COMEDY : Bill Engvall’s Act Is Dense With Jokes About Stupid People

Bill Engvall, the Texas comic known for being quick on the drawl, is generally an easygoing guy who enjoys a kindly chuckle at life’s foibles.

But dangle a stupid person in front of him, and Engvall takes on a sharper edge. Like the time he had a flat tire and pulled into a gas station.

“Tire go flat?” the attendant asked.

“Noooo,” Engvall replied. “I was driving around and those other three just swelled right up on me.”

Classic Engvall.

On Saturday, fans will have a chance to catch Engvall and fellow comic Jack Coen at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center in a benefit for the Community Service Programs. Diamondhead, a retro-surf band, will also perform.

Engvall began doing his signature piece about six years ago, but it didn’t take off right away.

“I was doing a bit that stupid people should be slapped,” Engvall told The Times recently. “But the more I did it, the more I didn’t like that connotation, the violence and all that. The more I thought about it, I thought they should just wear signs. And, man, it just took off.”

Coen, a six-time performer on “The Tonight Show,” is a 12-year veteran of the comedy circuit. He mines his humor from the day’s hot topics and life’s ironies.

“I don’t consider myself a passionate political comic, but when something’s hot like that, I tend to comment on it,” he said last year, referring to the issue of gays in the military. “I’m there to find what’s ironic and funny about it.”

Community Service Programs is a nonprofit agency that operates a youth shelter in Laguna Beach for abused, runaway and at-risk youths. The agency also provides drug-abuse education, crisis intervention and counseling.

*

Who: Bill Engvall and Jack Coen in a benefit performance.

When: Saturday, Oct. 16, at 8 p.m.

Where: Bren Events Center, UC Irvine.

Whereabouts: Take the San Diego (405) Freeway to Jamboree Road and go south. Turn left onto Campus Drive and left again at Bridge Road. The Bren Center will be on the right at Mesa Road.

Wherewithal: $15.

Where to call: Tickets are available at the Bren box office, (714) 856-5000, through TicketMaster at (714) 740-2000 or by calling Community Service Programs at (714) 250-0488.