LIMA — Joyce Meyer really likes going to see comedian Bill Engvall and not just because he makes her laugh.
“I like him because he doesn’t cuss a whole lot. You can bring kids to it,” said Meyer, who made the drive from Fort Loramie on Saturday with two of her girlfriends.
Engvall performed two shows Saturday night at the Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center. More than 1,500 people came out to see him.
“We saw him 10 years ago in Dayton. He was great,” Meyer said. “He talks about life experiences. What he has been through, what his kids have been through and his grandkids.”
Robert Fontanini, of New Bremen, won tickets for the show through a radio contest. He said he’s never attended a comedy show and was looking forward to it.
“We thought it would be fun to watch in person,” he said.
Fontanini also had plans to make a night of it in Lima. After the show he was going to dinner and then to a bar to see a band play.
Engvall has starred in his own network television show, recorded top-selling CDs and has been a big part of the “Blue Collar Comedy Tour.” He’s also acted in movies and came in fourth place in Season 17 of “Dancing with the Stars.”
Engvall has been doing comedy since the early 1980s. As a child his parents moved a lot and wasn’t into sports so he had to be the “funny guy” to fit in.
At the time, however, he said he had no idea cracking jokes would turn into a very successful career.
“It’s funny, I didn’t think you could make a living at this,” he said in an interview with The Lima News.
When he began performing on stage, he said it took some “liquid courage” in the form of alcohol to get up there. He just starting talking about his life, at the time, while cracking jokes about it and found people laughing.
Engvall said he doesn’t joke about religion or politics in his routine. Doing so would alienate half the audience.
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