| Jim Gaffigan |
| Written by Joey Franco | |||
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Jim Gaffigan's versatility as an entertainer has made him a known name from Hollywood to Broadway, and everywhere in between. From movies such as The Love Guru, to tv shows such as Sex and the City, to numerous comedy venues from around the globe, Jim continues to astound audiences with his clever, and sometimes self-effacing antics. TimesSquare.com Editor-in-Chief Joey Franco recently had the pleasure of chatting with Jim Gaffigan on his upcoming performances, Broadway, and his very fair skin.
TimesSquare.com: You're originally from Indiana, but have been living in New York City for quite some time. Do you now consider yourself a fully integrated New Yorker?
Jim Gaffigan: Gosh, I've lived in New York for 20 years, so I've lived in New York for longer than I ever lived anywhere. I don't know, I'm so white bread looking, I guess I'll always look Midwestern. TS: You have a string of shows coming up at the Best Buy Theatre in Times Square. What type of material should we expect? JG: It's a new hour of material. In describing the topics that I'm going to be talking about, it sounds pretty generic... I feel like it's the best hour of material that I've written. The topics range from McDonalds to working out, to whales... I think that the topics sound horrible, but the material is much better. TS: Any material from your Sexy Tour, or has your status as a sex symbol declined over the past couple of years? JG: [laughing] Well, that was obviously a big joke, but I always do these hot pocket jokes... where if I didn't do it, there would be a certain amount of outrage. I don't mind doing them because the topic is kind of ever expanding, and Hot Pockets keeps introducing new products. But it's mostly all new [material], because even if you do 20% old material, people feel a little ripped off. There's kind of an unofficial agreement for stand-up comedy shows where it's pretty much entirely new stuff. TS: Will we be seeing a comeback of Pale Man and his sidekick Conan O'Brien sometime soon, maybe on Conan's new show? JG: I think that NBC owns the rights to those, so I don't know if legally we even could, but I wouldn't mind. TS: Maybe a spinoff would be interesting. JG: Yeah, maybe a spinoff... sunburn man! TS: [laughing] So who is pastier, yourself or Conan? JG: Probably...I think I might be. He's pretty pale though, but he's got the red hair. Being white blond sort of exaggerates it, where red hair, it seems that it would exaggerate it more, but he has the benefit of freckles. TS: So do you enjoy poking fun at yourself trough your comedy? JG: I do comedy that I think I would like, and I like a self-effacing quality in people, so I don't mind! There's also something about being self-effacing in stand up comedy, it's very much a conversation with the audience. If you have self-awareness on how you might come across, whether it's physically, or even personality wise it buys credibility with the audience. TS: You just announced that you will be making your Broadway debut in Jason Miller's That Championship Season in March 2011, along with an incredible cast which includes Kiefer Sutherland, Chris Noth, Brian Cox, and Jason Miller's own son, Jason Partick. Anything you can tell us about this production. JG: ... Even hearing you describe it, it sounds unbelievable. I'll believe it when I'm on stage with them! It's just an incredible opportunity. I'm excited to work with those actors, I'm excited to be on Broadway, but the think I'm most excited about is working with amazing material. I know that sounds clichéish, but portraying a character that has a lot of depth and complexity- to me is really exciting, as an actor. I feel like I'm going to be finding a lot of stuff in my character, and in this play... it's going to be an incredible learning experience. TS: You're sort of like a jack-of-all-trades in the entertainment business. You act, you do stand-up, you're in movies, television, late night, and now you're on Broadway. JG: I'm very lucky. My goal was to do what I love as an occupation. The creative fulfillment I feel in stand-up and acting is what I'm going for. The other stuff is just amazing.
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