Comedian Jim Gaffigan represents a generation of stand-up comedians focusing on clean comedy. In addition to his work as a comedian, Gaffigan is also known for his work as an actor, producer, and writer. As an actor, Jim Gaffigan has long established himself as a character, co-starring alongside several famous actors.
Jim Gaffigan is known for his observational comedy, sarcasm, and deadpan satire jokes. However, those who know or have followed him closely know he’s much more than a comedian. The multi-talented comedian and actor is also a successful author. Here are 7 things you probably didn’t know about Jim Gaffigan.
Jim Gaffigan Was Born Into A Large Family
This may not be news to anyone who has watched his stand-up comedy specials, as he always jokes around with it. Jim Gaffigan was born James Christopher Gaffigan on July 7, 1966, in Elgin, Illinois. He was born as the last child to Marcia Miriam, a charity worker and fundraiser, and Michael Ambrose Gaffigan, a banker. As the last child of his parents, Jim Gaffigan has five older siblings. Jim Gaffigan has Irish ancestry, with his family’s surname originally called Gavahan.
Besides his mother’s work as a fundraiser and charity worker, she was renowned for her needlework. In 1985, Marcia Miriam was honored by the American Needlepoint Guild with a national award for original design and craftsmanship. Similarly, before Gaffigan’s father retired in 1991, he was president and CEO of the Mercantile National Bank of Indiana, a position he served in for 15 years. Jim Gaffigan lost his mother to cancer at age 53 in 1990. He also lost his father to lung cancer almost a decade later in 1999.
Jim Gaffigan Has A Degree In Finance
Although Jim Gaffigan had a passion for acting as a child, his father encouraged all his children to choose careers with relative job security. His father’s advice was borne out of his personal experience, having been the first in his family to attend college. As a banker and eventually becoming president and CEO of an Indiana bank, Gaffigan’s father understood the opportunities available if his children settled for good degrees.
Despite “hating” finance, Jim Gaffigan studied and graduated with a finance degree from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Even after graduating and working briefly as a litigation consultant, Gaffigan still struggled in finance. In 1990, he decided it wasn’t a career path he wanted, so he moved to New York and chose to pursue a comedy career, drawing inspiration from David Letterman.
He Was Fired From His Job For Sleeping During Working Hours
Jim Gaffigan may have moved to New York to pursue his dream career but also needed to find sustainable income. As such, while taking acting classes at night, he spent the daytime working in advertising. All went well until one of his acting classmates dared him to perform at a stand-up seminar. Although Gaffigan had known he enjoyed comedy, the experience made him fall in love with stand-up comedy even more.
Since it was something he wanted to do, he had to perform at clubs at the end of his acting classes at night. However, this meant he had little time to sleep at night. To make up for his lost sleep, Jim Gaffigan often slept during work hours at his advertising job. Unsurprisingly, he was fired after his boss caught him sleeping. His boss reportedly had to wake him up to fire him on the spot.
Jim Gaffigan Has Had A Successful Stand-up Comedy Career
Being influenced by David Letterman, Jim Gaffigan wanted to work with him on his show. For six years, Gaffigan periodically auditioned for The Late Show with David Letterman. Gaffigan was finally accepted in 1999 and performed a successful stand-up comedy routine on the show. The performance helped launch his stand-up comedy career, leading to Gaffigan’s comedy specials.
By March 2023, the Wall Street Journal dubbed Jim Gaffigan as the “King of Clean” due to his clean and profanity-free jokes. Jim Gaffigan has performed alongside several other stand-up comedians and has been invited to perform in charity events. Since 2013, after receiving his first Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album, Jim Gaffigan has received seven Grammy nominations, with his last nomination in 2023 for his Comedy Monster album.
Jim Gaffigan’s Work On Television
As an actor, Jim Gaffigan began his career appearing in TV commercials. He then began appearing in guest roles in several TV shows, including Law & Order (1998, 2009), Third Watch (2000), and Comedy Central Presents (2000). Gaffigan landed his first notable role on television in the short-lived CBS sitcom Welcome to New York. Gaffigan led the cast, playing himself as his character. After the show ended in January 2001, and guest-starring on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Sex and the City, Gaffigan was cast as Rusty Carnouk on another CBS sitcom, The Ellen Show.
After The Ellen Show was canceled after 13 episodes, Gaffigan continued to appear in other TV shows. In 2006, he finally landed a role as Andy Franklin on the TBS sitcom My Boys. Gaffigan played the character for 4 seasons, appearing in 40 episodes of the show from 2006 to 2009. By the mid-2010s, Gaffigan played a fictionalized version of himself in the TV Land sitcom The Jim Gaffigan Show from 2016 to 2016. He also recently appeared as himself in season 7, episode 6 (“Jets Day”) of MTV’s reality TV show Jersey Shore: Family Vacation in 2024.
Jim Gaffigan’s Movie Career
Jim Gaffigan has also achieved as much success on the big screen as he has on television. Gaffigan also made his film debut in 1998, playing a Storekeeper in the family comedy The Real Howard Spitz. Over the years, he has starred in several popular movies in memorable roles. In 2004, he played Chris Grandy in the Jennifer Garner-led 13 Going on 30. Gaffigan also starred in The Love Guru (2008), 17 Again (2009), It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010), Chappaquiddick (2017), Tesla (2020), and Peter Pan & Wendy (2023). Gaffigan plays the head of Kellogg’s, Edsel Kellogg III, in the 2024 Jerry Seinfeld-directed comedy Unfrosted.
Jim Gaffigan Is Married To Actress Jeannie Gaffigan
Jim Gaffigan married actress Jeannie Gaffigan on July 26, 2003. The couple live in New York City and have five children together. The couple initially lived with all five children in a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. As the kids grew older, the couple moved into a bigger house in New York City in 2015. The entire family are practicing Catholics, although Gaffigan admits his wife is more devout than he is. If you’re a fan of Jim Gaffigan and appreciate his career, you can also read about 6 things you didn’t know about Bad Boys’ Martin Lawrence.
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