BEWARE comedian Jim Gaffigan’s animated laser-shooting nipples.
Because they just got a development deal. Sort of.
Called “one of the funniest people I know” by Conan O’Brien, this multi-talented, Meisner-trained actor and stand-up comedian is now also a crime-fighting superhero. His alter-ego debuted last year on O’Brien’s “Late Night” in the cartoon short “Pale Force.” Since then, the clips have become a wildly (and virally) popular series on both TV and the Web. Now NBC has asked for an additional 20 episodes which it will air this fall on its soon-tolaunch broadband channel, dotcomedy.com.
Gaffigan makes himself out to be the burly, completely ripped star while O’Brien is the prancing, namby-pamby, pink-outfitted sidekick. Both, however, have magical nipples. To catch up with the series – where half the fun is the fake megalomania of Gaffigan’s world of characters – visit jimgaffigan.com and get acquainted with the Legion of Pale (populated by, among others, Santa Claus, a polar bear, the White Stripes, Larry Bird, Chris Matthews and an albino monkey).
Gaffigan currently appears in the post9/11 drama “The Great New Wonderful” and on Oct. 14, he’ll perform at Town Hall.
Q:Where did you get the idea for “Pale Force”?
A:It was actually [New Yorker cartoonist] Paul Noth’s idea. I had been on “Conan” a bunch of times, and Paul Noth happens to be my brother-in-law. It’s one of those things where Conan and I are obviously really pale and he had mentioned when he introduced me, “This guy is paler than me.” Q:Your superhero in the show has the ability to blind villains with paleness. Any overlap to real life here?
A:It’s very similar. When I play basketball, there’s always an advantage there to how paleness has this repulsing quality.
Q:It’s like Pale Man says . . .
A:”Sometimes the things that are most repulsive about you can also be repulsive to crime.” Q:So what’ll be new in the Dotcomedy series?
A:We’re definitely going to time-travel to where pale people are treated with greater respect. Conan might get support from other sidekicks, you know, on how to be a better sidekick. I’ve talk to Dick Wolf about doing a “Law & Order” version of “Pale Force.” We might do one with Charlie Rose.
Q:Any chance that you might incorporate David Letterman?
A:I don’t know if Letterman is pale enough.
Q:You’re that guy from the Sierra Mist commercials, that guy who went to the bathroom without closing the door from “Sex and the City” and “that guy” from a bunch of other film and TV spots. What’s the most obnoxious thing someone has said to you about your roles?
A:You know, I’ve done all these random, kind of odd roles, and I think the odd thing that people always say to me is, “You’re going to be known as the guy who went to the bathroom with the door open.” Or “You’re going to be known as the guy that they meowed at in ‘Super Troopers.'” Or “You’re going to be known as the ‘Hot Pockets’ guy.” People always threaten you with that, and I find that really weird. “You’re going to be known as the guy who did the Hot Seat interview in The Post.” It’s like, hopefully, it’s not the only thing I ever do.
Q:How often do you actually enjoy a tasty Sierra Mist?
A:I would say whenever I taste the Sierra Mist I always taste a refreshing drink that has allowed me to live in a nice apartment in Manhattan.
Q:You’re in the new TBS pilot “My Boys,” the network’s first venture into scripted comedy after reality shows like Pauly Shore’s “Minding the Store.” Do you feel a lot of pressure?
A:Well, it’s hard to follow Pauly Shore.
Q:Which one of your jokes is your all-time favorite?
A:I guess I would have to say my favorite joke in some ways has got to be the Hot Pockets joke because I feel like anyone who has ever eaten a Hot Pocket can identify.
[Note: The Hot Pocket joke includes lines such as: “Do I eat it or rub it on my face?” and “I was looking at a box of Hot Pockets and they have a warning on the side. It’s like ‘Warning! You just bought Hot Pockets! Hope you’re drunk or heading home to a trailer!
You hillbilly, enjoy the next NASCAR event!”] Some of what I like about the Hot Pockets joke is that they keep introducing new pockets so the joke keeps expanding. It’s like 8 minutes long now.
Q:You’re playing Town Hall in October.
What’s it like to be playing a big venue?
A:It’s exciting. You know, when I started doing stand-up 15 years ago, I used to do alternative rooms on the Lower East Side, which probably explains why my act is so weird. Then I worked and got into the clubs.
Now having the opportunity to do a theater on Broadway in New York is something I don’t take for granted. It’s pretty cool.
Q:What types of material will you be tackling?
A:I want to deal with important issues.
Like food and being lazy. I think it’s time that we as a society really confront things like Cinnabons.
THE SCORE
Birth date: July 7, 1966, in Elgin, Ill.
Which show has he done more – “Letterman” or “Conan”? That would be Conan at 17 and Letterman at 12.
He’s not just funny: The 15-year veteran of stand-up takes a dramatic turn in the post-9/11 drama “The Great New Wonderful,” now in theaters.
He’s not just serious: Business Week’s “Salesman of the Year” in 1999, Gaffigan has done campaigns for Fleet Bank, ESPN, Saturn and Rolling Rock.