Mister Universe

For Christmas, e gave me an envelope. Inside the envelope was an advertisement for Hot Pockets. And inside that page were tickets to see Jim Gaffigan live at the Chicago Theater on January 29th.

Get it? I did! We saw him on opening night this past Friday, and it was a blast.

If you're not familiar with Jim Gaffigan in some capacity, I'm surprised. Aside from his solid stand-up career, he's been a guest (Law and Order, Flight of the Conchords) and a regular (My Boys), on many TV shows and been in plenty of movies as well. I've been a big fan for a while now, and it was a delight to see him perform live.

I haven't been to many comedy shows, and there are only a handful of comics that I would truly love to see. Unfortunately a few of them perform at ridiculously large venues (Eddie Izzard, please stop playing the United Center), and others never come to Chicago for some stupid reason. Gaffigan, however, loves us here (being from Indiana helps, I'm sure) and the Chicago Theater is my favorite place to see anything here. Emily got us front row loge seating (also the best seating area of the theater in my opinion) and everything was pretty much perfect.

Pretty much. You know that I can't have a night out in public without a few social annoyances, right? Right. Only a few though:

1. Clapaholics: There was a guy directly behind us who had a ear-splitting clap, and used it often. It was the type of thing that jostles the brain, and a few looks back didn't diminish his zeal. I know it's a comedy show, so there's really nothing I could say about it in the end, except that it made my ears hurt, and if my hands were inches away from someone's ears, I'd be more respectful.

2. Proof-Quoters: Just like at music shows, I don't go to a concert to hear the audience sing the songs they know, I go to hear the performer. So, when you're at a comedy show, and one of your favorite bits comes up, there is no need to recite it along with the comedian. Seriously.

A few seats off to my left a group of kids with their uncle or grandpa or something were there and before the show they were telling him all about Gaffigan. They were essentially proving to him or themselves or anyone in earshot that Yes, They Are Fans. This behavior annoys me. Of course, during his more famous bits, they started saying them along with and a few times ahead of him as evidence that they have heard his CD or seen his DVDs. Congrats, kiddos. You are the only ones who know about Jim Gaffigan's love of bacon! Mmhmm.

3. Morons: Comedians tread a fine line most of the time, as some of the jokes have the potential to insult sections of the crowd. Gaffigan's act avoids this most of the time, but there were two points that stuck out as amusing to me and e but didn't really connect with a good chunk of the audience. One was about how stupid women look in high heels. The be-sequined chicky in witch-toe shoes next to us didn't quite enjoy that portion of the show, ha. I'm sure there were more than a few dates who frowned.

The other moment was sort of the opposite of this. There was a bit Jim did about the "male enhancement drug" Extenze, and he made some sort of joke about how a guy's wife wanted to sleep with a more well endowed black man. It was a quick remark, not a long bit, but it still felt a touch odd for a Gaffigan bit.

It got laughs though... plenty, but they of the nervous variety. The laughs of insecure dudes.

At any rate, I had a truly great time. I would recommend seeing Jim Gaffigan as soon as possible, in case he gets too big for the nice venues and is playing a colosseum somewhere.

And have some Hot Pockets™ before hand, for extra fun!