XL COMEDY

Gaffigan likes being 'that guy'

Comedian, in Austin to perform and record Comedy Central special, likes going back and forth between acting and standup gigs

By John DeFore
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Thursday, December 04, 2008

Actor/comedian Jim Gaffigan is used to being thought of as "that guy" — the pasty, average-looking dude who might have made you laugh pretty hard on David Letterman, might have stolen a scene in "Super Troopers" or "That '70s Show," but whose name just never sunk in.

A healthy fan base knows his name well, though, which is why of the five shows he's playing at the Paramount over three nights (tonight through Saturday ), all but one sold out well before Thanksgiving. These are the final nights of his "Sexy Tour" and will be filmed for his next Comedy Central special, which is set to air in March. He spoke to us on the phone from his home in New York City.

American-Statesman: Your tour schedule is pretty sporadic.

Jim Gaffigan: It's kind of designed so I can be gone for two days and then spend time with my wife and family. It probably would have been easier and more efficient for us to add Wednesdays and Thursdays and tear through the 20 cities or whatever, but I definitely want to keep family the priority. In Austin, my whole family will come down.

Most guys in your shoes tend to choose between pursuing screen acting and keeping active as stand-ups. Is there something that makes the dual career appealing to you?

Each of them individually has incredible positives, but has pretty obvious negatives. For stand-up, you're pursuing this lifestyle that literally makes you peak at 11 o'clock at night, you know, and so it makes it hard to pursue any sense of normalcy. Whereas acting, if I just pursued that — I feel that's the most insane occupation in the world. Getting the jobs is pretty insane, and then even when you are working on a TV show or a movie, it's like you're working, typically, 16 hours a day, plus travel.

You use an 'inner voice' onstage that sounds like a very proper, easily offended woman. Is that voice from someone you know?

Not the voice itself, but talking for other people in their point-of-view is something I've done in everyday life as long as I can remember, as a way to disarm a situation. If I'm late to meet someone, instead of apologizing, I will do, like, "Jim, I can't believe you're late! I told you to be here 20 minutes ago!" It's an effective way to disarm someone.

But I used to do improv characters when I first started out, and one of those characters was an older lady who was just critical and dissatisfied with everything. I began weaving it in (to standup material), I'd say eight years ago, nine years ago. Eventually it began to work in traditional standup venues, so I weaved it in.

I have to ask if the Hot Pockets folks have ever made their feelings known to you. (One of Gaffigan's most popular bits is a scathing mockery of the microwavable snack.)

Not officially. It's really interesting, because the Hot Pockets thing. ... I mean, they know it's not caviar. So it's kind of like making fun of 7-Eleven, you know, like "please — give us the publicity!"

There is part of me that's like, "That was from the last special, and I kind of want to move on." But I will throw it in at the end of a show, because there's a lot of people who are coming because they want to hear that joke.

It's funny: Now Hot Pockets has this kind of guerrilla marketing — a guy dressed as a Hot Pocket, coming to stand outside my theater shows, passing out Hot Pocket coupons! I'm not kidding.