Comedian Cowboy Bill Martin promises a “rowdy and real” show in first national TV special

Filmed at the vaudeville theater Rose Marine in the historic Fort Worth Stockyard, tonight CMT presents the stand-up comedy special Cowboy Bill Martin: Let the Laughter Roll at 12:30am ET/PT. Capitalizing on his Texas drawl and cowboy swagger, Martin’s one-hour stand-up show focuses on love, the frailty of life and the magnitude of being a modern man.

Martin hypes the show as being “raucous, rowdy and real.”

“It’s nothing you’ve come to expect with a ‘country’ comedian,” he shared via a press release. “ It’s like spending time late night at the kitchen table with your cousin, laughing.”

While the veteran comic has spent years touring (he was part of the famed Blue Collar Tour), he credits his rising popularity to the last five years of his career where he’s been a part of Carnival Cruise Lines’ Punchliner Comedy Club Presented by George Lopez.   “Because of Carnival, I knew the show was ready. After all, each week I’m doing 2 1/2 hours of material in front of 2,500 people. The next logical step was to make a move to TV.  I’ve watched other comedians shoot their own specials, and I thought; why can’t we do the same thing?”

With the support of his wife Michele and their five children, Martin’s journey to national television was personal.  “We were about to put a down payment on our dream house and one night at the kitchen table I told her, Carnival provides an incredible opportunity to build a fan base but a TV special could take me to an all new level.” Instead of a new house, the couple decided to roll the dice and self-finance a one-hour comedy special. Their gamble paid off as CMT showcases it Saturday, Nov. 21 at 12:30am ET.