Jim Gaffigan Details
If you were learning about Jim Gaffigan for the first time from his Wikipedia page, you might not be too eager to go watch his comedy immediately afterwards. “His humor largely revolves around fatherhood, observations, laziness, and food,” Wikipedia says of Gaffigan. While that statement is objectively true, it undersells the distinct, instantly recognizable voice that Gaffigan brings to the stage. A Division I football player in college, Gaffigan moved to New York City upon graduation to pursue a career in comedy. Influenced by his idols David Letterman and Bill Murray, he slowly found his own style, one that is self-deprecating while still outward-facing—his ability to turn the mundane into the uproariously hilarious is matched only by Jerry Seinfeld in the history of stand-up comedy. The high-pitched tone he uses to impersonate concerned audience members in his act has been imitated by many, but never duplicated.
Gaffigan’s first special, Beyond the Pale, was filmed for Comedy Central in 2005. The special contained his iconic riff on Hot Pockets (“How ‘bout we fill a Pop-Tart with nasty meat?”) and propelled him into being one of the most famous comedians in America. Subsequent specials in the following years—King Baby, Mr. Universe, Obsessed, to name a few—only further solidified his status among stand-up’s elite. Along with his wife Jeannie Gaffigan, he created and starred in The Jim Gaffigan Show for TV Land; the show aired for two seasons from 2015 to 2016. His latest special, Cinco, landed on Netflix in 2017.