gals. They cover topics ranging from dysfunctional families (“Dysfunctional Family Christmas”) to a lengthy “Santa Q&A” with Larry himself playing Saint Nick.
One of my favorites is a reworking of the classic poem “The Night Before Christmas” (renamed “Liberal Commie Environmental Poem”). In it, Larry alters the words to reflect Green sensibilities; the reindeer have names like Recycle, Reuse, Wind-Powered and Howard. It’s hard to discern how Larry feels about saving the Earth, but my feeling is he’s for it – sort of.
I was surprised at the heavy injections of religion and politics. “Nativity Scene” paints a picture of a country filled with “lib’ral commies” who desire nothing more than to close down every “manger scene” and eliminate all public utterances of the word “Christmas.” I’ve never met these people myself, but Larry sees them around every corner. One of his buddies warns Larry that the ACLU won’t like his pro-Christmas opinions. “The ACLU can kiss my Christian ass,” he growls in reply.
“Patriotic Poem” is essentially a love letter to the late Ronald Reagan. Why is it on a Christmas CD? I haven’t the faintest. A track that is rooted in Christmas, and one I hope to never hear again, is the unfortunate “Farting Jingle Bells” — the ultimate in bad taste and for Larry’s true fans only.
I honestly wanted to like this CD. Some of it did make me laugh; the unexpected clever line, a few sound effects, some off-the-wall ideas. But it just wasn’t funny enough. The proof came when I played the first six tracks for my family, who sat stone-faced throughout. I found the crude sexual references a little over the top, although not much worse than the typical modern sitcom. And sadly, all the right wing politics felt like several whacks from a Deep South two-by-four.
