Foxworthy tries out a judge's role

Atlanta

Jeff Foxworthy recently delved into his first judging job on NBC's "Bring the Funny," a reality competition show covering all sorts of comedy.

In a sense, this show is a permutation of both "America's Got Talent" and "Last Comic Standing." In this case, sketch comedy, comedy singers, magicians and stand-up comics share the same stage.

Foxworthy, the legendary comic who lives in Johns Creek, Georgia, approached judging to be helpful but not mean.

"I want to help prepare to get to the next step," he said. "Most of them have never been on TV. There's a lot of nerves and just three minutes. Three minutes is hard."

Foxworthy recalled trying to get on "Star Search" in the 1980s and failing six times. He only broke out once he got six minutes on "The Tonight Show," and Johnny Carson liked him so much he waved him over to the couch.

In the first episode, Foxworthy raved over some funny acts, including a sketch group that mocked one of those upbeat kids' group acts like the Wiggles. The twist: One of the members was a conspiracy theorist.

But when a dude who had a funny concept — a robot stand-up comic — wasn't all that funny, Foxworthy called him out. "You'd win 'Bring the Robots,' but not 'Bring the Funny,'" he said.

Writing matters, he said, as much if not more than the idea. He recalled telling Ron White and Larry the Cable Guy when they started the Blue Collar Comedy Tour to keep writing their tails off. They only had a short period of time to make a good impression and when they went out on multiple tours, they had to come up with more material. It worked. Now both White and Larry the Cable Guy are big stand-up stars.

Fellow "Bring the Funny" judge and "Saturday Night Live" vet Kenan Thompson, who grew up in College Park, Ga., was the toughest on the...