[legion]

Larry doesn't hide that this is his on-stage persona. He frequently does interviews on CMT not in character. He even explains how he came up with the character and the character's name.

Yes, some of his bits aren't funny, but some are genius. He is able to go between very low-brow humor and some unexpectedly complex humor with ease--I suspect that a lot of his more complicated humor goes right over the heads of people that aren't expecting it. It's usually some of his short one-liners that are the real gems and are easily overlooked. He's a pretty intelligent guy and he crafted a character that is the perfect vehicle for delivering a certain brand of humor.

If you think about it, he's no different than Marylin Manson. He figured out what sells and how to market it, and is very wealthy as a direct result of his own innovation.