The Skinny

Jim Gaffigan has built a multi-decade career on being the pale, doughy guy who is too tired to parent and too obsessed with bacon to stop eating, but in The Skinny, he walks onto the stage at Boston’s Wilbur Theater looking noticeably thinner in a tailored suit, having finally succumbed to the modern magic of weight-loss medication. Filmed for Hulu as the headliner to launch their “Hulu’s Laughing Now” stand-up initiative, the late 2024 special caught Gaffigan at a high-profile moment in his career, following a busy autumn playing vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz on Saturday Night Live and co-headlining arenas with Jerry Seinfeld. On stage, that momentum translates into a relaxed, confident performance where he mostly retires his signature high-pitched audience proxy voice in favor of a straightforward, dry delivery of his observations. While the weight-loss material gives the hour its title and its freshest angles—examining the weird social pressure of explaining his new frame and the sudden realization that he is now forced to eat like a normal human—Gaffigan eventually returns to his favorite well of domestic exhaustion. With his five children growing into teenagers, the parenting jokes have evolved to focus on the sheer exhaustion of sitting through fifteen years of terrible kids’ movies and raising teens who are entirely unimpressed by him. Critics generally received the hour as reliable comfort food, noting that while the marital material in the final stretch can feel slightly recycled, his polished delivery keeps the set moving beautifully.