Being a journalist, and being involved with the press is great, but at the same time, it’s risky. Every time you talk to celebrities, musicians, actors, you name it, you always run the risk of coming across somebody who has let their fame go entirely to their head, in the process becoming a complete dick. That’s why it always nice to find someone who is not like that. Jim Gaffigan is one of those people. The genius behind jokes like “Hot Pocket” is coming to Austin on December 6 to tape a new Comedy Central special at the Paramount Theatre. I interviewed him for The Daily Texan and he is truly one of the most humble guys I’ve ever talked to. He even wrote on my facebook wall. He called me Richard instead of Robert, but I’m okay with that.

For those of you in Austin who want to go the show, you need to join the facebook event to be notified tomorrow of a special presale that will be happening.

The version of the interview that ran in the Texan is linked below, and the full uncut interview is available after the jump.

Comedian Gaffigan heading to Austin for tour

By Robert Rich

To anyone who has spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about bacon, Jim Gaffigan is Jesus. The comedian, the genius behind Hot Pocket and manatee jokes, describes himself as the proponent of the everyman and the lazy behavior in all of us. But Gaffigan is far from lazy, crafting finely honed stand-up performances and entertaining audiences across the nation. Now he’s preparing for his “Sexy Tour,” which will make a stop at the Paramount Theatre on Dec. 6, a performance that will be taped for his next Comedy Central special. The Daily Texan spoke with Gaffigan about the upcoming tour, his material and a rousing round of word association.

Daily Texan: In previous interviews you’ve mentioned that you’ve been pretty scared onstage at times. Has that changed, and what’s your relative comfort level now?
Jim Gaffigan: I definitely feel comfortable up there. The first seven years I was just absolutely terrified. I didn’t have a performance background. I was one of these guys where I was a class clown but I was not the type of person that sought out attention. That sounds weird coming from someone going on stage making strangers laugh. I’d say in the past four or five years I’ve gotten to the point where I have a certain confidence in the conversation, which is what stand up is. I can listen to how the audience is reacting and adjust my act based on that.

DT:Of course you still have roles in movies and television, but would you consider yourself more of a comedian than an actor, or vice versa?
JG: For many years I was an actor who did stand-up. I feel like there’s such different disciplines or skill sets. I never went into standup for any other reason than a sheer love of it. But there’s still a part of me that really loves acting. I feel like it’s a split personality in my head. But I feel like I have to and want to do standup. It’s an addiction.

DT: Why did you decide to tape this next special in Austin?
JG: In traveling around the country, there’s some amazing cities, for many different reasons. I wanted this special to be in a destination where if people wanted to come to the taping from elsewhere, it’d be a great city. I feel that way about Austin, it has this great appreciation for live performance, be it music or comedy, and it’s just also a really fun city. There’s an energy too. I know a lot of this sounds superficial, but to people that really love Austin, they understand. I am this Midwestern guy. I feel like I have these authentic Texas roots. It’s really because it’s a great city, and the times that I’ve been there, I’ve always looked forward to it and had such a great time.

DT: After “Beyond The Pale,” some people actually complained that you didn’t curse enough in your act. Is that going to change this time around?
JG: It’s weird. My act is clean, but it’s not like it’s all youth ministers in the audience. When the CD [for Beyond The Pale] came out there was an internet review saying there’s no cursing on this album, as if it was like a price of entry. It’s just one of those things where the cursing is a creative decision made. It’s certainly not a moral one, I curse in everyday life. But if you’re discussing bacon, or minutia topics that I’m dealing with, cursing seems unnecessary and unauthentic. I just felt like it meant I wasn’t done with the joke. Any comic will say if you throw a curse word in, you’ll get a shock reaction. I’m a huge fan of many comics that curse. With Chris Rock or Lewis Black, it makes sense for them to curse. But I mean beanbag chairs, do you really have to curse?

DT: That being said, will it end up causing spirited radio calls like the one you got in Houston from an angry Christian?
JG: My wife is devout Catholic. There’s a guy who opens for me who is a true blue Southern Baptist. The religious material I have works with Christians and secularists. The humor of I think that phone call (in Houston) is that if you watch my material, it’s not offensive or preachy. But then again if there’s someone who is going to adopt a fundamental Muslim attitude and say you can’t even bring up or draw a verbal picture of a situation about religion, they’re going to have a problem. But I mean there are youth ministers sitting next to the goth kids at my shows. It’s just eccentric observational stuff. The people that are upset by it are far outweighed by the number of people who really enjoy it. I had one line in my last special where I said I look like a Mormon, and I did a show in Salt Lake City and they loved it. I wasn’t criticizing it, just acknowledging it.

DT: Tell me about the voice you do that’s the high-pitched voice of the crowd.
JG: Talking for someone else is something that’s been an aspect of my personality. Even when I was flirting with my wife, she points out that I was doing it. What I think is so effective about the voice is that it gives an acknowledgement. If I’m talking about bacon for seven minutes, as long as the audience knows I’m beating the topic to death, it’ll let me continue on. It’s definitely a great opportunity to provide tags or advance the topic.

DT: Can you give any indication of what to expect on this new tour?
JG: I wish there was some enormous or elaborate plan. I always jokingly say I deal with the hard-hitting issues of today, like bacon. As I get busier. I’m very much a romanticizing of the lazy gluttonous, sloth-like behavior in all of us. If you like bacon, there’s part of you that wants to eat it all day, part of you that wants to watch TV, part of you that doesn’t want to empty the garbage. It’s that lazy everyman that hopefully I present in a relatively romantic way. I have two kids, so the notion of being lazy seems so attractive to me. I just would love it. It’s like when you’re in the middle of finals week, I would love that moment where you have to decide between two lazy enjoyable things. Should I play a video game or watch this movie I don’t even like for the fifth time? I’ve written a great portion of the new hour, but it’s constantly evolved and edited. So come December, there’ll be another layer to it. I like to think. That’s my viewpoint, sell it, then say that’s it just crap.

DT: Let’s do some word association. I’ll give you a word or phrase, and tell me what comes to mind. Elliot Spitzer.
JG: Busted.

DT: Hillary Clinton.
JG: My daughter calls her Hillary Titton, so that’s what I think of. I feel like she’s mad at me. I have a lot of respect for her, but there’s part of me that wants to say Hillary, have I done something wrong?

DT: Hot Pockets.
JG: Pirate victory. It’s this incredible blessing, it really is, hot pockets. But when I’m walking through an airport on two hours of sleep and people yell hot pockets at me, I don’t know if I should say thank you, or hello.

DT: Bacon.
JG: Love.

DT: Britney Spears.
JG: She feels like an old girlfriend I’m embarrassed that I dated. That sounds mean. I guess I would just say tragic. There’s something very tragic and sad. You know it’s not going to end well. I don’t want to pile stuff on, because it’s not going to get better.

DT: Global Warming.
JG: The worst title for something so serious. It’s like global warming, that’s kind of like describing a Wendy’s Triple as health-conscious. It feels like a mass misrepresentation. Initially you hear that without the context of the scenario and you think a couple of these days in February, it’d be nice to be warmer.

DT: This interview.
JG: Concerned that I sounded pompous. You always want to be sincere in interviews, because sarcasm doesn’t work in print. Sarcasm in an e-mail can cause you an argument. You’ll say I was joking, but they’re like well it wasn’t funny.