Q&A / LARRY THE CABLE GUY: Blue-collar comedy icon now less of an act

His real name is Daniel Whitney. Off camera, he can be analytical, thoughtful and humble.

Years ago, he created a character, Larry the Cable Guy, a happy-go-lucky Southern good ol’ boy in cutoff plaid shirts. The result: He became one of the biggest comedy draws in the country.

But he says he and the character are now melded, not separate people. “I’m half and half,” he said by phone recently. “In the beginning, it was just a character. But I’ve had a wife and kids. I’ve started incorporating more of myself into Larry so it becomes more real.”

Larry is going to be onstage Saturday for two shows at the Fox Theatre and is the target of a Comedy Central roast that was taped earlier this month and airs Sunday.

On his real accent vs. his stage accent:

“I picked up my accent when I moved to Florida when I was 16. I’m a country kid who grew up on a farm in Nebraska. It’s not like I grew up in an apartment in L.A. or woke up to decide I’ll become a redneck. I’ve always been a country act.”

On prepping new material:

“I work a couple of hours a day. … There are minor league jokes and major league jokes. I give them three chances to get a laugh. If they don’t work in the middle, I’ll try at the end. Then they go back to the minors to get rewritten.”

How long it takes to cycle through jokes:

“Hopefully by the end of the year, it’ll be 50 percent different. Then within a year and a half, it’s almost completely new.”

On his guitar act at the end of each show:

“I’m a big fan of ‘Hee Haw’ with its pickin’ and grinnin’ and ‘Laugh In’ with the people opening windows telling jokes. The guitar enables me to put all the jokes in that don’t fit in my act. … They’re like 25 pinch-hitters. They all get laughs but have no place to bat. They just come up and take cracks at the end of the show.”

What he does in Atlanta when he’s in town:

“Not much. I stay on the bus with my family. Sometimes, I’ll go to Jeff’s place [Jeff Foxworthy] if he’s in town.”

On the Comedy Central roast:

“It’s an honor to be roasted. You have to have a certain level of accomplishment to get roasted.”

On who got to roast him:

“I got to pick all the roasters. Jeffrey Ross was in my Christmas special. He’s a great roaster, great one-liners. Nick DiPaulo was one of my all-time favorites from back when I was working in clubs. Lisa [Lamponelli] is a dear friend of mine. I had to have Greg Geraldo. I like the way he really hammers you. Toby Keith —- I hang out with him a lot. And Maureen McCormick? She’s Marcia Brady! I chose her just because I wanted to. And Gary Busey, you never know what he’s going to do.”

On how they roasted him:

“They got on my case about my weight. But I’ve lost 50 pounds. They picked on my movies. ‘Delta Farce’ got hammered a lot. And the fact I’m a character.”

Game plan for 2009:

“I’ve got a new movie planned. I have another Christmas special planned for the end of the year. We’ll tape it in July in Nashville.”

On a possible Blue Collar Comedy Tour reunion:

“I’ll do whatever the guys want to do. We’re all buddies. If they all want to do it, I’m in … but it’s got to be special. We left on a high note. Now it’s in the history books. It’s part of comedy folklore.”

IN CONCERT

Larry the Cable Guy. 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree Road, N.E., Atlanta. Tickets $44.75. www.ticketmaster.com, 404-249-6400

ON TV

“Comedy Central Roast With Larry the Cable Guy,” 10 p.m. Sunday, Comedy Central