Every profession no matter how exciting it looks from the outside is difficult and tedious from the inside. Ask anyone, be it an actor, athlete, accountant, or comedian for that matter and they are all going to give you the same answer, “it’s a very demanding job that requires being at your very best”.
While most of us have some clear idea about the difficulty level of some specific job vocations but when an individual mentions that he/ she works as a comedian, the majority of people assume that there is nothing extraordinary about working as a comedian as their main job revolves around making people laugh just for entertainment. We couldn’t be more wrong about this assumption as working in comedy does take a hefty toll on professionals.
There are various factors that comedians, especially those who are working as stand-up must take into consideration to attain success in their career:
a) The jokes must be new and unique as most of them will get old eventually. And most importantly they must relate to the overall audience.
b) The way you tell a joke or funny content is just as important as the content of the joke. The delivery of hilarious sentences and punch-line calls for getting enrolled in acting classes as well as many hours of practice.
c) No matter how good the gig was there will be always someone who will give negative reviews about your performance.
Despite these factors, some well-renowned comedians were successful in establishing their careers in comedy and a few of them even have a net worth of the millions. In this article, we will be talking about not just a comedian but a very talented actor, producer, and writer as well who is known as Jim Gaffigan.
If you are a fan of this comedian, then you have come to the right place as we will be sharing all details about his earlier life, his career, his personal life, and Jim Gaffigan net worth in 2022.
Earlier Life of Jim Gaffigan
James Christopher Gaffigan currently known as Jim Gaffigan is an American writer, producer, actor, and stand-up comedian. He was born on 7th July 1966 in Illinois. His father, Michael Ambrose Gaffigan worked as a chief executive for Mercantile National Bank while his mother Marcia Miriam worked in a charity fundraiser.
His family’s ancestral roots belong to the Irish as his surname was previously known as Gavahan. Jim Gaffigan has five older siblings, making him the youngest one in Gaffigan Family.
Because his father, Michael Gaffigan was the first member to attend college, he insisted that all of his children attain the highest level of education that will enable them to land a position in lucrative careers. Hence Jim Gaffigan was also made to study in reputable schools.
He did his schooling at La Lumiere School in Indiana. For higher studies, he was enrolled in Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business where he graduated on 1988 with a finance degree.
Jim Gaffigan’s start of his career as of comedian
Though he did his majors in finance however Jim had other plans. At the age of five, he expressed his desire to become an actor. And when he was a teenager, Jim used to watch an American late-night television comedy show called ‘Saturday Night Live”.
After graduation, he did work in the financial sector as a litigation consultant for a brief duration. Later in two years, Jim resigned from his job and decided to become a professional comedian. Having made up his mind, he packed his bags and shifted to New York to start a new chapter in his life.
His interest in comedy goes way back to his adolescent years when his friend dared him to do stand-up comedy for one night; since then he fell in love with stand-up comedy. To develop his comedy skills, Jim followed quite a busy schedule where in the mornings he worked for an advertising company while in the evening he used to take acting classes.
Even after when he was done with acting classes, Jim would do gigs in comedy clubs in the early hours of the morning, consequently leaving him exhausted and sleep-deprived more than ever.
In his initial years, Jim Gaffigan worked on developing his comedy style; he did this by trying a variety of different facial expressions including voices, and angry facial expressions. Despite the fact, that the live comedy shows were now being replaced by cable television Jim continued to hone his skills.
Six years later after giving multiple auditions, Jim Gaffigan finally got his breakthrough when he was selected to perform a stand-up routine for The Late Show with David Letterman. The stand-up routine was successful which proved to be a significant factor in building up his career. The host of the show, David Letterman was impressed with Jim’s performance that he hired Jim to develop the sitcom for his production company ‘World Wide Pants’. While he was onto it,
Jim Gaffigan also made an appearance as a guest star for several American television shows including
1. The 70’s Show
2. Third Watch
3. Sex and the City
4. Law & Order
From the 2000s onwards, Jim Gaffigan took a new approach in developing his comedy career by producing his comedy albums, which is an audio recording of the comedic content produced by a comedian. Here is the list of comedy albums that Jim Gaffigan has released up till now:
1. Luigi’ Doghouse
2. Beyond the Pale
3. The Last Supper
4. Mr. Universe
5. Noble Ape.
Among these comedy albums, ‘Mr. Universe” was selected for Grammy nomination. This inspired Jim to implement another well-known comedian Louis C.K’s business model in which his stand-up performance will be available for online purchase for five dollars, with the majority of the earnings would be donated to the Bob Woodruff Foundation, an institution that assists military veterans.
On 2012, Jim Gaffigan made it to the list of top-ten grossing comics in the United States which considerably increased Jim Gaffigan net worth.
Other than his interests, Jim Gaffigan has performed stand-up comedy for noble causes as well. On 2013, Jim Gaffigan performed a gig for the charity event namely “Stand Up for Heroes” with other famous stand-up comedians including Bill Cosby, Jon Stewart, and Jerry Seinfeld. Then next year, he performed for another American male actor Brad Pitt’s charity foundation ‘The make It Right gala’ which constructs sustainable housing for vulnerable communities.
Interesting Read: Wife of Dr. Strange
On 2015, Jim was the only selected comedian who performed a stand-up gig for the Catholic event, Festivals of Families held in the state of Philadelphia. The event was attended by millions of attendees and important religious figures as well including Pope Francis.
After 2016, Jim Gaffigan did his stand-up comedy gigs occasionally within the country tours and comedy festivals.
Jim Gaffigan net worth as an actor and producer
In the early nineties, Jim Gaffigan experienced a hiatus in his comedy career. Things were not looking good until his friend suggested he apply for auditions in commercials. Since he had a talent for delivering different voiceovers, he was instantly hired.
This shift in career change proved to be favorable for Jim as he did not just star in one but has starred in approximately two hundred commercials in total; leading him to be awarded the title of ‘Salesman of the year’ by American Business weekly magazine, Business Week.
Even with his spectacular comeback as a comedian, Jim Gaffigan continued acting for several Hollywood TV shows and movies. Here is the list of movies that Jim Gaffigan has starred at:
1. 30 years to Life
2. The Love Guru
3.17 Again
4. It’s a kind of a Funny Story
5. Hot Pursuit
6.13 going on 30
On 2010, Jim Gaffigan along with his wife Jeannie Gaffigan started working on producing a sitcom based on their life with the CBS television broadcasting company. But the project was dropped midway and the production went into hiatus. It was only then resumed back when another broadcasting company TV Land offers Gaffigans complete authority to produce the sitcom.
Five years later, on 15th July 2015, the pilot episode of the American sitcom “The Jim Gaffigan Show” was released which was about a couple who raised their children in an apartment. The cast of this sitcom was Jim Gaffigan himself, Ashley Williams who plays the role of Jim Gaffigan’s wife, and some other additional characters including Adam Goldberg who acts as Jim Gaffigan’s best friend Dave.
The sitcom in general received positive reviews with a few negative statements that claimed that the show didn’t display anything refreshing. The sitcom has only two seasons in total as Gaffigans themselves decided not to make a third season reason provided that they want to spend more time with their children.
In addition to the acting, Jim Gaffigan has also done voice acting for dozens of animation series and movies such as Disney Pixar’s film Luca, DC Star girl, and Bob’s Burgers.
His career as a writer
Many people might not have a clue but besides being a talented comedian and actor, Jim Gaffigan is also an accomplished novelist. On the year 2013, Jim Gaffigan released his first book called ‘Dad is Fat. The title of the book was hilariously taken from his eldest son who wrote the same words on a dry-erase board when he was five years old.
This book contains a collection of essays that shares the details of Jim’s childhood experiences and tips on upbringing children. It was ranked in the fifth position in New York Times’ Best Seller List.
On 2014, Jim released his second book named ‘Food: A Love Story” which is also a collection of essays in which he writes his personal opinions about the one thing he loves “Food” in an amusing manner and this is how Jim Gaffigan net worth increased.
Jim Gaffigan personal life
Jim Gaffigan is married to American Actress and producer, Jeannie Gaffigan. The couple is the proud parents of five children, three daughters, and two sons. The whole family currently resides in a big house situated in Manhattan. Jim Gaffigan and his whole family are practicing Christians. Besides their religious duties, they are known to be active participants in attending religious events.
Jim Gaffigan Net Worth
Jim Gaffigan is now a few of the respectable comedians who have a net worth of millions. Despite facing hurdles, the hard work of doing stand-up comedy gigs along with the acting profession finally paid off.
The net worth of Jim Gaffigan 2022 currently stands at a whopping $30 million. This is a considerable and impressive net worth if you compare it with Jim Gaffigan net worth in 2018 which was $10 million.
All of Jim Gaffigan net worth is accumulated earnings from the stand-up comedy gigs, comedy shows he has produced movies he has starred in and books he has written. In addition to this, Jim Gaffigan has also worked as a commentator and has done several brand endorsements which inevitably increased Jim Gaffigan net worth.
