Jeff Foxworthy
Atlanta, GA USA
"Everybody’s got a name and a story. Mine isn’t any more important than yours."
Career Roadmap
Jeff's work combines: Acting & Theatre, Television, and Communicating / Sharing Stories
See more careers and stories that connect to your interests.
Take Roadmap Quiz
Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
I started off by entering a contest at a comedy club and then continuing to do stand-up at open mic nights. I went on the road and did 500 shows in 8 years. In my opinion, that's how you make it. You work hard, keep at it, and commit to getting up on stage over and over again. It's hard work though and there will be some nights that no one laughs. You have to really love what you're doing to keep putting yourself out there like that.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Life & Career Milestones
I've taken a lot of twists and turns
1.
I grew up in Hapeville, Georgia.
2.
As a child, I would save my allowance to buy comedy records, memorize them, and perform those bits for my schoolmates, but I didn’t realize that was something I could do for a living.
3.
I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life when I graduated high school, so I went to Georgia Institute of Technology for college because it was the least expensive and closest to home.
4.
I worked full-time in a grocery store while going to school—after three years of college, I took a break from school because my grades were struggling and I just never ended up going back.
5.
After leaving school, I worked at IBM for five years but the corporate job wasn’t a great fit for me.
6.
Some of my coworkers dared me to enter a contest at the local comedy club and I ended up winning!
7.
Within a few months, I quit my job at IBM to try and make it as a comedian—in eight years, I had done 500 shows.
8.
Since becoming a comedian, I’ve performed as a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, worked on a variety of TV shows, and released multiple comedy albums, including ”You Might Be a Redneck If…”
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Parents:
You can't quit your job! What are you thinking?
How I responded:
A few months after winning the Great Southeastern Laugh-off in Atlanta, I decided to quit my corporate job at IBM. My mother thought I was crazy and told me I couldn't go through with it. But I didn't want to be 30 years down the road still wondering what life would've been like if I had tried to make it as a comic. Life has a few moments where you need to just hold your nose and jump and that was one of them. I decided to go through with it and it ended up working out.