Everyone has an inner voice they mostly keep quiet and that’s fine — comic Jim Gaffigan will say it for us.
Whether talking about Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the deliciousness of cake or his “greasy lover bacon,” Gaffigan’s inner voice, which sounds a bit like your least favorite judgmental grandmother, is a major part of his act, and a hilarious one at that.
The comic has been a regular on the late-night talk show circuit, including his popular animated series “Pale Force,” which mainly pokes fun at an overly effeminate Conan O’Brien. He also stars on the TBS comedy hit “My Boys,” and, with Larry the Cable Guy, Ron White, Carlos Mencia and Katt Williams, he is among the top selling comedians doing standup right now — not that he lets that go to his head.
“It’s not like it’s time to sit back and relax, even though I’m a lazy man and that’s all I want to do,” Gaffigan said in a phone interview from his home in New York.
In January, when production on the third season of “My Boys” was pushed back due to the recently ended writers’ strike, Gaffigan didn’t let laziness take over. Instead, he booked some standup dates, one of which will put him on stage at the F.M. Kirby Center in downtown Wilkes-Barre this Friday, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. Due to Gaffigan’s curse-free act, it is an all-ages show.
A self-proclaimed class clown who played sports and studied hard, Gaffigan definitely did not see himself doing standup today when he graduated with a degree in finance from Georgetown University in 1988.
“Secretly I always wanted to be a comedian, but I just didn’t think it was practical,” he said. “This was back before Comedy Central being on in every dorm room — it just didn’t seem like a realistic occupation.”
But he still found his way to a stage, mostly out of necessity.
“I feel like standup is something I almost have to do. It definitely has an addictive quality to it,” Gaffigan said. “Standup is very powerful — there’s an immediacy of creative fulfillment. You write a joke, you put it on stage and boom! It’s out there.”
Despite his need of being on the stage, Gaffigan isn’t someone who normally seeks the limelight.
“If we were at someone’s house for a party, there wouldn’t be 20 people gathered around me and me telling stories,” he said. “I don’t particularly like when people sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me, but I guess the high of making a room full of strangers laugh is very appealing to me, and I realize that sounds insane.”
Not only does he make those strangers laugh, he also meets those strangers via an open meet and greet after each show where he’ll take pictures and sign autographs.
“I’ve had some people have me sign their Bible, which I always find kind of odd,” he said. “But it’s a nice way of thanking people for spending over $30 to come and see me.
“And then there’s always a group of really pale people, whether they’re like Goth kids or just some pale 40-year-old guy who wants to meet another pale person.”
Gaffigan worked on “Pale Force,” which showcases a buff Gaffigan and a weak Conan, with his friend, Paul Noth, a cartoonist for The New Yorker. The series came about after the comic had several appearances on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.”
“We both have this self-effacing attitude about being pasty, and he would introduce me as the only person paler than him,” Gaffigan said. “In my set, I would address, in my ‘inside voice,’ Conan being pale.”
In January, the Emmy-nominated “Pale Force” had its second season finale but a third season is not in the works. Gaffigan is in the process of working on his next hour special. His most recent, “Beyond the Pale,” sold more than 100,000 copies each of its CD and DVD, but don’t expect the father of two to work kid jokes into the act.
“I remember being 26 and just starting standup and people telling jokes about wives and kids and thinking, ‘That’s really great. I can’t even get a date and you’re talking about that,’” he explained. “I wanted the jokes to work with everyone, and I do enjoy the challenge of making a beanbag chair funny or bacon or cake. Making the mundane funny is something I get a kick out of.”
Especially Hot Pockets. On YouTube, Gaffigan’s Hot Pocket skit has received more than 1.4 million hits, which makes the Weekender pose the question: If he had to eat nothing but Hot Pockets for the rest of his life, what flavor would Gaffigan choose?
“I’m very prone to bacon,” he replied, “but I would have to say probably the ham and cheese because that seems the most unoffensive — and I’ve had some that are just baffling in how bad they are.”
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go:
Who: Jim Gaffigan
When: Friday, Feb. 22, 8 p.m.
Where: F.M. Kirby Center, Wilkes-Barre
Tickets: $42.75, available at all Ticketmaster outlets, 570.826.1100 or www.kirbycenter.org
Info: www.jimgaffigan.com