Gaffigan Begins Again

Master of food consumption comedy returns to first love

By Michael Shashoua / Jester editor-in-chief

“Obsessed” [recently aired on Comedy Central and out on CD, MP3 and DVD versions on April 29] finds the comedian Jim Gaffigan back on smaller topics than his last special and album “Mr. Universe,” in which he went more in depth about family and raising five children. There’s a couple pieces here still in that vein, but mostly there’s a lot about Gaffigan’s favorite vice and topic – eating.

He does that topic very well, however, achieving mastery. Gaffigan proudly has Middle America taste, squeamish about lobster and crab, as he shares in “Seafood,” and demanding more than an orange slice and a cookie for dessert (as in “Chinese Desserts”). The piece “Fruits & Vegetables” sums it up, with such observations as “Crudités is French for ‘throw it away in three hours’” and “I recently saw an apple and didn’t recognize it,” going in to his trademark high voice, “it was so weird not to see it in a pie.”

In smaller portions of this special, Gaffigan gets to other topics, like Victoria’s Secret, perfectly summing up what it’s like for a man to visit that store when attempting to shop for a wife or girlfriend. And he devotes a little bit of time to his marriage which has produced five children (and inspired his first book, “Dad Is Fat,” last year), something that seems more unusual now – and Gaffigan remarks on how dumb some people can be when they see that.

“When I’m alone with them and inevitably struggling and a stranger will say, ‘Looks like you have your hands full!’ Why would you say that? … I could still punch you, though.”

“Obsessed” plays as a more spontaneous, of-the-moment performance, with less longer-form storytelling than Gaffigan did last time out, but it still has plenty that’s quote-worthy as you can see here. Choice comments like the ones recalled in this review are ones you’ll want to share on occasion.