Jim Gaffigan’s The Skinny is a one hour comedy special that Gaffigan directed, produced and wrote himself. The title is his starting point where he makes funny observations about his weight loss journey.
I’ll begin my stating that I had never watched a Jim Gaffigan special before this. Based on what I quickly read, this comedy special continues to cover topics he has frequently covered like religion, fatherhood and laziness all of which he makes funny observations about, mostly relating to himself. Like many good comedians he is able to poke fun at the societal expectations of how a person is supposed to act but also can balance that with observing how he can be wrong for simply not wanting to conform with them. For example, as someone who has gone on a weight loss journey, he can both critique the way society views the experience but also he recognizes some of the truths of those stereotypes. He admits to taking certain drugs that help him lose weight and that those were an easier way to mentally get to a place where his cravings didn’t have as strong a hold on him. The change in mentality helps him see how the cravings that once seemed like a matter of life or death, now didn’t really matter that much to him anymore. But he also knows one day they might. He is able to deliver these stories and personal anecdotes with humor very naturally.
Generally speaking most of the jokes and topics of his special are pretty universal, I’d say that’s one of the appeals of Jim. His content is certainly not too controversial, which certainly makes the material more approachable and the way he introduces topics allows you to naturally go along with the rhythm of his jokes even when they become a little more challenging and specific. One joke about sitting down so that an employee can help you try on shoes feels a little disconnected to anyone younger than the millennial generation or those who are simply to anxious to ask for help from an employee. (As a Gen Z person who certainly has asked for help from an employer, this certainly applies to me.)
He often has very funny voices that he uses when he tells stories with different characters. His voices balance sarcastic funny sounding voices with the feeling that a real person could have that kind of voice. This combination makes these comments both funny but don’t feel over the top for comedy sake alone. The story and the specific voice for each situation feels fitting.
Gaffigan has a very down to earth and humble perspective which seems more typical of comedians because it is hard to have an ego when you are making fun of other people and yourself. On one hand, you would seem like a very mean performer and, on the other hand, you are actively making yourself less serious because you observe that some of the things you do should be laughed at. His stories about family and religion work well because of this as both are most approachable in the hands of someone who not only doesn’t take themselves too seriously. (I think we know that some religious leaders do a bad job hiding their ego.) It’s easy to see his praise for his wife and the simultaneous dread and love for his kids in the same sentence because that is part of the experience. He isn’t trying to proclaim that he has found the best way to parent. He knows the bad come with good and is able to derive comedy from the ups and downs of parenting and religion.
Jim has a great sense of pacing, he is able to transitions between these wildly different topics even smoother than most comedians that I have watched. Frankly, I didn’t really want it to end. There was a really consistent balance of interesting storytelling which doesn’t rely on novelty or shock value to be funny but rather he makes he always interesting with his unique perspective. I’d recommend this comedy special to almost anyone, I think its topics are pretty universal and Jim has an approach to comedy that I think would allow most people to get invested in his storytelling even if they aren’t laughing out loud at every joke.
Jim Gaffigan: The Skinny is now available on Disney+.
