The familiar thrum of an audience waiting in anticipation for the show to begin envelops your senses. You can hear small bits of conversations as you patiently (or not) wait in line to get inside the venue. Everyone has a mental countdown to the minute you and a bunch of strangers will laugh at a definitely politically incorrect (but oh-so-funny) joke. This description can describe any show, yet when Jim Gaffigan tells his first joke, it hits differently.
For those who don’t know, Jim Christopher Gaffigan is a six time Grammy nominee and a jack of all trades playing an actor, writer, producer, comedian, recording artist, touring performer, and even best selling author (twice). From writing and running a self-inspired show of his life, to his most recent tour titled the ‘Barely Alive Tour,’ Gaffigan has been undoubtedly busy. So yes, he’s been around the block. Out of curiosity, respect, and a love for laughing, my family and I bought tickets at Beacon Theater to see the funny man do what he does best.
Located on 2124 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the Beacon Theater featured gold accents with a classic Greek style and a massive statue of Athena in all her glory. The classic, almost royal backdrop of the theater contrasted with the background music, which was almost comical in comparison. The music included, ‘abcdefu,’ by Gayle and ‘Savage Love,’ by Jason Derulo and Jawsh 685. This truly set the stage for an interesting night. The playlist, including titles by pop star Olivia Rodrigo, was more akin to a teenage girl’s break up playlist on Spotify rather than the opening to renowned comedian father in his late 50s. Maybe his children have had more influence on him than he knows.
If you are a tried and tested fan of Gaffigan, you may have watched one (or all) of his six (currently available) Netflix specials. But regardless of your fandom status, you can’t deny the magnetic pull of this man. As an avid fan and viewer of stand-up, I have watched all six specials. I find that if you watch them in order of release, you can watch Gaffigan’s shows evolve as he gets older and he enters new stages of his life. Watching the years pass by, his humor becomes darker, bitter, and more centered around asking, “why-am-I-on-this-earth?” At the show, in his usual self-deprecating manner, one of the first things he commented on was his weight loss. He jokingly questioned why anyone would work out when they could take a drug (like he is) to lose weight.
If you know anything about Gaffigan, you know his love of food. His most recent movie, Unfrosted, is the story behind the creation of the pop tart. It’s got some big names (and close friends of his) including Jerry Seinfeld, Amy Schumer, Hugh Grant, and Melissa McCarthy. The show I attended, part of the ‘Barely Alive’ tour, actually started in 2023 with four of the earlier shows co-headlining with Jerry Seinfeld. Gaffigan commented on his shows with Jerry Seinfeld in an interview on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert stating, “We [Jerry Seinfeld and Jim Gaffigan] love to just talk comedy and craft and stuff like that. So, that’s why some of we doing these shows. It’s so that we can hang out and just nerd out.”
Starting out Gaffigan was just a guy complaining about his father, and now, here he is, a father complaining about his children. Gaffigan’s son, Jack Gaffigan (the second eldest) has opened for his father multiple times. When you go to a Gaffigan show, it’s truly a whole family. It’s-a-small-world, full circle kind of show. And full circle it was for my family and I. You see, that night, three generations of my family were present, my paternal grandmother, my two parents, and me, the latest addition. Little did I know how fitting the presence of three generations would be to the topic of today’s show, ‘Barely Alive.’ While Gaffigan made his witty commentary on a plethora of topics including religion, AI, the pharmaceutical industry, weight loss, and marriage, the one topic that really made me cackle that night was teenagers, specifically the parent perspective. Listening to Gaffigan drone on and complain about the difficulty of both being a teenager and living/trying to parent a teenager was hysterical. Every time he would share a new complaint, I would glance at my parents, watching them nod along in sympathy. There’s nothing like just turning your head to watch your parents make direct eye contact with you and just confirm everything Gaffigan said.
The opener for that night’s show was Ted Alexandro. He was exciting, funny, and seemed a lot more excited to be there than Gaffigan. Alexandro was very clearly in a very different stage of his life than Gaffigan, and it showed. The majority of his jokes served as a little peephole into his life with his baby at home and psychic wife. This certainly was a stark difference to Gaffigan’s house full of teenagers and preteens. Alexandro was bright eyed and bushy tailed, whereas Gaffigan was a bit jaded and bitter. But maybe that’s just Gaffigan’s charm? Five kids and two parents all squeezed into a Manhattan apartment together…comedy gold – am I right?
No sooner than my intake of breath in the midst of laughter did Gaffigan say “good night,” take his applause, and end the show. Slightly disappointed at the rather sudden ending and yearning for more, I found myself ushered out of the theater with only one thought in my head, “I wish it was longer.” Apparently I was not the only one who thought this, as the reviews from long-term fans of Gaffigan kept repeating, “ended abruptly.” Online reviews also kept mentioning that the show was “not family friendly,” and wished Gaffigan’s stuff was more similar to his earlier work. Gaffigan’s earlier work seemed to contain less profanity and more PG-13 kind of material. Personally, I couldn’t have asked for a better show.
What you may or may not know, depending on your level of fandom, is that Gaffigan doesn’t do anything alone. Behind the scenes, Gaffigan is supported by his wife of almost 21 years now, Jeannie Gaffigan. Jeannie Gaffigan writes with her husband every night, working collaboratively on the best jokes in town. Jeannie Gaffigan is actually heavily involved in everything her husband does; they are equals in marriage and Jim Gaffigan’s career. She even co-wrote and produced with her husband, The Jim Gaffigan Show, a show that is loosely based on their home life.
While it’s certain that Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan are the power couple of comedy, that’s not to say that it’s all been rainbows and sunshine for this family. The family has had their share of health scares throughout the years. The arguably biggest health scare was in 2019. Jeannie Gaffigan had a successful surgery to remove a rare, non-cancerous life threatening brain tumor. After the surgery, she had a long, difficult and sometimes embarrassing road to recovery. Faced with the grave reality of five kids and a wife in the hospital, Jim Gaffigan stepped up. The comedian father, famous for being a lazy, roll-over father, took charge. He and his family used humor to cope, letting it drive their way out. And drive it did, as the Gaffigan family survived. When Jeannie Gaffigan had to use a feeding tube, Jim made every meal with the tube a spectacle, normalizing it to benefit his wife and his kids. At the show, Jim remarked about learning what marriage means over the years, and his only growing love and amazement for his wife.
All in all, I salute you Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan. Keep up the wonderful work. My grandmother, mother, father, and I will continue to cheer you on. Here’s to many more donuts, Pop Tarts, and Hot Pockets.
When you go to a Gaffigan show, it’s truly a whole family. It’s-a-small-world, full circle kind of show.