Disney’s Stand-Up Series Will Begin With Jim Gaffigan, Despite His History of Roasting Disney
Not wanting Netflix to corner the market on the “funny people saying things into a microphone for over an hour” industry, Disney just made the announcement, during their burn-filled upfront presentation, that Hulu will have its own series of stand-up comedy specials, titled “Hulu’s Laughing Now.” Hopefully, the stand-ups they hire will be funnier than the marketing team.
Each month, Hulu will release a new special featuring a different comic, with a total of 12 per year. Their first special will feature beloved comedian and co-star of Unfrosted Jim Gaffigan. The Skinny, recorded at Boston’s Wilbur Theater earlier this year, will premiere November 22nd on Hulu, and on Disney+ in other countries, providing children all over the world with a confusing alternative to Bluey.
Gaffigan has previously had specials on rival streamers like Netflix and Amazon Prime, but this is the first time that he’s done one for the Mouse House. “This is probably the biggest announcement that will happen to television since the invention of the TV dinner,” Gaffigan told the upfront audience. “They’re doing it not half-assed. They’re doing it full-assed. I don’t know if I’m allowed to say that.”
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Speaking of things he’s not allowed to say, presumably Gaffigan won’t be making any jokes at the Walt Disney Company’s expense during his Disney-released special. In the past, Gaffigan hasn’t exactly held back when it comes to his less-than-favorable opinions about Disney theme parks.
During his 2012 special Mr. Universe, Gaffigan spent more than six, intensely-relatable minutes describing just how crappy a family trip to Disney World can be for the adults. “Imagine you’re standing in the DMV, and… that’s it,” Gaffigan quipped.
He did admit that there is something “magical” about Disney World, and that is that “you can walk around sweating your ass off for 12 hours and still gain weight.” He also dunked on childless adults who go to Disney theme parks (“they’re called ‘weirdos’”) and remarked that the general vibe among parents at the park was “this was an enormous mistake.”
As further evidence that Disney probably won’t be able to convince Gaffigan to ever do any synergistic theme park sponcon, the comedian later went on Conan and described how he spent Christmas Day at Disney World, just “as Jesus would have wanted.” Gaffigan straight up told Conan, “I know there’s a lot of people that love Disney, and I just want them to know… they’re wrong.”
He then went into more detail, explaining that “Disney, for me, it’s like jalapeños. I never learn. I always think I can handle it, and then a couple of hours later, I wish I was dead.”
Clearly Disney doesn’t have any problems with Gaffigan’s past, public complaints with their parks, but if it ever comes up, he could always claim that he was lying about his distaste for Disney — you know, like how he was lying about eating Hot Pockets.
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