Bill Engvall

William Ray Engvall Jr. was born in Galveston, Texas on July 27, 1957.[1] His father, William Ray Engvall Sr., was a U.S. Navy doctor, who then went into private practice. Engvall spent most of his childhood living first in Galveston, then in Winslow, Arizona, then moving back to near Dallas, Texas during middle school. Following graduation from Richardson High School in Richardson, Texas, where he chose trombone when the teacher gave him the choice of either that or the tuba which led him into the jazz marching band,[2] Engvall attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, intending to earn a bachelor's degree and become a teacher.[3] While at Southwestern he was a member of Xi Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Order. Engvall left college without graduating and worked a series of jobs, including tour guide at Inner Space Caverns, and disc jockey in a Dallas, Texas nightclub.[4] It was while working as the club DJ that he first ventured into stand-up comedy at amateur and open mic nights around Dallas.

In 1990, Bill Engvall moved to Southern California to dedicate full-time to comedy. Early notoriety came from hosting the cable show A Pair of Jokers with Rosie O'Donnell and an appearance on The Golden Palace where he played Blanche's son Matthew, a stockbroker turned aspiring comic. Other early appearances included hosting A&E Networks An Evening at The Improv as well as stand-up routines on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson[5] and the Late Show with David Letterman.[4]

A career breakthrough happened in 1992 when Engvall was named Best Male Standup at the American Comedy Awards. His first role as a series regular came soon after when he was cast in the ABC series Delta, starring Delta Burke. However, the show only lasted one season and Engvall returned to making the rounds of comedy clubs and the occasional television appearance until 1996 when he was cast with fellow comic and best friend Jeff Foxworthy in the NBC version of The Jeff Foxworthy Show. Signed by Warner Records in 1996, Engvall released the first of a series of successful comedy albums, Here's Your Sign, based on his signature joke. The album was certified Platinum and peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Country album chart. Excerpts from this album were remixed into a musical track titled "Here's Your Sign (Get the Picture)", featuring a chorus sung by country music artist Travis Tritt.[3] "Here's Your Sign (Get the Picture)" charted at number 29 on Billboard Hot Country Songs and number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1997.[1] Engvall released two more albums by the end of the 1990s: Dorkfish in 1998 and Here's Your Christmas Album in 1999. The latter featured narrations by Engvall, as well as songs he co-wrote sung by session musicians.[6] One of these original compositions, "Here's Your Sign Christmas", also made the country charts in both 1998 and 1999.[1]

In 2000, Engvall exited Warner Records for BNA Records, citing managerial changes at Warner. His only BNA album, Now That's Awesome, came out that same year.[7] Like most of the albums before it, this included two tracks that interpolated stand-up lines from the album with a musical track. The title track featured guest vocals from T. Graham Brown, Tracy Byrd, and Neal McCoy, while "Shoulda Shut Up" featured Julie Reeves.[1]

Engvall moved back to Warner for all subsequent albums. Cheap Drunk: An Autobiography in 2002, Here's Your Sign Reloaded in 2003, 15° Off Cool in 2007, and Aged and Confused in 2009.[6]

In 2021, Engvall announced his intention to retire from stand-up comedy after his "Here's Your Sign, It's Finally Time" farewell tour.[8] He posted a video on YouTube confirming his retirement on December 30, 2022. His final performance was at the Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City the following day.[9][10]

Engvall's most well-known routine is "here's your sign". In this routine, he offers "signs" to people whom he considers lacking in intellect. These jokes typically take the form of another person asking Engvall a "stupid question", to which Engvall typically responds with a sarcastic response before telling the person "here's your sign".[16] Other jokes in Engvall's routine include anecdotes about his life as a father and husband, typically in the form of self-deprecation.[16]

Bill and Gail Engvall (born August 5, 1960) have been married since December 18, 1982. They have a daughter named Emily (born June 9, 1986), a 2008 graduate from the University of Puget Sound, as well as a son, Travis (born June 25, 1991), a 2015 graduate from Northern Arizona University; both of whom are often mentioned during his routines. Engvall resides in Utah when not on tour and maintains a blog for the Los Angeles Angels on the website of Fox Sports West.[17][18] Engvall is an ordained minister. He graduated with a degree in Christian Studies from Grand Canyon University in 2021.[19]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Bill Engvall.

• Official website
• Bill Engvall at IMDb
• Bill Engvall cast bio on The WB