Jim Gaffigan vs Mike Birbiglia vs Paul Feig

Since I published this post after reading comedic books written by Chelsea Handler, Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling, I thought it would be fun to read comedic books by Jim Gaffigan, Mike Birbiglia and Paul Feig. 

It was.

Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

Dad is Fat is completely about Gaffigan's seven member family. I don't know why I expected it to be a comedic autobiography when the title is Dad is Fat. I loved it anyway. I love how much he loves his wife and kids. I even love his wife and kids. I was laughing immediately! It was really funny how he introduced his family. He did it in the style of how actors' brief bio would be in a Playbill. I loved it.

One chapter I loved was a story about Gaffigan taking his family and the babysitter on a ski trip. He talked about how his kids would wait until he finished strapping them into their ninety layers of clothing to tell him that they need to go to the bathroom. I can just imagine what Gaffigan's face looked like at that moment. The chapter that struck me a little personally was a chapter about candy. Gaffigan talks about that weird kid who only had friends because he brought candy to school. The weird kid only had friends because little children love candy. It reminded me of how I used to bring Jolly Ranchers to high school when I was a freshman. Everyone loved it. I remember we spent all of Spanish class eating them and not listening to the teacher. Now it all makes sense why they talked to me! I have to just laugh because that was spot on. It was so sad to read about all the food and activities Jim Gaffigan no longer enjoys because he has small children. He's only joking, but I feel for him. My favorite chapter was "Nothing in Common". In this hilarious chapter, Gaffigan talks about how he has nothing in common with his kids. You think he would, but nope! I also loved the pictures in Dad is Fat!

I absolutely love Jim Gaffigan is the best father he can be and how much he complains about his kids. I like his philosophy about knowing you're a good parent when you complain and worry about your kids and your parenting. It means you really care and are actively a part of their lives. I really have to agree, even though I have no kids. If you're not worried or bothered by your kids then you're obviously not involved in their lives.

Jim Gaffigan gushes over his wife, Jeanne, in Dad is Fat. You would think it's corny and over the top, but it's not at all. You really have to respect a man who can admit to being a man-child and that his wife is the brains of the operation.

I hope, hope, hope, Gaffigan writes a sequel to Dad is Fat called, Dad is Still Fat where he updates us on his living situation. I'm dying to know how they'll be living when he kids hit puberty. That's going to be FUN. He's going to get so much more material for his stand up. I cannot wait.

There's not a lot I have in common with Jim Gaffigan and yet I still could relate to Dad is Fat. It wasn't just because of the jokes; it was the entire book. I can't wait to read it again.

Sleepwalk with Me 
and Other Painfully True Stories by Mike Birbiglia
 

From the description on the sleeve I started laughing. I really loved Sleepwalk with Me and Other Painfully True Stories because it was short, sweet and to the point. I love reading other comedians' comic books, but usually they're a bunch of random funny stories put together to form a book. I think Tina Fey's book was the first I read that sort of had a storyline for what the basis of her random comedy stories were going to be about. Mindy Kaling and Jim Gaffigan also set the tone for their random stories with the title of their books. But Mike Birbiglia really made it clear to me for some reason. Every time I read a book by one of my favorite comics I always say I relate to them because of a long list of reasons. However with Birbiglia I feel like it's actually real and not because I want to be Mindy Kaling or because I act like Jim Gaffigan. One reason why I think I relate to Sleepwalk with Me because it's a bunch of painfully true stories. I like to think I have a bunch of painfully true embarrassing stories that will one day help me write a comic memoir. Another reason is that from the first chapter Birbiglia gives a real personal about why he wrote this book. No offense to the other comics' whose books I read, but no one explained the real reason why they decided to write their comedic memoir. That helped me connect a little more and have to think, Wow, I'm reading stories you didn't just immediately tell people after they happened. I can tell it took a lot for Birbiglia to publish this book. I'm talking like we're personal friends (which I wish we were), but that's how Sleepwalk with Me made me feel.

I really liked that it's a short book at only one hundred and ninety pages. I could've read the whole thing in one day, but my lazy ass started so late I only got to read half before I needed to go to sleep if I didn't want to be late for work in the morning. And it's consistently funny throughout all the stories. I especially love Mike Birbiglia's dad screaming "This kid needs some reality testing!!!" at him. I liked that he had more than one chapter of him talking about his awkwardness growing up. It's not accurate to compare this to Jim Gaffigan's book because his book is all about his family, but in Mindy Kaling's book she only mentions her bout with bullying in one chapter. I also really liked the words used in Sleepwalk with Me. There were a few times where I read a word I didn't even know existed in the English language. Usually I write down these words to look them up later, but later never comes. I have piles of tiny pieces of paper with words on I need to look up in the dictionary. I think I'll go through Sleepwalk with Me again and find the new sophisticated words. I wanna read this book again so that's fine with me.

I've kind of grown with Sleepwalk with Me, as I've seen the film and watched clips of his stand up. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Sleepwalk with Me had been a critically acclaimed off-Broadway play presented by Nathan Lane. I wish I could've seen it. I should find out if it's still off-Broadway.

Kick Me: 
Adventures in Adolescence by Paul Feig

I originally wanted to read Superstud: Or How I Became a 24-Year-Old Virgin, but couldn't find it at my local library. Luckily, that's not the first book he's written.

Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence was really a painful read. It was mostly about Paul Feig looking back on him getting bullied, embarrassed and his missed chances with girls. I really felt bad laughing, but his inner monologue and comments about the situations were very funny. 

I knew Sam Weir, made popular by Feig's show Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000), was based off of his childhood. After reading Kick Me, I can see the real life stories and how they translated into episodes for Freaks and Geeks. I like that he didn't only use all his childhood trauma on Sam Weir, but instead used some for Sam's best friends, Neal and Bill. For example, Paul dressed as a girl for Halloween when he was ten and so did Bill in the "Tricks and Treats" episode of Freaks and Geeks.  The most recognizable story for me was when Paul gave his mother's heirloom necklace away to his eighth grade crush, Yvonne, and never got it back. That happened in Freaks and Geeks and it killed me. Watch "The Little Things" episode and read the "Can Buy Me Love" chapter of Kick Me. It's really too bad Freaks and Geeks ended after one season. I can tell Feig had a lot of great material to use for the show. 

I can most definitely relate to Feig's feelings towards crushes. The only difference is that he had devastating crushes that would last entire school years and he would act upon them. Every year of high school I had a crush and would not act upon them, but they'd only last a couple months. I'm not ashamed of not acting on them because most of the guys on who I had crushes were assholes and I was too blinded by their "good looks" to see that. I solute Feig for being brave and trying to tell his crushes he liked them. I find it funny that looking back he thought it would've been better if he didn't and looking back I find it better that I didn't. He's right. Fantasizing about you and your crush is better than being upfront about it and getting crushed by your crush. At least in middle and high school it's better. 

The chapter "Tis The Season To Avoid Dating" had to be my favorite chapter. I could not believe it was real! I think if anyone else had written that I would think it was made up, but Kick Me had this tone that you know everything is painfully true and actually happened. I would have LOVED to see this chapter in an episode of Freaks and Geeks.

I chuckled a few times while reading Kick Me, but like I said before I felt a little bad because I was laughing at Feig's misfortune. The chapter that made me buckle over with laughter was "Hail To The Bus Driver". I misread this part of a sentence,"she literally flew out of the driver's seat." I thought it read,"she literally fell out of the driver's seat." and I was DONE. I couldn't hold it in anymore. My body just started to shake. I would've rolled around on the floor and laughed like a hyena, but I was on the subway. This chapter was amazing! Makes me wish I had taken the cheese bus with Paul back then. It's all about how the "freak girls" (as he called them) on his bus used to torment the bus drivers. The three stories he told were magical. The way he described the bus drivers' reactions to the insults hurled at them was expertly done. Actually, this may be my favorite chapter. Reading the sentence correctly did not change the fact that I died laughing at that line. I pretty much died laughing at the whole chapter. 

This is the only comedic memoir I've read that doesn't have an table of contents page that lists the chapters. This is a collection a different stories, but I don't know if you could read them out of order. Feig takes two chapters to write about how he hated gym, giving them a part one and part two. I don't think you could read the second part without reading the first. I hate reading chapters out of order even when it's random stories, but in Kick Me you really couldn't. Kick Me had a linear age storyline you could follow. Feig starts the first story when he was about six and goes all the way to when he's in high school. I liked that; I felt like I was growing up with him. This the second comedic memoir where there were no pictures in the chapters. (Sleepwalk with Me and Other Painfully True Stories didn't have any pictures either.) I would've loved to see how he looked in his Halloween costume when he dressed like a girl and a bigger scale picture of him in his little league uniform. The only pictures are on the cover and a tiny picture of Paul in his baseball uniform on the spine. 

Kick Me definitely got funnier towards the end because the focus wasn't so much on his bullying stories as they were funny situations. I felt better laughing towards the end because of this.

I'm seriously in love with all these comedians. I'm so glad to know that Mike Birbiglia and Jim Gaffigan live in New York. That means I'll be able to bump into them one day and it'll be easier for me get to their smaller shows I assume they perform in comedy clubs on the Lower East Side. I'm going to make a conscious effort to go see their shows. And as I'm already obsessed with Paul Feig I'm going to get my hands on Superstud: Or How I Became a 24-Year-Old Virgin, continue to watch all his films and rewatch Freaks and Geeks over and over.

Dad is Fat, Sleepwalk with Me and Other Painfully True Stories and Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence are very strong comedic memoirs; they may not be everyone's cup of tea. I would say read these books if you're fans of Jim Gaffigan, Mike Birbiglia or Paul Feig. Read these books also if you want to become a fan of Jim Gaffigan, Mike Birbiglia or Paul Feig.