Jim Gaffigan has been experiencing a major revival lately. He looks slim, trim and well-styled in a hip suit and glasses, on a recent morning in a chic room at the Peninsula Hotel. His vibe is very different from the burly, pale Midwestern Everyman that many people think of when they hear his name. But if you’ve been following its recent trajectory, the recent evolution shouldn’t come as a surprise. From touring with comedy megastar Jerry Seinfeld to playing Tim Walz for five weeks on “Saturday Night Live,” Gaffigan’s fit physique and wry, clean humor meet the moment by showing up where the biggest crowds gather to act as family for laughs topics we can all relate to at a time when we need it most. On Friday, his 11th stand-up special, “The Skinny,” premieres on Hulu as part of the new brand rollout called “Hulu Laughing Now,” with 12 new comedy specials per year on the streaming platform. We spoke with Gaffigan about the inspiration behind his new hour-long special, the pain of raising teenagers and how growing his career while slimming his body is just the beginning of his new chapter in comedy. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

In your new special ‘The Skinny’ you obviously talk about the fact that you have undergone a body transformation. What inspired you to make the switch to Slim Jim?

I wish there was a romantic story around it, but it really came down to my doctor bringing it up. (She said:) “I noticed you’ve gained quite a bit of weight.” In the 90’s I worked out twice a day to be thin. And once I had kids, I desperately tried to find time to exercise. And then it got to the point where my knees stopped working. So (my doctor) said, “You can try these appetite suppressants.” And I’m like, “Yeah, definitely!” but I didn’t expect it to work. Even when I was working out twice a day, I have a joke where I was like, “I have to work out a lot to look like someone who doesn’t work out.” And so I was pleasantly surprised when it worked.

“We’ve all experienced teenagers and not necessarily the conflict, but the misunderstanding between the teenager and the parent, which I find fascinating,” says Jim Gaffigan.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

What are some vices, especially when you’re on the road as a comic, that you’ve had to give up?

I can’t tell you how much this drug curbs my insatiable eating habits, but it curbs other things too. So if I have one drink, I think, I’m fine, or if I have any kind of compulsive behavior, it kind of subsides. I mean, I joke in the special about not feeling joy, but it makes you act like an adult, which is weird.

Describe the process of reducing the material for ‘The Skinny’. What do you hope audiences see from you in terms of what’s going on with your life and your comedy?

Stand-up has changed so much. The idea of ​​people putting out multiple specials didn’t exist when I started doing stand-up, but I think when people consume a stand-up comedian’s material, there’s a familiarity, but it’s like a friendship. You can’t have the exact same conversation, even though we all have friends where it seems like we’re having the same conversation about high school – it has to be different. You both have to challenge each other. So for me, working on the special or working on this new hour that I am working on now is a self-assignment. So part of it, like any creative person, is like, “What can I talk about that’s embarrassing or revealing?” I think people who have followed me through my stand-up will be interested in my views on parenting. I’ve always felt like I’m bad at it, but I have a greater empathy for what all parents face. And I think the parents of this era also made mistakes. And it doesn’t help with social media and the apps and screens. And that comes up during my stand-up and when reading some parenting books. I don’t know if you have children, do you have children?

No, I’m still happy.
(Laughs) There are books that reveal the mistakes (we) have made. Parents of teens have this perspective. Adults have an impression of what their teenage years were like and I give this perspective of what it is like to live with these people. It’s kind of a cliché, but raising teenagers is like raising a mentally ill person. It sounds harsh – we know there is a natural separation process of teenagers questioning things, but I love that I was given this perspective of, “Was my dad an ad – or maybe I was an ad –?” Maybe it’s quite basic, but that’s something that’s universal. We’ve all experienced teenagers and not necessarily the conflict, but the misunderstanding between the teenager and the parent, which I find fascinating.

Do you think the stress of raising your own teenagers is palpable?S like payback for what you were like as a teenager?

I’d say I was a good teenager. I worked very hard. I would say my father was unnecessarily annoyed by some of my behavior. And now I’m like, “Oh, I get it. I completely understand what his annoyance was. And these are your children and you would do anything for them. But there is bewilderment. I talk about it (in the special) where you have this sweet 12-year-old and then they change. And of course I use hyperbole and exaggeration, but there is a shift. And what’s great about touring the material is that it’s a conversation, so the audience feedback can prove your premise or your theory. So even older parents, empty nesters, can say, “Oh yeah, that’s true.” The hyperbolic, humorous statement you make is only funny because it is based on a shared experience.

One of the things that is What’s unique about your comedy is that it’s not about saying something necessarily bizarre. It’s about bringing people together in a way that fools everyone at the same time. How did you hone your comedic voice and why do you think your brand of comedy is important these days, when so many comedians – or just comedy in general – are really committed to getting a reaction by saying something overtly controversial?

A joke is a surprise, and irreverence is a kind of shortcut to that surprise. And besides, we all love it, but I’m a bit of a nerd (when I talk about the idea that) comedy has an aftertaste. We all have that bitchy friend who makes us laugh, who’s a little mean, but then we feel a little guilty (because) I know they went too far, or, you know, I shouldn’t have have to do laughed at what they said. I believe there is an aftertaste, so you can take that short-term approach. …I think some comedians just do what they have to do. Irreverence is also something where it’s not in my wheelhouse, some comics are really good at it, and that’s their thing. … I believe you can be respectful and highlight some important stories and also convey the humor of it.

Comedian Jim Gaffigan at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Considering how long it takes to build A career, it’s cool to see you popping up on “SNL” as Tim Walz, on tour with Jerry Seinfeld, appearing in movies… This is a pretty big comeback era for you – you’re smaller, but your career is getting bigger , right? do you feel strange?

That’s funny – yeah, when I did those shows with Jerry, I never expected that to happen. Jerry has a clear and concise vision and philosophy about stand-up and comedy: when you talk to him you feel like you are talking to Aristotle. He’s a kind of stoic (who reminds you that you have control over your material). You don’t get carried away by what the current trend is. You work on developing your act and your writing.

The “SNL” experience was so surreal because I never auditioned for “SNL.” I had the opportunity to audition to be a writer, but I thought, ‘I want to be an actor,’ so I resisted. But the opportunity to be in that orbit of this last vestige of American live television that still exists with its impractical aspects… there is no replication possible. What “SNL” has done for fifty years is insane. So even if we were there (filming) and I’m sitting in a room with Dana Carvey, or you look out and see Jon Lovitz or Chris Rock, it’s just bizarre. So it’s really an amazing thing to be able to access that.