After his first appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, Letterman himself asked Gaffigan to develop a show for Letterman’s production company, World Wide Pants. Although the show, Welcome to New York, didn’t work out, Gaffigan’s talent was recognized and soon he was making appearances on The Ellen Show, Ed, Law and Order, Sex and the City, and That ’70s Show. During this time, Gaffigan released four CDs of his standup on his own label and worked in films, with small roles in Three Kings, Road Trip, and Igby Goes Down. In 2004 he signed a deal with Comedy Central that would include a successful television special and his CD debut for the label, Doin’ My Time. The CD included Gaffigan’s soon to be famous routine on the dangers of eating Hot Pockets. MP3s of the routine would be attached to numerous emails and traded on the Internet before Gaffigan would return in 2006 with his Beyond the Pale CD, DVD, and television special. Bowling, bacon, and the Waffle House chain of restaurants were some of the topics covered on his 2009 release, King Baby. Returning to this theme, his 2012 effort, Mr. Universe, included the track titles “McDonalds,” “Subway,” and “Dominos.” “Donuts,” “Fried Bread,” and “Kobe Beef” all appeared on 2014’s Obsessed, an album that kicked off with the track “Can’t Stop Eating.” In 2017, Gaffigan released Cinco, the title referring to the fact that he’s the father of five children, and it was the soundtrack to his fifth comedy special for cable television. The 2018 stand-up special Noble Ape saw Gaffigan taking on a more personal tone that dealt with family medical issues and the possibility of him retiring from comedy. ~ David Jeffries
Noble Ape – Jim Gaffigan
A dry and clever American standup comedian who’s hateful toward Hot Pockets and proud to be pale, Jim Gaffigan is a regular on the late-night talk show circuit and an in-demand actor and successful author as well. His observational humor pokes fun at food, laziness, and fatherhood, among other things, and he is regarded as a “clean comic” who avoids using profanity. Since debuting in the early ’90s, Gaffigan has released a string of comedy albums, appeared in dozens of films and television programs, and published multiple books of humorous essays, making him one of the most successful comics of the early 21st century.