Fair officials announced that side-splitting comedy act Bill Engvall will be headlining at the Berrien County Youth Fair Thursday, Aug. 18.

Entertainment chairman Mark Young noted they are announcing one of the acts early because they are “excited — this is one of the biggest acts we’ve had in years.”

Widely known for his “Here’s Your Sign, Live” performance, which brought in 3.6 million viewers to Comedy Central on Aug. 1, 2004, Engvall has also appeared on Comedy Central in his “Blue Collar” movies and in his solo special “15 Degrees Off Cool,” which aired in March 2007 and was one of the highest-rated specials of the year.

He has starred in his own show, “The Bill Engvall Show,” which ran for three seasons, and hosted one of CMT’s top-rated shows, “Country Fried Home Videos.” In 2009 Engvall shot a one-hour special for Comedy Central at the Vic Theater in Chicago titled “Aged and Confused.” Prior to his big-screen debut, Engvall was one of the stars of the sketch comedy show “Blue Collar TV” on the WB Network that was watched by 5.4 million people on July 29, 2004. Engvall shot a special for the WB network called “Mobile Home Disasters” (a blue collar version of “Extreme Home Makeover.”) Engvall also made appearances on “The Tonight Show” and the “Late Show with David Letterman.”

Engvall’s first album, “Here’s Your Sign” (Warner Bros. May 1996) went to platinum status and dominated the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Comedy Chart for 15 straight weeks in 1996. His second CD, “Dorkfish” (Warner Bros. October 1998), was certified gold and surpassed Jerry Seinfeld’s No. 1 ranked album on the Billboard’s Comedy Chart. Every comedy album since has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Comedy Chart.

Engvall took to the big screen starring in “Delta Farce” alongside Larry the Cable Guy and D.J. Qualls in 2007. He co-starred in “Bait Shop” with Billy Ray Cyrus in 2008. Engvall also appeared in movies such as “Blue Collar Comedy Tour, The Movie,” “Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again” and “Blue Collar Comedy Tour — One For The Road.”

A native of Texas, Engvall’s life plan was that of becoming a teacher. While working as a DJ, he decided to try his luck at stand-up comedy one night and soon found out he’d uncovered his true calling. Soon after, he decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue television opportunities. Engvall has enjoyed success since that one improv performance.

The Berrien County Youth Fair Board is honored to bring Bill Engvall to the Berrien County Youth Fair.  Pre-sale tickets for the Bill Engvall show only go on sale Saturday, Feb. 12 at 10 a.m. at www.bcyf.org or at the fair office. Tickets for all 2011 grandstand shows, including Bill Engvall, will go on sale Saturday, March 26 at 9 a.m. at the BCYF office in Berrien Springs, or online at www.bcyf.org. All seats are reserved and are progressively priced: gold level seating, $40; silver level seating, $35; and bronze level seating, $25.

Limited handicap seating is available. The fair is once again offering a special deal on one-day gate admission tickets March 26 through Aug. 1. The gate admission sale price will be $5 each with the purchase of a grandstand ticket, which is $1 off of the regular price.

The Berrien County Youth Fair is Aug. 15-20 with this year’s theme “Proud of the Past, Poised for the Future.”