Co-parenting as comedians is just completely
unique to our own situation because we are,
Jim and I are actually really different comedians.
I know that sounds really weird because we
write together and a lot of times especially
with all the standup, that’s all his point
of view.
So I can really write in Jim’s point of
view.
If I bring my point of view into Jim’s comedy
it’s not funny.
I’m funny as Jim but in Jim’s point of
view.
In Jim’s show I can make observations within
his point of view like here is something that
you would say in this situation that would
be really funny but a lot of the things that
he has, kind of his MO are things that really
disagree with.
I disagree with a lot of his funniness even
though I know it’s funny.
But my lifestyle I would never do some of
the things or make the observations that he
makes.
I have like a Ph.D. in Jim Gaffigan.
Like I know what he finds funny.
I mean I can’t do what he does.
He’s the head writer of his comedy.
I know what my role is and I know that I make
it better, but I do it as Jim.
Conversely, when we were writing, when he
was writing Dad Is Fat which is the, it’s
a bestselling book called Dad Is Fat that
he wrote about being a father of five kids
in a two bedroom apartment.
And I was there in the two bedroom apartment
so I knew what he was doing and what was funny.
But that’s when we really found out that
he is the observational comedian and the wordsmith
and I’m the essayist.
I am the storyteller.
Like it was pretty clear that we needed to
stay working together because it was just
enhancing everything we did.
I brought a little bit more of a storytelling
aspect to the standup comedy as well as the
books.
And he also in my storytelling could be like
you know what’s really funny, you know,
I wrote the book but he read it and wrote
some notes in the margin.
I’m like oh, now you’re me but you’re
doing the wordsmithing and I’m doing the
storytelling rather than you doing the wordsmithing
and I’m coming in at the end with the storytelling.
And I think that our collaboration became
very, very clear when we wrote the Jim Gaffigan
Show because now it was Jim as a character,
Jeannie as a character and all these other
crazy characters and the kids as characters.
We also have a very different opinion about
a lot of stuff with parenting.
I believe in much more of a reward-punishment
situation and dangling the carrot and Jim
totally doesn’t believe in that.
He believes in just get rid of all the iPads.
That’s the punishment.
And I’m like more if you do A, B and C at
the end of the week you get your paycheck
which is the iPad.
It’s training for life and all this stuff.
And he’s much more of a go to your room
type like the end is nothing.
And I’m like what do they have to work for
if they have nothing to lose.
We have a whole thing going on here.
But it also turns into a very comic conversation.
It’s a very comical conversation because
we can’t – or else it’s just going to
spiral into we have to find something that
we both can grab onto so we compromise through
comedy.
