2009

A rarity in standup comedy these days, Jim Gaffigan gets laughs "? huge laughs, actually "? without being dirty. The proof is in the pudding. And by pudding, I mean "King Baby," the concert film from last summer's successful "Sexy Tour."

At more than an hour long, the show "? shot in Austin, Texas "? plops Gaffigan onstage and the hilarity immediately begins. Part of his shtick is poking fun at himself via affecting the falsetto voice of an imaginary, presumably offended audience member, but the high points are his riff-heavy observations on obsessive topics. In his breakthrough act, "Beyond the Pale," it was Hot Pockets; here, it's bacon. You never realized how many jokes could be wringed out of the pork product, many of them sidesplitting.

Other points of interest include the complexity of today's remote controls ("I just want to watch VH1, not split an atom!") and how bowling must be a germophobe's nightmare ("Here, put on these old shoes "¦ now stick your fingers into these holes "¦ now you have the flu").

The running time flies by, but the punch lines stay with you. The DVD has plenty of extras for dessert, including a few episodes of his animated "Pale Force" shorts with Conan O'Brien.

"?Rod Lott

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