Lincoln, Ne.—“Git-R-Done” is gone.
Comedian Dan Whitney, previously known as Larry the Cable Guy, is rebranding the character Lawrence the Streaming Service Individual.
“My previous persona had outlived its moment,” Whitney said. “Technologically, and ideologically, it was time for an update.”
Whitney, a native of Pawnee City, Neb., said he began workshopping the plainspoken, drawling character while away at college.
“I was ridiculed for being from Nebraska – a state most of my cohorts associated with hogs and football, so I created the character there as a way of deconstructing the mythos of post-industrial, blue collar America,” Whitney said. “The character evolved over a few years – the shirt with no sleeves, trucker’s hat with a fishing hook – but it came together during my year abroad at The Sorbonne.”
But the star of such cinematic classics as “Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector” and “Witless Protection” said he’d grown tired of the persona and felt it had become hijacked by those without a sense of irony.
“’Man is least himself when he talks as his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth’. That’s my favorite Oscar Wilde quote, and one oft thought while I created Larry. I wanted to meet absurdity with absurdity to create new schema of engagement on what it means to be a man in the 21st Century.”
He debuted his new character Monday at Lucky’s Laugh Lounge in Lincoln. The packed audience remained subdued throughout the 30-minute performance.
“I didn’t get it,” longtime fan Ray Anderson said. “He came out dressed like always and without sayin’ a word he tore off his clothes, burned them, and then rolled around in the ashes. Pretty sure that’s against the law.”
Megan Cross also disliked the performance.
“He just sat there all nude and ashy, then a word appeared on a screen behind him. I don’t know how to say it: E-N-N-U-I. And he just laid there for, like, 10 minutes, and then some guy dressed like a caveman came out and said, ‘Get up, the patriarchy needs you,’” Cross said. “The funniest part was when I thought he’d farted; turned out it was the guy ahead of me.”
Following the show, Whitney stayed around for autographs, though few fans remained. One who did asked the comedian if he would be willing to deliver his previous catchphrase.
“How gauche,” Whitney said before heading back to his dressing room.