The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, April 28, 1995, Image 3

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By Michael Landauer
The Battalion
Y ou might be Jeff Foxworthy if you have
created a national craze of self-effacing
humor born out of a redneck past...
and if you’re performing at Wolf Pen Creek
tomorrow night.
Foxworthy, a veteran comedian from
Georgia, is enjoying the success of his plat
inum album. You Might Be A Redneck If...
It is the first comedy album to reach that
milestone in 10 years.
Foxworthy has also built a cult-like fan
base with his Showtime specials, books,
numerous appearances on late-night talk
shows, and 48 weeks of touring every year.
He has gained popularity by telling sto
ries about his life and his family rather
than by belittling others or being crude.
“Lord knows I’ve fallen on the floor
laughin’ at (Sam) Kinison,” he said. “But I
always thought that was the art of this
thing — to be funny without being dirty.”
Fox worthy quit his job at IBM and gave
up a $30,000 salary to devote himself to
comedy 10 years ago. He said he and his
wife had no idea of what they were getting
into — he just had one goal on his mind.
“When I first started this, all I wanted
to do was sit next to Johnny Carson,” he
said. He has since appeared on the “The
Tonight Show” 10 times.
Increased exposure for stand-up comics
on cable television has changed the way
young comedians come up through the
ranks.
“Before cable, there were only a couple
of places you could see stand-up comedy,”
Foxworthy said. “When you saw someone
on those shows, they were good. There’s
an abundance of funny people on TV, but
there are some that aren’t funny and
shouldn’t be on there.”
Foxworthy is trying his hand at television
with his pitch to ABC for a new sitcom. The
pilot was filmed Tuesday night, but Foxwor
thy, who wrote much of the script, said he
will not know if it will air until the middle of
next month.
“I thought it went great,” he said. “I told
’em, ‘Just put it after ‘Home Improvement’
and send me the check.’ I got to write a lot of
it and it pretty much comes across like I do
* s lH§Si C % . i
"Poor ol' Aggies. Any joke that's
run around other schools ends
up bein' an Aggie joke. They're
like the collecting point."
— Jeff Foxworthy
on stage.”
Foxworthy said people who can laugh at
themselves are happier and have more
friends — and that Aggies should under
stand this.
“Poor ol’ Aggies,” he said. “You could
take any kind of joke and turn it around
and put it on a redneck or an Aggie. Ag
gies have it worse than any school in the
country. Any joke that’s run around other
schools ends up bein’ an Aggie joke —
they’re like the collecting point.”
Foxworthy said he likes Aggies and Tex
ans because they have a bit of a cocky atti
tude about their state.
“Texas realizes that if we ever break out
in another war between the states, they’ll
kick everyone’s ass,” he said.
A good example of this attitude, Foxwor
thy said, is the fact that Texans voted
down a referendum that would have put
the state motto, “The Friendship State,” on
license plates.
“That’s just a little too candy-ass for
Texas,” he said. “Texas needs a license plate
that says, ‘Texas — What the hell are you
lookin’ at?”’
Foxworthy, who lives in California now,
said he he tours so often that he has not lost
touch with “the normal country.”
“Everybody thinks we live a couple of
blocks from the Clampitts or something, and
that’s not true,” he said. “They live a few
miles from our house.”
Foxworthy’s appeal is not due entirely to
his “redneck” humor. He said crowds can re
late to his comedy, and he subscribes to his
wife’s theory about his popularity.
“People come out to hear the redneck
stuff, but that’s not what brings ’em back,”
he said. “People come up to me afterwards
saying, ‘You’ve been in my house — you
know my family.’”
Many comedians are said to be crying be
hind the laughter, but Foxworthy says this
is not true of him. He said he has had a good
life, and that he tries not to let things bring
him down.
“The world is full of such negative stuff
that, if you took it all seriously, you’d be
bummed out in a day,” he said. “Hell, we’re
all stupid and goofy, so you just have to
laugh at it.”
ioone leading last song Saturday after 35 years as Singing Cadets’ director
fter 35 years of hard work and dedication.
Bob Boone will give his final performance as
.the director of the Singing Cadets in its annu-
‘arent’s Weekend concert Saturday in Rudder
lave a presU® torium at 7 p - m -
nd several i«B^ oone re ti re i n August and said he still has
•i mixed emotions.
n to sneak > “Thirty-five years is a long time,” Boone said.
1 vou to dos a ^ Iri no ^ tired of the job, but I think it’s time to get
■ y ’ |oine new blood in here. I’m going to surely miss it.
life been working for 35 years for a great institution
pith terrific and very special people.”
'Gone took over as director of the Singing Cadets
960 after teaching public school in El Campo
at A&M Consolidated High School. A lot has
ged in the Singing Cadets in 35 years, Boone
d.
[Since membership in the Corps of Cadets was
datory until 1965, the entire choir was com-
sed of cadets when Boone took over as director,
ay, out of 62 members, only three are in the
|rps.
[One thing that hasn’t changed is that the mem-
s of the Singing Cadets still do not receive acade-
The victim
i annoying
ne calls,
ice Apartmet
intoxicated nic credit for all of the time they spend practicing,
victim sevfiraveling and performing, Boone said,
im could notJS“The guys put in a lot of extra time to do what
the subject ihey do, but they do it because they love it,” Boone
ly unpluggedBd. “They don’t get a thing except the satisfaction
he calls. ppm what they’re doing. That’s what makes it ex-
ing for me. I don’t have to coerce people into do-
something.”
The Singing Cadets perform an average of 50
certs a year at functions ranging from Muster to
ventions and conferences. Boone said 50 percent
Itheir time is spent traveling across the country to
• perform.
XtlOIl ; “It seems like every year we go to a place we’ve
~~ Iver been before,” Boone said.
The victim j
harassing!
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asband..
Performing has been his favorite part of direct
ing the Singing Cadets, Boone said
“I’m a ham,” Boone said. “I love applause. When
the guys get it, I think, ‘Gee, they deserve that so
much for all they do.’”
Boone said he has also enjoyed watching the
members mature through the years and said he has
always tried to influence them in a positive way.
Ross Theilen, a senior agricultural engineering
major and president of the Singing Cadets, said
Boone has taught him a great deal during his four
years of membership.
“It’s like he’s taught me that it’s OK to be com
passionate and to show emotion,” he said. “If you
can’t show your true emotions, then you can’t per
form.”
Theilen said he has mixed emotions about
Boone’s retirement.
“I’m excited for Mr. Boone because I feel like this
is the completion of a life-long project for him,” he
said. “I’m also sad to see him go because the guys
who join in the future won’t know him.”
Jason Jones, a junior biomedical science major,
has been in the Singing Cadets for three years and
said he has learned valuable leadership skills from
Boone.
“He basically turns boys into men,” Jones said.
“He’s been here 35 years and has made the organi
zation what it is today.”
Currently, there is a nationwide search for
Boone’s replacement. Boone said he is concerned
about having no control over who gets the job.
“I hope that whoever takes over will continue the
organizational attitude of the Singing Cadets,”
Boone said. “He’s going to have to quickly learn Ag
gie traditions. If he will let that guide him, it will
give him some idea of where we’ve been. I hope that
the same spirit that has been there will continue.”
A great deal of self-satisfaction and pride have
been the rewards of knowing that he has done a
good job the past 35 years, Boone said.
“Our job is that we are a public relations instru-
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Nick Rodnicki/THE Battalion
Bob Boone, director of the Singing Cadets, conducts rehearsal Thursday afternoon.
ment for the University and music is our tool,”
Boone said. “We feel that we’ve done a good job with
that.”
Boone said he will never forget his years at
A&M and will still be in town watching the
Singing Cadets.
“It’s just been grand,” he said. “I tell everybody, T
probably have the best job in the world.’ I will miss
it, but I will get on with new things in my life. They
will always be a part of me.”
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lollywood lights fade to black for weekend dance performance
, Opinion ediW
e editor
Sports editor
ts editor
oto editor
:ssler, Lisa Mess?
ocha, Libe Go#,
d
Eddy Wylie, Bait
opkins and Jay
aert Rodriguez
llefield,
a, David Taylor
; the fall and 5^1
niversity holiday''!
Station, TX 77W
jilding, Texas AS
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Battalion File Photo
Umbers of the dance troupe Fade to Black perform at Whoopstock ’95.
By Amber Clark
The Battalion
W hat began as a trio of women expressing
themselves through dance has now be
come an entourage of dancers sharing a
culture through movement.
The dance troupe Fade to Black, which will be
performing its annual spring show this week
end, formed in early 1991. Natasha Hudspeth, a
junior psychology major and Fade to Black’s di
rector of dance, said the dancers continue to up
hold their original purpose.
“A group of African-American female students
wanted to form a dance group to uplift the
African-American spirit,” Hudspeth said. “They
thought the campus could benefit from the tech
niques based in primarily African dance styles.”
Over the years, membership has increased to
22 women. Although dancers were originally al
lowed to join the troupe without any previous
training, Hudspeth said a strict auditioning
process began in the fall of 1992.
Hudspeth said the auditions become more
stringent every year and the group is seeking
dedicated individuals with artistic potential.
Hudspeth said the process of selecting dancers
allows the group to improve its technical and
artistic skills.
Holly Lee, a senior sociology major and the di
rector of programming, said the dancers consid
er their work both art and entertainment.
Choreography is done by the dancers them
selves, Lee said, and the troupe is continually
trying to achieve the highest technical quality.
Lee said the group choreographs new routines
at the beginning of each semester, although they
continue to use the old routines. Hudspeth’s po
sition generally requires her to choreograph rou
tines, but Lee said the other members are often
asked to provide additional choreography.
“We perform hip hop, tap, modern and several
other dance styles,” Lee said. “We seek variety
and we ask the women to contribute. We feel
very confident in their ability to dance as well as
choreograph routines.”
Hudspeth said dancers practice three to four
hour each week, and the hours are often ex
tended for major performances. Each member
is not required to dance at each performance,
Hudspeth said, and dancers always work to
gether to schedule performances around school
schedules.
The community has been positive in response
to Fade to Black, Lee said. The group continual
ly receives invitations from local organizations
and they have also been invited to perform in
Houston and Austin.
Hudspeth said the performance scheduled for
this weekend should draw a large crowd of both
students and people from the community. The
show, titled “Hollywood Matinee: An Afternoon
of Lights, Camera and Action,” focuses on inter
pretive dance using songs from movie sound
tracks.
“We’re using jazz and other dances with
movie songs involving comedy and African-
American issues,” Hudspeth said. “We re trying
to focus on a lot of variety so the audience won’t
get bored.”
Lee said the dancers were broken in to sepa
rate teams and asked to submit their own
choreography. This gave room for different in
terpretations and created between 10 and 12
separate original acts.
Hudspeth said the show will serve as a pre-fi
nal event for cultural experience and relaxation.
“Some of the dances will make you think,”
Hudspeth said. “But some parts of it will make
you roll over laughing.”