Jim Gaffigan: Beyond the Pale

I was just thinking recently how I haven't seen a great stand up special in a while. There have been some good ones, amusing, funny, but not great. It's been a while since I sat on my couch laughing for an hour getting light headed from lack of oxygen. Like many great comedians his delivery makes an amusing joke hysterical.

I saw about 10 minutes and quickly checked the schedule to see if it aired again soon, luckily it did and I used the DVR to capture it for me and my girlfriend to watch the next night. We both laughed for the full hour. I was starting to forget what it was like to see a great stand up special, glad to be reminded. Look for this one.

This sketch was absolutely brilliant. Its all about Jim Gaffigan talking about anything that comes to his mind.

Ranging from food to holidays he talks in numerous persons.

He talks as one person in the audience throughout and I was surprised at how much I laughed.

He is absolutely brilliant when it comes to stupid things like hot pockets and how holidays are degenerating our society.

His clever use of words is truly mindblowingly funny.

Go to your local Suncoast and shell-out the 10 to 15 bucks required to get this its worth it.

"Dad" comic Jim Gaffigan steps into the spotlight for his first stand-up special. However, Gaffigan had already released 5 albums by the time this special premiered, so he was no novice. Perhaps one of the least controversial comics working today, Gaffigan's material may be considered a bit slight by some. He tends to keep to minor annoyances and innocuous observations, usually involving food (it is truly amazing how much material he is able to pull out of Hot Pockets). In addition, using asides, Gaffigan comments on his own comedy as a member of the audience in a peculiar voice, which may put some off, but otherwise, should appeal to most people across the spectrum. Definitely one of the strongest family-friendly comedians out there.

A few weeks ago, I watched Jim Gaffigan's stand-up video, "Mr. Universe". My daughter and I really enjoyed it, so today we decided to give "Beyond the Pale" a try. My feeling now is that if you liked one, you'd like the other, as they a very similar. Both feature Gaffigan making his strange observations while interposing his fake 'dumb person in the audience' comments. For the most part, the routine is amazingly clean and family-friendly--though, oddly, the captioning is actually a bit dirtier due to mistakes made by the captioner. You'll head Gaffigan talk a lot about good as well as restaurants, holidays, vegetarians as well as some stuff about Jesus at the end that might offend. Overall, an enjoyable DVD--not quite as good as "Mr. Universe", but still better than the average stand-up DVD.

Gaffigan is funny without using a single obscenity or sex joke. Unlike Kevin Hart, who I like also, Gaffigan is not shouting or talking about his penis or his sex life at all. Gaffigan makes everyday events funny. He makes remarks and observations about the daily life experiences we all have, and he makes them sound funny. I really enjoy his humor. It is easy to laugh, and to see life in a more humorous way.