The lights dimmed, and a bottle of Scotch glowed on the stage of the O’Connell Center Friday night.
It signaled the start of Grammy-nominated Ron White’s stand-up comedy act, complete with spirit-drinking, cigar-smoking and laughter from the crowd of about 3,500 people.
White’s show was part of his Behavioral Problems tour, which started as a Comedy Central stand-up special that drew in 3.3 million TV viewers in 2009, according to White’s Web site.
With puffs of smoke trailing behind him, White began the show with anecdotes about touring and vice in Las Vegas.
He said he broke his tooth in an “alcohol-related pool incident” and found that it would cost more than $47,000 for a dentist to repair the damage.
White moved on to talk about his humble beginnings as a comedian, his wife and his New Year’s resolution to get in shape.
Of the barrage of anecdotes White told about his wife, one was about a time when she was staring at a Snuggie infomercial.
He joined her and learned about Snuggies for dogs.
“If I ever see a dog wearing a Snuggie, I’m going to kill it because that’s what I think it would want me to do,” White said.
Tickets were $25 for students, and nonstudents paid about $40.
White’s production company rented out the O’Connell Center for the event.