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Gaffigan: Mr. Sexy?

Photo from Michael O'Brien Entertainment

Comedian Jim Gaffigan brings his stand-up act to Clearwater Saturday.

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By WALT BELCHER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 14, 2008

TAMPA - Jim Gaffigan is the first to admit that his current "Sexy Tour" is just a ruse to get people in the door.

"They use sex to sell everything from sweatpants to antiperspirant, so why not use it to market me?" he said in a recent telephone interview.

"As far as sexy goes, when it comes to out-of-shape, 42-year-old, balding and pale men, I've cornered the market," says the comic, actor and frequent late-night talk show guest.

Gaffigan is on a 26-city tour leading up to the Dec. 6 taping of an hourlong special for Comedy Central.

"I'm doing all new material," he says. "I keep it clean. Comics will tell you that if you throw in a curse word it's easier to get a laugh, but I don't want to do that. And it doesn't really work when you are talking about bean bag chairs, Waffle House, bacon or Hot Pockets."

His riff on the mysteries of that microwavable meal in a pastry pouch is a fan favorite. "Lucky for me, they keep coming up with new Hot Pocket inventions," he says.

He says fans come expecting to hear his Hot Pockets routine. Some even bring Hot Pocket packages for him to autograph. "It was just something I stumbled on," he says. One day he was looking at a Hot Pockets box and thought, "Was there some kind of marketing meeting? 'Hey, I got an idea. How 'bout we fill a Pop Tart with nasty meat and you could cook it in a sleeve thing.'"

Just your average guy from Indiana, Gaffigan now lives in New York with his wife and two kids.

He has been doing stand-up for 18 years. He calls himself the lazy man's comic, a couch potato who loves food. "We want our food easy. How else do you explain spray cheese? 'You know, I like cheese but it's too much work.'" He can do four minutes on bacon ("so good they wrap other foods in it").

Longtime pals with David Letterman and Conan O'Brien, Gaffigan also dabbles in acting. He is a regular cast member of TBS's comedy "My Boys," on which he plays the laid-back, married brother of lead character PJ, a female sportswriter.

"I spend a few months each year in Hollywood, but it's too much about show business out there." he says. "I like the energy in New York City."

Jim Gaffigan: The Sexy Tour; 7 and 10 p.m. Saturday; $42.75; Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater; (727) 791-7400

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