You might not recognize Jim Gaffigan’s name, but when you see him, you’ll know him.
Gaffigan, who looks more like your middle-school science teacher than he does a successful actor and comedian, is one of those actors who seems to be everywhere in movies, commercials, TVs and in comedy clubs.
“Someone in their 20s would recognize me from this movie ‘Super Troopers,”‘ said Gaffigan, 39. “Women would recognize me from ‘Sex and the City.’ I was the guy who went to the bathroom with the door open. I would say a teenager would recognize me from Comedy Central, a college student from (Conan) O’Brien and then somebody in their 40s would recognize me from satellite radio.”
And all ages have seen him on television in numerous national commercials, including ones for ESPN, Saturn and Sierra Mist.
You can see Gaffigan onstage tonight at the Paramount Theatre and at 11 p.m. Sunday when Comedy Central re-airs his 30-minute special “Beyond the Pale.” (That also is the name of his new DVD and CD.)
He knew as kid growing up in Indiana that he wanted to be an actor and comedian but had no clue that it was possible.
“I grew up in a family where no one was in the entertainment business,” Gaffigan said in a recent telephone interview from his home in New York City. “So stand-up and acting were seen as something unrealistic. I always thought it was just people in L.A. and New York that became actors or comedians.”
After high school, he spent a year at Purdue before transferring to Georgetown University. Gaffigan graduated with a finance degree and took a job in New York City.
“I remember the night before I was graduating, everyone was talking about their jobs,” he said. “And I was like, ‘Jeez, there is a part of me that really wishes I was an actor or a comedian. But I suppose everyone wants to do that.’ And I remember my friend going, ‘No, not everyone wants to do that.”‘
After some time in the city, Gaffigan signed up for an improv class.
“I kind of took it as a creative outlet or a way to meet women and had a great time doing improv,” he said. “And then did stand-up really as a dare. It kind of took off from there.”
By 1995, he was doing commercials and two years later landed quality acting roles.
In 1999, he appeared for the first time on “The Late Show With David Letterman.”
“He really jump-started my career, because I was kind of this offbeat, weird white guy,” Gaffigan said. “The first time I did his show he offered to develop a show for me. And that turned into ‘Welcome to New York.”‘
CBS aired 13 episodes of the sitcom. Gaffigan and the show were hits with critics but not with viewers.
But Gaffigan went on to co-star with Ellen DeGeneres on her sitcom “The Ellen Show.” He also landed ongoing roles on “That ’70s Show” and “Ed,” and did numerous guest shots on other series.
He also has appeared in more than two dozen movies, including “Three Kings.”
Gaffigan will be seen on the big screen this summer in “The Great New Wonderful,” with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Edie Falco, and Tony Shalhoub, and this summer in “Stephanie Daley” along with Tilda Swinton and Timothy Hutton.
Now he is on his first national theater tour.
“The Paramount is a huge theater,” he said, “and to get 1,800 people laughing at the same time is a very powerful thing.”
And that’s true no matter who you look like.
Staff writer Ed Will can be reached at 303-820-1694 or ewill@denverpost.com.
Jim Gaffigan
COMEDIAN|Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Place; 7:30 tonight | $25|303-830-8497 or
ticketmaster.com
