Jay Z’s “Empire State of Mind” was blasting on the speakers when Jim Gaffigan walked onto the stage at Goldstein Auditorium in the Schine Student Center on Saturday.

“Let me introduce myself,” he said. “I’m fat.”

Gaffigan delivered a self-deprecating comedy set at “An Evening with Jim Gaffigan” on Saturday. A stand-up comedian, actor and best-selling author, Gaffigan is known for his work in “That ‘70s Show,” “Pale Force” and “17 Again.”

“An Evening with Jim Gaffigan” tickets sold out nine days after going on sale. The diverse audience, made up of all ages, heavily anticipated Gaffigan’s arrival on stage by audibly groaning whenever a song playing transitioned to another rather than stopping for the act. When Gaffigan began performing, he immediately pleased the crowd with his signature humor — with most of his material focused on his own weight.

Gaffigan started his show by reflecting on an experience with the Transportation Security Administration and his unreasonable packing choice to use a roller bag solely because he could fit a Krispy Kreme Doughnuts box in it. When he was chosen for a search, Gaffigan considered telling the attendant he had drugs because “at that moment, a cavity search seemed less embarrassing than revealing the true contents of my bag.”

The comedian joked about the disappointing moment when you realize you’ve outgrown — or “outfatted” — the clothes you pack for vacation. Referring to how tight his clothes were, he joked about refusing to sit down at Thanksgiving out of fear of his button-down popping open.

The event was University Union’s first ever Saturday night comedy show. Jeremy Martin, UU’s vice president, said the organization’s events provide important entertainment alternatives for Syracuse University students.

“We’d definitely do another weekend show,” Martin said. “Looking for something to offer alternative programming like this is really important for this school.”

UU also approached marketing with a fresh perspective. In line with Gaffigan’s food-centric act, UU created a three-day long social media contest called #GaffGrub. Brittany Anderson, the social media and marketing director for UU, said students could tweet pictures of their food with #GaffGrub for a chance to win tickets to the event.

Gaffigan isn’t a comedian to shy away from controversy. His act was also full of edgy punchlines, which the audience appreciated the most, and religion was one of his recurring themes of the night.

“Religion and cancer — there are two things we don’t like talking about,” Gaffigan said. “We even whisper the word ‘cancer,’ like out of fear that the devil will hear it. ‘Cancer’ and the devil says, ‘Oh, someone said cancer. You got it now.’”

One of Gaffigan’s greatest crowd-pleasers, prompting laughs and applause, was the acknowledgement of how politically incorrect he was.

“I know religion jokes make some people uncomfortable, especially the ones that are going to hell,” he said.

The hour-long act was concluded with Gaffigan’s fan-favorite “Hot Pockets” jokes.

“It takes three minutes to cook a hot pocket, just as long as it stays in your system,” he said.

Senior accounting major and fan David Way has been watching Gaffigan since he was in middle school.

Said Way: “I’ve seen the ‘Hot Pocket’ jokes a million times, and it’s still funny.”

Published on October 27, 2014 at 12:01 am

For more information, contact Autumn at: aboatner@syr.edu