Marcus Center Continues New Series in 2012 with An Evening with Bill Engvall

The Marcus Center for the Performing Arts continues its new Marcus Center Presents series in 2012 with An Evening with Bill Engvall on Saturday, February 18 at 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. in Uihlein Hall. Tickets go on sale on Friday, December 2 at 12:00 p.m. at the Marcus Center Box Office.

The thing that makes any entertainer successful is the ability to connect with an audience. It's the
quality of sharing the humor in everyday situations that has made Bill Engvall one of the top
comedians today and among the busiest.

Bill Starred in and executive produced the half hour sitcom for TBS entitled The Bill Engvall Show, which ran for three seasons on TBS. The show centered on Bill as the father at the core of a
family comedy. The series' debut telecast on July 17, 2007 delivered 3.9 million viewers and 2.8
million households, securing a place among ad-supported cable's Top 3 sitcom telecasts (original
or acquired) of all time among households and Top 5 original sitcom telecasts of all time among
key adult demos and viewers.

Bill currently hosts one of the top rated shows on CMT, Country Fried Home Videos. This show
finds real videos from real people showing what real Americans do bringing the wit and wisdom to
television that only the heartland can offer.

Bill shot his newest one hour special for Comedy Central at the Vic Theater in Chicago. The special, Aged and Confused, aired on Comedy Central November 22, 2009. It is available on DVD, November 24, 2009.

Last year Bill released Bait Shop which co-starred Billy Ray Cyrus. The story centers around a
small town bait shop owner who finds his beloved business threatened with foreclosure. In an
attempt to raise the money to save it, he enters a high profile fishing tournament. The film had its
world premiere on USA and the DVD is currently available. Additionally, Bill Starred in the movie
Delta Farce with Larry the Cable Guy and D.J. Qualls, which was released on May 11, 2007 and
distributed by Lionsgate. This hilarious comedy about three blue collar heroes on the military's
front line is currently available on DVD.

Prior to his big screen debut, Bill was one of the stars of the sketch comedy show, Blue Collar TV, on the WB network. The ensemble cast included Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy. Blue
Collar TV premiered on July 29, 2004 at 8:00 pm. 5.4 million people tuned in to see Blue Collar
TV, making it the second-most watched show in the time period. He also shot a special for the
WB network called Mobile Home Disasters, which helped propel the network to one of its best
Thursday nights of the season. The show was a blue collar version of "Extreme Home Makeover"
and the episode took a deserving family and completely transformed their mobile home.

Bill Starred in Blue Collar Comedy Tour, The Movie, which premiered on Comedy Central and at
that time was the most watched movie in the channel's history. It has sold more than 4 million
DVD/VHS units. The sequel Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again also premiered on Comedy
Central February 13, 2005 and was the 3rd most watched telecast ever for the network. The
sequel was released on DVD December 7, 2004 and has sold more than 3 million units. In March
of 2006, the Blue Collar boys reunited to shoot Blue Collar Comedy Tour- One For The Road in
Washington, DC at the Warner Theater. The movie premiered on Comedy Central June 4, 2006
and was one of the highest rated shows of the year. The soundtrack was released on June 6,
2006 (Warner Bros./Jack Records) and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Along with his Blue Collar movies, Bill also has two solo specials which aired on Comedy Central.
15° Off Cool aired on March 25, 2007 and was one of the highest rated special of the year. Prior
to that, Here's Your Sign, Live, was aired on Comedy Central on August 1, 2004 and premiered
to 3.6 million total viewers. The DVD of that special has been certified multi-platinum.

Bill is also a platinum recording artist. His first album, HERE'S YOUR SIGN (Warner Bros. May
'96), has been certified platinum and held the #1 position on the Billboard Comedy Chart for 15
straight weeks. It went on to peak at #5 on Billboard's Current Country Album Chart and reached
the Top 50 on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart.

Collaborating with musician Travis Tritt on a video also entitled, HERE'S YOUR SIGN, Bill
became a fixture on the play lists of CMT and TNN. The single of the same name became the
most requested single on country radio. It was ranked #1 on Billboard's Country Singles Sales
Chart for ten weeks and reached the Top 30 on the Billboard's Singles Sales Chart, which covers
all genres of music. The HERE'S YOUR SIGN single also achieved Gold status, not a common
occurrence in the comedy market. In 1997, Engvall won the "Best Selling Comedy album" award
at the annual NARM convention, outselling albums by Chris Rock and Adam Sandler.

Bill's second CD, DORKFISH (Warner Bros., October '98), was certified gold (500,000 copies),
and had the honor of being ranked #1 on Billboard's Comedy Chart, surpassing Jerry Seinfeld's
album. All of his following comedy album releases debuted at #1 on the Billboard Comedy Chart,
including his latest release 15° Off Cool.

Bill has also written several books, including his autobiography Bill Engvall -Just A Guy from St.
Martin's Press on May 15, 2007.

A native of Galveston, Texas, Bill moved to Dallas and was working as a disc jockey with plans of
becoming of a teacher. While in a nightclub one evening, Bill decided to try his hand at stand-up
comedy and quickly found that making people laugh was truly his forte. Soon after, he decided to
move to Los Angeles to pursue television opportunities.

First there was a Showtime special, A Pair of Joker's with Rosie O'Donnell, followed by Bill
hosting A&E's Evening at the Improv and several appearances on both The Tonight Show and
the Late Show with David Letterman. In 1992, Bill won the American Comedy Award for "Best
Male Stand-up Comedian." After appearing in episodes of "Designing Women," Bill went on to
portray Buck Overton on the ABC sitcom, Delta " starring Delta Burke, thus solidifying his status
as a sought-after comic. Bill also starred in the NBC series, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, where he
played Jeff's best friend.

Additional information is available at www.billengvall.com.

An Evening with Bill Engvall will be at the Marcus Center on Saturday, February 18 at 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. in Uihlein Hall. Tickets for An Evening with Bill Engvall are $40-$58 and vary depending on seat location. Tickets go on sale on Friday, December 2 at 12:00 p.m. and are available at the Marcus Center Box Office at 929 N. Water Street Downtown Milwaukee, by calling 414-273-7206, online at Ticketmaster.com or at Marcus Center.org. For more information, please visit www.MarcusCenter.org.

ABOUT THE MARCUS CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
The Marcus Center for the Performing Arts is owned and partially funded by Milwaukee County. The Marcus Center has been the premier entertainment destination for Milwaukee and Wisconsin since 1969. It provides the setting for outstanding cultural experiences, where the arts come to life for current and future generations. Located in the heart of the Downtown Theater District, the Marcus Center is a community facility that offers live performance of opera, ballet, children's theater, symphony and first-class national touring productions.

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