Jim Gaffigan: Beyond the Pale (2005)

I watched 11 minutes and didn't find a lick of it worth even a chuckle. Later I decided to watch the other 60 minutes but only twice did I almost crack a smile. Gaffigan's jokes -- diffuse more than subversive -- never touch home and playing his own hecklers gives him too much credit. First he mutters quietly as if that's funny; claims he's Korean as if that's funny; says he dated a panda as if that's funny; claims to have a stomach implant as if that's funny; and so on. Lots of talk about food as if it's pornographic -- except Hot Pockets as if they're scatological. Gaffigan is mildly painful to watch. The righteous heckler theme almost began to make sense by the end because in the last four minutes, he compares Catholic church services to waiting in line at the DMV, prefers to sin at Mass, makes irreverent cracks about Christ and Mary, has Joseph swearing, compares heaven to a gated community, and (with his last words) implies that Moses smoked pot. Blech! This is not (as some claim) a family-friendly show. Gaffigan frequently talks about porn, sex, and more. 2 stars.