Bill Engvall is a little jet-lagged when he calls. The 57-year-old comedian has just returned from a vacation with his wife in the French Riviera. I ask him if he ever thought he’d be vacationing in France when he started his career in comedy.

“The only Paris I thought we’d be going to would be Paris, Texas,” Engvall says with a chuckle. “Coming out of the club circuit, and now I get to work at places like the Honeywell Center.”

On Saturday, Oct. 18, the “Blue Collar Comedy Tour” stand-up will take the stage at the Honeywell Center in Wabash. “I like to think of my shows as a 90-minute story,” says Engvall. “It lends itself to that kind of venue.”

He says he got the taste for stand-up while attending Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. “I did a couple of shows for my fraternity brothers,” he remembers. “But I never thought this was what I was going to do.”

After dropping out of college, Engvall moved to Dallas and got a job as a DJ at a night club. In 1980 a comedy club opened in the city, and Engvall decided to do an open mic.

“I did like five minutes on living in Dallas,” Engvall recalls. His set went over so well with the owner that he was offered a job as the house MC. The opportunity allowed him to work with comedic all-stars like Jay Leno, Garry Shandling and Jerry Seinfeld.

“When I finally went out on the road, I had about 30 to 45 minutes worth of material,” he says. Engvall struck gold early on with his “Here’s Your Sign” bits. “That’s what brought people to the party.”

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His first album, Here’s Your Sign, released in 1996, went platinum and topped the Billboard Comedy Chart for 15 straight weeks. His sophomore effort, 1998’s Dorkfish, debuted atop the Billboard Comedy chart and was certified gold.

The 90s proved to be good to Engvall. On top of the success of his records, he won the American Comedy Award’s “Best Male Stand-up Comedian” in 1992. He made several television appearances on The Tonight Show and Late Show with David Letterman, was a regular on The Jeff Foxworthy Show and also appeared on a few episodes of Designing Women. But the turn of the century would herald Engvall’s most popular and lucrative gig yet.

In 2000, Engvall set out on the first Blue Collar Comedy Tour with fellow comedians Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White (who performed at the Honeywell Center in July). The tour was wildly successful, resulting in three hit movies and albums and the TV series, Blue Collar TV. The runaway success of Blue Collar put Engvall on millions of television screens all around the world.

“That was the perfect storm,” says Engvall. “It hit at the right time.”

He became the star of his own television show, The Bill Engvall Show, which aired on TBS from 2007 to 2009 and spring-boarded the career of a young Jennifer Lawrence. In 2007 he and Larry the Cable Guy starred in Delta Farce. Engvall, Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy embarked on the popular Them Idiots Whirled Tour in 2012. He was also a finalist on season 17 of Dancing with the Stars.

Being in front of the camera has Engvall itching to do more acting work. “I’d love to do some movies,” he says. “And I’d like to do some drama.” He cites Robin Williams’ transition from comedy to drama as inspiration.

Though the silver screen has its draw, Engvall’s heart lies with stand-up. “I’ve got the perfect career,” he says.

“I’ve loved every minute of it,” continues Engvall. “When I’m on stage, for 90 minutes I’ve got 2,000 new best friends.”

Interested in being on of Engvall’s new best friends? He has performances scheduled for 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Oct. 18. Tickets range from $27 to $75. Visit www.honeywellcenter.org for tickets and more information.