Jim Gaffigan in Conversation with Elliott Forrest

good evening and welcome to the New York Comedy Festival in the Jerome L green performance space and now your host from wqx R Elliott Forest thank you so very much and welcome to the Dromio green space this is great we want to welcome the New York Comedy Festival here for the very first time we're thrilled to have it in the clubhouses event tonight my guest is one of the most popular comics touring today he's a New York Times bestselling author his first book is called dad as fat and his latest book is called food a love story please welcome Jim Gaffigan thank you thank you Thank You NPR I feel accepted I'm so smart now we make you smart I think you know this I always wanted to do some stuff with NPR I mean I have done some stuff but I'm always excited every time I do something I'm like I'm smart I'm smart so great to have you here thanks for having me I've been a fan for a long time I know there's a lot of fans out of here for a long time there's a busy time for you busy busy week a busy month of as a year yeah very busy I mean I feel like it's always busy but easily because that's I have a thousand kids I want to get into parenting in detail in a little bit but uh you you have five kids yes you're constantly on to her and now the book to her are you ever home I yeah I mean well October was pretty crazy and it's you know my wife and I we usually you know I'll be gone for two weekends a month but October was not like that so yeah it's it's it's a struggle to make sure because in the end I don't want to suck at being a dad I mean I I know that I'll probably fail but it's an it's the most important job I'll fail that so yeah I a minor a little older than yours I have two kids uh definitely want to talk some parenting I want some advice I think I can give you some advice yeah well a little bit later on but you come from a big family I do yeah the youngest of youngest of six and um yeah so I was I recreated the chaos but you know the youngest you don't really know anything about kids so I I didn't know what I was getting into it do you put in any stock in this sort of like stereotypes and what the youngest is like and the oldest is like in the middle child you know it's it's interesting because if you're from a larger family or if you're even have a younger sibling the young is always spoiled in a baby and I'm the youngest so it's not true I was the middle kid so I always felt like I was always the de subtree so I was always the deciding vote right so if it was the little bitty you know cartoons and my sister wanted or if it was Star Trek that my brother wanted to watch I always get to pick that's sweet yeah I was right in the middle you grew up in Chesterton Indiana yes ultimate operas but propolis it's very similar to New York City cultural mecca of Indiana it's weed you know we didn't have a McDonald's until I was in high school so that's like everyone's quiet yeah like in my hometown they would have been how was amazing mates how big a town is Chester's and was it I mean it now it's it's got a lot bigger but I think it was maybe five ten thousand maybe eight thousand but it was there was there was a farmland there was you know I grew up in a place where kind of Rust Belt met farmland so there were friends that you know I went to parties in trailer parks and I I went to parties where I sat on bales of hay so it was but you know Chicago is in the distance and you know we could see it from across the lake and we're like I'm going there of course that came here and what did your parents do my dad was a banker and my mom was a housewife who did a lot of charity work and you know you know she raised six kids so and the youngest of six was there with their competition say for attention or food or anything like there was definitely competition for food uh I remember uh I had an older brother Mike who who was very mean I mean he's nice now but like like I have watched the Wonder Years and I'm like yeah that's that's what it was like you know but he would there was definitely competition for food like I would be eating cereal and if I had the last bowl of cereal and my brother Mike came in I knew he would kind of be angry so yeah there was definitely competition and I you know I think humor was very important in my family the joke and my family is that I'm considered funniest who are the other two my brother Joe and my brother Mitch and I would say yeah but I have more comedy specials their careers aren't going that well and we're your parents funny too I think yeah I think the the value of making my mom laugh was very important my dad was kind of funny I think some of it was uh you know he wasn't a humor wasn't a huge tool of his I think was very much a tool of the children to deal with the chaos of a large family so I think that um he was kind of funny I mean I wouldn't you know he would probably agree it wasn't like a huge commodity for him but it was very important among the siblings like doing an impression of my dad probably stopped some of my siblings from beating me up so do you want to do your dad well New York City cheese gem uh this is Elliot right yeah it's great to see you so yeah he had that calm that I could hear it like he could be outside and I'd hear the COFF and I'd be like oh he's coming in here because everyone was frightened of their dad right yeah at least first at some point yes you grew up in a Catholic family yes was that was that important to you no I was very much a you know my dad studied to be a priest and then he had six kids so but I'm any of that yeah he was you know he was his dad was a denture maker and back then they made him my hand and so I think that was kind of a way of getting an education he was the first one in his family to go to college and so when I became you know decided to become a comedian he's like it took us like eight generations to get a college education and now you're doing this and so but um yeah so he you know he was definitely um I don't even remember the question uh I think you've answered it I was uh exploring how your religion your Catholic important to you yeah maybe I was I was just blocking it out well you know the Catholic thing it's it's so strange because I lived in Little Italy here in Manhattan for twenty years across from old st. Patrick's and never went in there I never went in there like that you know they could have put a church in my apartment and I still wouldn't have gone in there and so I was raised kind of culturally Catholic and then I married my wife who is I describe as a Shiite Catholic and so and you know it's weird because you know her mother is like a saint surely she already got early admissions to heaven and everything but it's it's strange how that that kind of so I've kind of been slow to my faith and it's like the most awkward thing to talk about because I think it is very personal and I but it is weird because my you know my wife's mother was like I will pray for you I will you know so I'll pray for you for that audition initially I feel like that's kind of silly and then I would be like I get a callback and I'd be like hey I got a callback and you pray for me so I have kind of a you know it's very strange as a comedian to be a person who believes in God I think it's there's part of me that you know it's it's strange it's it's kind of inconsistent with it the you know comedians nihilistic kind of scientific viewpoint on things but it's there's also something contrarian about it it's kind of like well you know you yeah I'm sorry to curse heaven and what were you like in high school what were your activities in high school I was um it's weird I have no memory but um in high school I went to a very small high school my graduating class was 25 students so there wasn't like that John Hughes of the jocks of the Nerds or everyone was everything and um but it was you know I was an athlete I but I don't know I think I was always somebody who tried really hard and got B's and so I you know like my brother my one goal in high school was to go to Georgetown University and my brother went there and my mom and dad met at Georgetown and we had a dog named Hoya and I didn't get in and I remember I was like what do I do now so but I said that I killed myself No so I so I said no I went to Purdue which was a great school and I it was kind of that that failing there and kind of figuring out that I wasn't I think that was kind of instrumental in building some persistence in me kind of like alright well that's not going to stop me I'm still going to get in there and then I got in and I got kicked out no I did well what did you study there I studied finance and what did you think you were gonna do well I'm the youngest of six and my dad was a banker and all my older siblings had studied you know uh you know banjo yeah just all these you know my brother Mike is studied international terrorism before there was international charity so mark who is studying the bass separatists right and he graduate and he couldn't get a job so all my siblings couldn't get a job and so my dad was like I strongly encouraged finance and I was kind of uh you know I was kind of under the belief well alright I guess this is what I'm supposed to do and and it's interesting because I studied finance and I hated it and then I got a job as a litigation consultant and I hated it and I wasn't good at it and eventually it I reached a threshold where I was like Oh everyone's lying you know you have to do what you want so I think I was kind of slow to realizing that so what year was it that you actually moved here to New York it was a 1901 knows it feels like that you're holding up remarkably well I talked I talked to like a barista in a Starbucks yesterday and they were born in 2012 was there's just these moments where you like blood Oh power how old am i yeah no I moved here in 1989 and there's whenever there's always home oh that's interesting I was born in 95 how well the reason I ask is but I mean you didn't have a job here to come here I did I got a job in advertising before you came here yes I would come up and interviewed know that right so you know you had something to come yes in advertising yes to do what I was first I was an account guy and then eventually I was a copywriter but was it I were you focused on advertising at the time that came that New York or was there something about this entertainment Mecca that I want to be here you know there was something about New York City that I always loved and I always I loved all the things you know it's the diversity the energy just the it just feel it felt like a gathering place for weirdos I loved all of that and so I didn't I remember I used to like record things I don't like a little recorder because I was a serial killer and but I would do a little diary like a lunatic apparently but I would do these little recorded messages and I remember thinking you know I don't know what I'm gonna do with my life but I know I'm gonna find it in New York City and so I came here and you know eventually I did an improv class because I had a fear of speaking it's not speaking public speaking and how's that going and said and I so then someone dared me to do stand-up but I always wanted to do it but I was you always wanted to do stands in your way I remember watching Phyllis Diller and I thought she was amazing and it's like I wanted to do something like that and you know growing up in Indiana Letterman and you know Letterman it was he was like a god you know it was like wow he got out of Indiana you know and he you know was doing something very funny and his sense of humor you know like I loved bill Bill Murray - it's like their sense humor where it's sardonic but it's it's not punishing of people like maybe he's picking on people but their kind of insight in on the joke which I thought was important and that first time that you did letter yes that must have been huge for you it was huge it was you know there was a time when those late night shows were really so important I mean they were they were important from a career standpoint but there were also a validated thing you know stand-up comedy 25 years ago least how I and a lot of my friends it was a very weird occupation if you said you wanted to or you were doing stand-up comedy it was oh you can't afford therapy so yeah going on stage it was definitely the nut jobs a little bit right it was and so if you were on Letterman or Conan you it was okay you were you were a real comedian and so being able to say that was a big goal and also the fact that Letterman was from Indiana and I think really had a an influence on my point of view and the kind of sarcasm was important how did you get that spot I mean you can't just send your resume and it must have been yeah a while you must have thought you had you know there was a while your upon year and I was uh you know of my peer group I was uh I was the last of my peer group to get one of the late-night shows and who's the peer group that would like you you know we're just starting and people didn't they were but you were working who were they I you know I my peer group was a greg Giraldo uh Bonnie McFarland Judah Friedlander I'm sure I'm forget it but you have to understand my mini generation right above it or more experienced than us by a year or two was probably the best kind of generation of stand-up that we've seen which is louis c.k and Tiberio and Marc Maron and Dave Attell just like they were just this you know like Geraldo Greg and I we used to drive to Long Island to do shows because we couldn't get any stage time in New York at that point so it was yeah I mean it was it's it's a very interesting thing to consider that you know the you know that Geraldo and Judah you know who you know had some amazing success but it's weird you know cuz I remember I met greg Giraldo I was wearing a suit and he was wearing a suit and we were at Gladys's comedy club and it was the most clean-cut guy in the room everywhere let's talk about parenting a little bit before before we do tell us a little bit about your wife Jeannie you talk about her a great deal in in both your books well she's pretty amazing I mean she is uh you know she's very she's thin and attractive I look I look like I had two wives and I ate one of them yeah I but she's she Rose she is this force as you know she's this force of good and also just really tireless I mean it's just it's almost annoying how much energy she has and so the whole idea that she is the most fertile person on the planet you know I don't really you know I mean you know I I don't know how many kids were gonna have it could be a thousand you you're not dunya it's not up to me yeah but there is something about it where you know and I kind of talked about it and Dad it's fat where there's you know it's what would be the worst thing that would happen you know that I would you know have another kid you know that's I mean I'm very fortunate and you know I can afford it you know but I also you know I'm already exhausted you know it's like you know with each kid I you know I feel like I'm becoming a better person so I figure I only need another 34 but so I don't know it's it's a pretty amazing thing yeah the first Dada's fat you might why don't you explain how the title came about well the title of dad is fat comes from my now 8 year old son his first complete sentence probably when he was 4 or 5 on a dry erase board and he showed it to me it must have been so proud I you know the funny you know as a parent you know this it's like I laughed right and then I put him up for adoption but it's it's it's this theme like I'm not making this up two nights ago I was I was low I was lying down with my three-year-old my two-year-old sons and I was you know as you will when you're with these little kids you'll say you know when I was I was a little boy like you I like you guys I was a little boy just like you too and when I was a little boy they called me Jimmy and my 3 year old Michael said is that because you were fat I'm not making that up my god can you believe that I can and I laughed and then he just like a kid would repeated it for the next half hour Zach says you're fat is that cuz you're fat is that it's unbelievable I we talked backstage briefly I have two kids I witnessed the the miracle of childbirth twice yes did were you there all five times yes yes and they were all five deliveries in our apartment really with a midwife and tell us what led up to that choice well you know it's interesting because I am NOT someone who knows anything but my wife uh when when she was first pregnant she would go to I think the Judson health center which is on Prince Street and or Spring Street and she was meeting with a nurse who was studying to become a midwife and so that lady exposed her to the idea of home birth and my wife brought it up you know maybe I would have a home birth and I thought yeah yeah maybe next baby you'll have a home birth and but so you know then you know of course she studied everything about it and then she educated me on it and and so the first baby was it was not intended to be a home birth it was tended to be a natural birth in a birthing center and but we were in our apartment and her mom was there who's had who had nine kids and she but the the mother or my wife's mother's father was a an obstetrician so she was like we gotta go we gotta go to the hospital now and um you know there was a midwife there and she and my wife was like I want to do it here and I was like you know but I'd gone through like three months of being educated on this and you know it's it is very strange the midwifery there's like I mean I and that's not what I mean what I mean is like there is a stain of strange bigotry towards it that really doesn't make sense like if you look at all the facts and I know that there's all these stories of you know yeah you know you know I had a joke about it it's like yeah we were gonna do a home birth but we wanted our baby to live yeah so but people will say that - yeah yeah it's and it's understandable because it's your baby you don't want to risk anything but the facts as I understand it are that you know home birth is its you know it's the only thing I've known you know I haven't had any babies but it's the only thing I've known and it's pretty amazing and you know obviously no one's going to endanger their child or their their wife or anything like that and I think there's a strange stigma about it and that's why I'm running for Senator after this week I think we'd all vote for you so you're in the same apartment you've been in for a while right well you know we were in a two-bedroom with five kids and then we moved now we live in a studio apartment now we moved we we moved it's I don't know how big it is my wife designed everything so it's it's big you know there's there's three rooms for the kids and you know we have a bedroom and it's it's it's pretty amazing by New York standards but it was a loft that we kind of carved up yeah you write in your book about trying to be about cool parenting what exactly is that well if you know it's interesting because I just I mean look at me I mean I'm not you know I'm not somebody who's going to be on the cover of Rolling Stone anyway so I the notion of cool I just think it's kind of strange when people there's something icky about making your kid cool it's just they should they should succeed or fail or whatever they should find their own way and I just think that the cool panting kind of like and it's look it's adorable when you know a two-year-olds wearing a fedora but it just it just seems like and maybe if you work in the fashion industry you got a fedora lying around I don't know I just I just get his accessories it's just I just I don't know I just think it's kind of silly the cool parenting do any of the stand up skills actually help you as a parent none I don't know um there is something I mean my schedule you know people that have babies know this there is you know I would do the late shift for feeding the babies so like people like I had to get up at 3:00 and I'm like well I'm already up at 3:00 so I can help out at 3:00 but that's some of the schedule of a comedian but I don't know I think there's um I don't know that's a great question but I'm sure there's something that it's very strange being a dad who happens to be a comedian because we've had parent-teacher conferences this week and a lot of the teachers are life and your kids funny like that's what I'm looking to hear Oh their major concern they they make the other kids laugh like I'm like good that's what I care about are like and do they expect you to be entertaining at PTA meetings yeah or just or like if there's a behavior problem they're like wow you know they do sometimes talk out of turn but you're a comedian right so it's it's a little bit strange and it's weird because you know my dad you know was I mean I don't know if no matter what an occupation I'd have I think I would still be overwhelmed by the process that you know just the task of being a dad it's pretty intimidating right yes yes it is and and I think the feeling is is that kind of like whatever you think is right yeah you're you're usually wrong yeah let's talk about your new book it's called food a love story yes it's a beautiful love story it is a beautiful love how much do you love food you know ah I think I really do love food I think it's you know I started stand-up 2500 years ago I started stand-up 20 over 20 years ago and I over the course of that at that time I've seemed to be drawn to food as a topic and if some of it is I I like it that it's universal I don't have to explain what Bologna is to people or I can have a strong point of view and I won't alienate people and it's just a topic that's that's always been kind of something that I've been trying to manage like my wife and I would write everything together and we always have these things all right no more food and then the next special it's like all right 10 minutes on bacon you know so there's something about food that has really just been part of me and it's not like I grew up where Mario Batali was my dad or anything it's just a strange kind of you know attachment I have to it mostly as like as an outlet for comedy I think so in that and the book really I was I compiled some of it I wrote a lot of essays specifically for the book and I had tons of material that didn't work and stand-up like I have 20 pages on cheese you know I have essays on crackers you know yes it's stuff that you wouldn't even contemplate doing it yeah you take on crackers like hey everybody what kind of you got Triscuits or Wheat Thins people here you know so uh it was fun to do but it's also when I got done writing it my wife wanted to do a disclaimer at the end that just said no one should live this life but um I did get done and I was like I've got a problem well I'd like to get in some of the details because it's great fun um you you're not a foodie no what do you call yourself I'm an IDI I I am an ad and you know and by the way and that's you know it's I started writing this book and I was relatively ignorant on the huge I mean I knew that there was a you know the food culture and I knew that you know every October there's a Food and Wine Festival I knew all that and I knew that rich people go out to dinner every night but I didn't realize the level of food books that I didn't realize like Rachael Ray that show there is a celebrity saying here's my cookbook every day for a year and you know and so I didn't realize that and so um you know I I don't consider myself a foodie and some of it is I you know I don't have anything against foodies i I am you know I'm jealous of their culinary escapades and but I'm also not that bored with regular food you know I like I don't need to go to Greenpoint to get a hamburger look I just want the closest best ham it must be hard to eat well and be on the road at the same time it's yeah you know it's it's hard because there's you know an airport I think it's illegal to sell good food in an airport it's the limit changes right it's changing so much right as I travel away too much but there's you know just eating healthy one time I was in South Bend's Airport which is amazing you should go there because it was designed by Stalin I was in the South Bend Airport and I said oh I'll get an apple and I realized it was a decoration there is no fruit or vegetables not that I like fruits or vegetables but it's like I should probably eat something healthy and you're not a fan of seafood no I'm not any kind of seafood you know little salmon with the wasan no I wish I liked salmon but salmon to me it just tastes like like tuna that someone left in the Sun it's I wish I liked it I think that's you know it's there's moments where I'm like oh I am white trash and I I feel that way with with fish and seafood you know I I can do a shrimp cocktail but that is that's a cockroach right I mean and it's the conduit for the cocktail sauce yes it really is and so you know clams and oysters you know New York City was very much a destination for oysters and to me that's not sin Iraq yeah you can say that on NPR you you revisit a delicacy in your book that you're kind of famous for and and so I thought I'd actually bring some of it out if we could all right Aaron could you join us on stage here is it caviar the blessing and the curse yeah so on the curse that's a lovely display thank you it's like NPR so I you know such classy people people are like what is I have to Google what happens is did you ever dream when you started to talk about this thing that it would become such an important part of your life and a signature it's gonna put my children through college or some of them but ya know is I kind of touched on this it's it's it's pretty interesting as a comedian you come up with a joke and you you know you usually expand around it you have no idea what's you have an inkling of what's going to be funny but I didn't this was just luck that the timing of it the popularity of the rise in the popularity of it the fact that no other comedian got to it first it's but it's it's so strange because it's it's one of those things where it's I think we're also witnessing the decline of Hot Pockets now is that sad for you no not really but it's it's uh but you know like even the fact that they had that recall right they had a recall like it was a transmission on a Dodge yeah yeah like it's food just throw it away I mean recall it because some of the meat was determined to be unsound that just sounds like you're hiding information you know is it poison it's unsound I wouldn't feed it to a baby it's it's just it's just the gift that keeps giving you you bring it up in your new book and you tell the story of that first time I think it was a Caroline's yes it was a Caroline's and it was just like one of many little bits that you just decided you're always doing shows you know trying to develop material and it was a showcase show at Caroline's and I had seen this commercial for this product and it had the most ridiculous jingle there was a hot baguette and I was and I thought it was it felt like an SNL commercial it just seems so ridiculous and so I went on stage and kind of had a couple of jokes where I was making fun of the jingle and the commercial and it got some laughs and I walked offstage and Vic n Lee who's a comedian who he was like that's that's that's that's really a ripe topic you gotta explore that and I was like I don't know these people don't even know what it is and and but eventually people did and it's weird I've done corporate events I did a corporate event for like the head of Chevy dealers and it was really interesting because none of those people in the room there was probably 20 couples none of them knew what a hot pocket was because there were so you know they had they'd never done any shopping you know it was it was a strange thing I picked some I enjoyed going to shop for them because you talked about the fact in your book that there's a lot of variety is a huge which I had no idea I'll spin this around the limited-edition version yeah I love that that's the collector's item right limited-edition it's like there's they're just there's no self-awareness right there's no kind of like alright we're this is just a Jamaican meat pie limited-edition you know it's weird cuz there's something I mean my Twitter feed is just filled with every other comment is just someone saying hot pocket I walk through an airport in someone will yell hot pocket not even your name and I don't know how to respond I don't know if I should say thanks or I pocket yeah but they say it kinda you know that I got a lot and so it's it's very strange have you heard from the hot pocket people I you know there was this going back because uh there was an online study that some people emailed me about because they were participants it is like during the myspace era where they were determining if my comedy was helping or hurting sales and they determined that it was helping through this even though you don't talk about it all I'm not that positive no about but it's it kind of goes with the you know all press is good press I am the thing and they know it's not caviar no yeah it's not like you're like oh wait a minute this isn't good you know wait a minute I have been serving this a dinner parties yeah they know so the other one I loved which was a surprise today and they have the healthy version yep a lean pocket lean pocket I had no idea that it's actually good for you I guess yeah it's you know I talked about in my act where it's just like the directions are just take out of take out of the box and put it in a toilet yeah Lane pocket yeah and then they have a different different color it's green it's green so it's like environmentally friendly it's like composting yeah and you are also in your routine you were you let us know how long you should go could you you should shoot it you should cook it for three minutes which is exactly how long it stays in your system but it's it's so it's come on it looks like a joke let's be serious good oh they're glued down oh just a little taper your glue it down alright you know he's such a pig he might start eating them that's spicy beef oh come on America but it's an amazing it's an amazing American story right the this were two brothers this is the story that I and in Denver you can drive by housing like that's not packing house and there's like a mansion but I think it's like two brothers that came from Iran and they came up with what was it Jamaican meat pie or a calzone and they just renamed it hot pocket and they sold it to Nestle for five hundred billion dollars so it's a pretty amazing story well congratulations I think is an order of thank you um I had seen that also your picture is up at Katz's Deli oh yeah very important how did that come about I well I go to Kansas Deli um because it's close to my house but also I love pastrami and I love that it's kind of an old New York kind of thing and I'll bring my kids there that'll be there the daddy and me time is me feeding them smoked meat and so I've I've brought each of my kids in there and one time I went in there and we got our picture taken so people can see that I serve my then five-year-old smoked meat and so yeah but I go in there a fair amount and you know I'm doing this TV show for TV land and Comedy Central and you know come at Katz's Deli is is a pretty important destination in there that's kind of my office what's a it's you're shooting it now or it hasn't come out yet we'll start shooting it in February and what is it called it's called the Jim Gaffigan show it's like how arrogant is that right well know what it's about yeah and I'm curious do you've watched the Food Network a whole network of food is that interesting to you you know I I don't I I love food I understand that people love to watch it but for me it's a little bit like um you know like a strip club I just I I don't want to go there and watch yeah so like the Food Network I had a joke about the Food Network where it's just it just seems a little frustrating right and then if you're hungry it's just kind of painful to watch good right so I don't know I mean I I just met I think I missed that and you know I don't enjoy cooking and um and that seems kind of inconsistent they're like you like to eat you must love to cook and I'm like I like to sleep I don't like to make beds either all right you you cover fast-food in your new book food a love story as well and you had mentioned that you didn't have a McDonald's in your hometown yeah well done but you really break it down to you have you have a favorite of the fast foods well I I love Shake Shack I there's different there's different kinds of fast-food places right but yeah I mean I can break it down a lot of different ways I mean it depends on the region of the country you're in right and so like it name a city and I'll tell you where I would eat los angeles los angeles i would go to in and out and then you know like if I was in and I'm talking chains so like everyone's a guy in my hometown you go to bombs I don't know about Bob's um but so if I was in say st. Louis I would go to a Steak and Shake if I was in the Upper Midwest like Wisconsin or Michigan I would go to Culver you know there's different places you know I like jack-in-the-box I think that's not bad yeah and I mean everyone's life this was a mistake uh that's the guy he said he liked jack-in-the-box I just love the fact that they have a sauce named Jack sauce it's just it's just unbelievable but one person at the corporate obvious one maybe we shouldn't do that now one guy five guys is great too that's where you go that's five guys five guys yeah had one recently it was really great a little messy but it was really great especially then you get free peanuts too you break down the fried chicken now is that yes any of this good for you no it's not it's all poison and we know that it is but I'm not saying every meal should be Popeyes but uh I mean I don't know if you could do that you'd probably die pretty quick but Popeyes is amazing and then you know Kentucky Fried Chicken it's just amazing the the desperation at some of these fast-food places like I don't know if you've seen this it's not in the book but like Taco Bell has the waffle taco and then KFC has like two chicken patties with a burger in it and it's just it's like it's sad it's like just just go home yeah it's like you're embarrassing yourself right sometimes they come up with names and you know they're not really food yeah they double down you're like no don't do that they had one when I was a kid to talk about the Guadalajara it's like what's in that yeah I have no idea what's in there you mentioned bacon earlier you spend a bit of time in the book talking that's important to you it's over under pages you that there is a Food Network show that you would love which just bacon the entire show is just about me again I don't want to watch it I want to eat boy take it so why do you think bacon is so important in our society I don't know there is well supposedly there's studies where you get the same reaction eating bacon that you do doing cocaine and I think that's great and I read that I was like yeah that sounds about right but uh I don't know there's something even the smell right it's it's amazing the the effect bacon is and I think it's really interesting I talk on about this in the book is you go to different cultures and you know even Canada their bacon I mean it's not bacon but but it's a different type of bacon right and then you go to England and they're bacon you're like you got to cook this longer yeah this is not bacon this is like bacon and ham stuck together you know you got to fix that but I just want to help and you also have a theory in the book about Kevin yeah Kevin Bacon I his success it's most definitely associated with his name I mean you know you can't tell me that some of his success is not I mean it's like you wouldn't want to go to a Kevin tofu movie or Kevin hotdogs movie Kevin Bacon you want to go to a movie who's in it Kevin Bacon York it sounds good let's grab some lettuce and some you know some white bread and we'll make a little Kevin Bacon sandwich I guess Tomatoes too right you uh you take on southern food a little bit you were complaining about biscuits and gravy oh not complaining that's I love I I did a tour of the south and a bus tour where I had this gets in gravy for like seven days straight and I still haven't gone to the bathroom and that tour was 25 years ago but it's just biscuits and gravy it's amazing and it's an example of just how in the south there like we give up we're not even yeah they're eating that the fact that they're eating that is a little bit like alright you're you're just not gonna try but they're eating it in the morning you know it's like that's why the South will never rise again because they're essentially eating paper mache but it's so good it's amazing it's amazing you a big family out as we talked about five kids do is it important to eat together to have meals Tyler I think there's something I mean I ate with them I mean I eat all the time so but I think there is something kind of important about eating together and I think it's a luxury not a lot of people can do it and you know because I work at night often I can eat meals with them and you know they're not that good at it you know like babies it's like a babies are so bad at eating like they miss their mouth like how bad are you at eating you missed the place where you want it's embarrassing really but I do think that there's something about sharing a meal with someone that is uh I don't know there's a strange intimacy in it right just agree with me actually yes yes you uh you also confront your own mortality in this book and you talked a little bit about the last meal right right yeah do you think do you think about death alone constantly no I you know some of it it was you know what you know I thought about the idea of a last meal I just think it's really interesting that I don't even know if it's true but you know like on death row like before they execute you you can have your last meal which seems like it seems kind of like a James Bond villain thing like before I kill you mr. monk would you like a steak yeah it's a very strange thing to do and so um but I think there's the concept of a last meal and maybe a justification for you know definitely a justification for eating unhealthy and having a cheeseburger every two hours is you know your last meal you wouldn't want your last meal like you wouldn't want to spend the rest of eternity just saying I can't believe I had kale soup yeah look uh what you eat I I was at Smith & Wollensky and had a steak what'd you have I had a PowerBar you know if you want a meal to count and you know just as you'd want your last moments to be with someone important you want that meal to count and so then I and I kind of detailed where are you what you should be eating based on how you died so like if you die in prison you should be eating Bologna or if you're on a private jet you should be eating Kobe beef or if you died like save from diarrhea it should be a hot pocket or dysentery I didn't say I did want to congratulate you you were awarded concert comic of the year yeah and this year from the American Comedy Awards congratulations thank you thank you was our big ceremony and a knighting what was that like that was you know it's weird it sounds like made-up award of the concert the guy who goes on stage award from American Comedy Award thing um no that was yeah there was an event in February and I think it was on NBC or something like that but yeah no it's very it's amazing look you know the weird thing is like I always think of awards is so silly but when you win one you're like well this isn't that bad yeah they're not that silly at least this one's not this must be a great time for you because I remember reading Steve Martin's book on being a stand-up and he basically charts that entire book based on how big the venue's got at a certain point right and they've been growing and growing for you as well that must be important and also gratifying to you it's it's important but there's also you know there's I mean I think that stand-up the conversation which is stand-up because it is a conversation that it can't the venue shouldn't get too big because if forgets there's a little bit intimacy's impor and you know screens and maybe big larger-than-life performers can do it but I don't think that it should get that big like even this this venue is is great and some of it is because of the size right it feels a little bit more special and that's not to say that if we were in Madison Square Garden it wouldn't been cool but there's more of you know there's more proximity and communication that that happens in a smaller place and so the venues and even though Steve Martin was and is a giant it's I do think that comedy should not get beyond 2600 seats even though I do venues all the time that are larger but well I mean in his book I mean basically that's what ended that stand-up is that they were so big people were calling out bids and it became impossible for it just it gets enormous like I did an oddball festival show were I was on with a bunch of other comedians but it was 22,000 people and you're like and it was and I think everyone had a good time but I think there's there's nuance and subtlety and stand-up that can get lost you know in a larger venue and that's why I'm running for Senator by the way I have shows at Madison Square Garden no you were on center yeah we recently called the king of clean by The Wall Street Journal you're not happy with that clean comic thing the clean thing is it's an Astra can people will say why are you a clean comedian and I just explained that Jesus told me to ah but I I did drop the f-bomb tonight already I know it's so but I think the clean I think comedians get a lot of credit or criticism for doing the comedy that they would do anyway so I'm you know yes I do curse in everyday life but some of what I'm talking about in my stand-up and you know I'm rewriting and everything so it feels like it's not necessary to curse if you're discussing bacon or doughnuts it's like how angry am i and and then you know and some of it is is kind of personality you know I am from a small town in Indiana I mean I did curse and um but so it's not kind of my I'm not a flame thrower you know I'm not somebody who wants to shock everyone you know I'm gonna shock these people out of their seat I just want to make people laugh and run for Senate or yeah so but it's weird so the clean thing is it feels a little bit like an asteroid you know it's like he's six at least clean you know but that's also my neurosis maybe the you you also do an inner voice within your your comedy that I know everyone loves and appreciates how did that how did that come about I don't know what you're talking yeah ah that was um that was something that was part of my personality since I was like a teenager it was just an effective tool to defuse a situation to help communicate to somebody else that I had self awareness of the situation so if I showed up late I would just go Jim I can't believe you're late you said you wanted me to get here on time but you're late and so it can kind of it can it's it's an effective tool right and it was it was very um I think I started using it in my act because I am a slow talking mid Westerner and so when I would do shows in New York I would say I would talk like this and then I would stop and then people would yell something out so if I kept talking or if I talked for them right because it's usually their their voice that yeah right and so yeah and some of it is you know it's very strange as a performer you you look out and you see different faces and many of them are smiling or enjoying it but somebody might be lost in thought or there might be somebody that you know you can they're just kind of looking at you like with a strange curved up I like what are you talking about and so just giving that person a voice is kind of funny and and it's it's a it's a great opportunity to to you know in point of view driven comedy it's great to be able to go to the other point of view so if I'm doing a joke and then the person you know somebody that could be offended by what I'm saying or they could have the opposite opinion and they could say a joke the inside voice could you remember when it really killed the first time and you thought there's something here I think it first worked I you know I did it as a character at this place surf reality which is on the Lower East Side and I would do these characters and one of them was this lady who would just go onstage and just improvise criticizing the show and so it worked there but it was kind of hit or miss in my stand-up but the first time I think it really worked with at the DC improv and I just did it but you know there's a balancing act and how much I've used it now it's always fun because it adds an improv element but I you know I don't want it to be out of control you know like and I think that's kind of some of its inspired by Jonathan winters I think Jonathan winters was amazing and again just this character that where there was a complexity behind it not that that voice has it but Jonathan winters was amazing I often think that there might be a lot of competition from comedians but I sense that that's not true I sense that it's a very supportive community is that is that mostly right you know it's it's if there's the cliche that you know comedians don't like each other and I don't think that's true I think that we might be oh there's so many different types of comedians and different personalities and and different backgrounds but we all kind of consider ourselves weirdos like we're all from another planet so even if we do stand up that we don't like we're like hey you're a weirdo like me so there's that common bond and there's times when I'll be doing a show or not or in a comedy club and I'll be talking to somebody and you you I know that there are comedian even before they're introduced as a comedian there's just something kind of a little bit off and I mean that in a positive way yeah I mean there's nothing normal about going onstage and making strangers laugh I mean there's just you can't sit there and say well the normal thing is you go onstage and seek approval from thousands of people but I mean I love it in addition to that approval though do you really think about the power of laughter and what you really provide people do you think about that sometimes that there's this physical and emotional response that people pay money to come so that they can have that kind of experience and that you deliver that to them you know I I think if you if you if you start thinking that what doing is important you can kind of it can get away from you so I mean it's great I mean I do shows where it's a benefit new they're like you've helped us fight breast cancer and I was like well I was gonna do a show anyway you know like like tell us tell us about last night well last night was the the Bob Woodruff foundation host stand up for Heroes which is this amazing event it's an amazing organization and uh and they have you know Bruce Springsteen performs and there's just amazing comedians I've been lucky enough to do it a couple times and it's you know it's amazing like the veterans thing is you know it's it's something that I think it's not like we're ever going to get done with like showing appreciation to our veterans so when you do an event like that and there's veterans in the audience and some of these people are you know the Bob Woodruff foundation is is kind of filling in the gaps because I don't think we really take care of our veterans enough and that's why I'm running for Senator but I it's it's so it's so interesting to do a comedy show where there is such a serious topic underlying it and there's people with awards that cover their shoulders and I'm up there telling diarrhea jokes it's it's a very strange balance but again I'm doing stand-up I love doing stand-up and it's just flattering to do it but it's like you know I'm you know I don't want to give myself credit you know for doing anything exceptional you know I mean it was you know it's just kind of you know we consider like the service of veterans I mean I'm you know I'm a coward yeah I mean I don't want to do that I don't want to get up in the morning you know or like have someone bossed me around I mean I got my wife yeah but I don't need that this is totally whiz by I've thoroughly enjoyed this please join me in thanking Jim Gaffigan before we go I just want to thank the green space team the staffs of wqx our and WNYC the staffs of Caroline's and the New York Comedy Festival including Luis Fernanda Lauren green hall and my dear friend Caroline Hirsch his new book is called food a love story before we thank Jim one more time we did nuke the hot pockets we do have some of them available for you on your way out thank you so much for being here Jim Gaffigan you

Channel: WNYC

Views: 583,566

Keywords: WNYC, Public, Radio, Jim Gaffigan (Musical Artist), Comedy (Theater Genre)

Id: GRn_iP14w1U

Length: 64min 36sec (3876 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 06 2014