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Arts & Entertainment

Bill Burr talks Texas, 'F is for Family' ahead of his Dallas show

On September 24, Comedian Bill Burr will have the crowd at the Majestic Theater in Dallas laughing until their stomachs hurt.

But Burr does a lot more than stand-up. He's had a successful comedy run with specials like Let it Go, has appeared on television shows like Breaking Bad and New Girl and has starred in video games, movies and more.

He's rounded the circuits plenty of times since his career started in 1992, but he said Texas always brings something special to the table.

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"Dallas has the most four-door pickup trucks that have never seen dirt," Burr told us in a recent interview. "Dallas is fun, man."

His current tour is running ahead of the premiere of a new animated show he's been working on with Netflix.

F is for Family, which will premiere later this year, focuses on an era before political correctness, he said.

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"It all stems from just telling childhood stories on the page throughout my career," he said. "For the first 10 or 12 years of my career my stories killed, but then a new generation of kids came along and I started to get groans and 'Awwwws.' Then I realized this generation wore helmets when they rode bicycles and had play dates."

Burr said the process for the show started after he met with actor Vince Vaughn's production company, Wild West Television. Once the project was greenlit, Burr started interviewing potential writers.

"We asked them about their childhood," he said. "If they mentioned road trip stuff we said, 'See ya!' but if they said their dad had a half-deflated basketball they would throw at their head then we'd hire them."

With shows like Bojack Horseman and Archer already playing to an adult demographic in search of animated television, Burr said they needed a different approach with F is For Family.

"I love Bojack and I love Archer, but I would be really dumb if I tried to do a version of those shows," he said.

"People would just say 'Oh this show is trying to be this show so I might as well just watch the original.' I wouldn't say we're like any of those."

With a career based in network television and film, Burr said working with Netflix was a welcome change of pace. Though he's had a wonderful relationship with Comedy Central, he enjoys the freedom Netflix can offer.

"They're like my HBO," he said. "It's just one of those deals where I do what I do and they do what they do and when we get together it just works."

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Burr said this is because when an hour-long special goes to air on network television, it gets cut down by advertising and is censored for audiences. With Netflix, this isn't an issue since viewers are able to curate their own content.

"I'm not trashing anyplace else, since it's not like they're trying to prevent you from doing your jokes," he said. "But it comes down to if they didn't have the ad money they couldn't buy my special. Comedy Central is more a place where I could do a TV show."

As his tour heads to Dallas, Burr is excited to take the next step in his comedy career.