We are not especially known for it nationally or internationally, but we Texans are pretty damn funny. Here are five the funniest Texans we could think of in about 30 minutes of rigorous Wikipedia-clicking and YouTube-embedding.
5. Ron White The only Redneck comedian worth a shit. And he might just be the next president of the United States. He's sure got my vote.
4. Carol Burnett As Lucille Ball was to the '50s and Tina Fey is to the last ten years, so San Antonio-born Burnett was to the '70s. Burnett drew on her own dysfunctional Lone Star childhood for her best material, as this clip attests. (Yes, we know this stuff spawned the godawful Mama's Family, but Burnett wasn't on that much, if at all.)
3. Bill Hicks The pride of Houston's comedy scene led with his heart and paid with his soul. He doesn't seem as funny today as he did in the '90s, but that's only because he was so influential on the lesser beings who came in his wake.
2. Larry Hagman Fort Worth's Hagman had a background as a comic actor, and always told all who asked that he viewed his role as JR as comedy. And what comedy it was. No bastard has ever been more magnificent than John Ross Ewing Jr. In this clip, he busts his mistress -- his wife's sister -- cheating on him with her much-less-married and much-more age-appropriate ex-boyfriend. That's about all you need to know before you watch.
1. Mike Judge Beavis and Butthead were the foremost music critics of the last 20 years. At its best, King of the Hill managed to be both tear-inducingly poignant and side-splitting. Office Space has spawned about a half-dozen catch-phrases that have become part of the vernacular, and Idiocracy seems more and more prophetic by the day. Even the neglected Extract has its moments, like the alternately amusing and terrifying pot-smoking scene.
