Video: Jim Gaffigan puts food trends to the test

Stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan is no foodie, that sect of oft-insular thrill-seekers scoping out and Instagramming the next big thing in the culinary arts. No. He sees himself as an “eatie.”

“I admire their adventures, but I’m too lazy. I just want the closest best burger. I don’t want to go on an adventure,” says Gaffigan in an interview with Maclean’s. “And I’m also not bored with regular food. Like, I’ll try different things, but give me the best steak—I don’t need you to make some cranberry-sauce thing.”

So it’s not surprising that his newest book is called Food: A Love Story, a New York Times bestseller just like his debut, Dad Is Fat. The authorial intent is logical—he’s known for his deadpan observations on how and what we eat, an activity he practises with zeal—and it comes from plenty of experience, especially on the road. “I find it strange how much food people bring me. I had all these jokes about doughnuts, and now people bring me a box of doughnuts. The last time I did a show in Toronto, in my hotel room, there was a box of doughnuts, and I’ll look at them and say, ‘I’m not not going to eat them. They were a gift. What would Jesus do?’ But there’s a box, I’m by myself, in the city for one night. What kind of pig do I come across as? It’s kind of sad.

“But the doughnuts help with me deal with it.”