THE LIGHTER SIDE OF JIM GAFFIGAN

He built a massive audience cracking fat jokes about himself. But after a personal transformation, can Gaffigan make us laugh about weight loss?

- JUSTIN KIRKLAND

We're on the 16th floor of Hearst Tower, where Men's Health is painstakingly and lovingly produced and where Gaffigan is set to be photographed. Even though he and I are wearing the exact same outfit—what I've come to lovingly call the "big guy's best friend," a black T-shirt, black pants, and white sneakers—Gaffigan isn't a big guy anymore.

"I think I'm a better fit for Men's Antihealth," he says to a room of people too busy to laugh. Gaffigan's weight loss was a shift, not just visually but comedically. If you know his work, you know a sizable portion of his comedy centers on food—particularly food that's not great for you.

In stand-up routines, he's unpacked the shame of going to McDonald's, the grotesque joy of Waffle House, and (perhaps most famously) the ultra-processed wonder that is a Hot Pocket. Gaffigan has gone down two pants sizes since then. He's turned from Dad Is Fat (his 2013 New York Times bestseller) into Slim Jim.

On November 22, Gaffigan's newest stand-up special, The Skinny, launches on Hulu. During the first ten minutes of the show, the comedian addresses his new look. There's one bit I ask him about, a joke in which he admits to the audience that even after his weight loss, he's still inclined to keep his "fat clothes." Gaffigan tells me, "Maybe I'm a pack rat, but I'm like, I can't get rid of that. And then there is something about the haunting," he says, raising his hands up like he's telling a ghost story. "They're like, You're going to wear me again."

Later in The Skinny, he jokes, "I'm trying to enjoy being thin, because I know I'm going to be fat again. This is not sustainable." The crowd applauds, as if to signal they're thrilled that Fat Jim is still in there somewhere. There's a legacy of big men in comedy, after all: John Belushi, John Candy, Chris Farley, Kevin James. But what happens when you're a big guy making jokes about yourself and you're no longer big?