Comedians are unusual creatures in that they show affection through criticism, Jim Gaffigan said this week on the Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend podcast. It’s the conceit behind roast comedy — we only hurt the ones we love.
There’s one comedian who’s “the most powerful roaster or roast comic that’s ever existed, and this includes Don Rickles,” Gaffigan claimed. “More powerful than any who came before him. I think Martin Short is beyond a doubt the quickest, the meanest, and so funny.”
“Without a doubt,” O’Brien agreed.
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Because he’s a nice person at heart, Gaffigan said, Short will use his Jiminy Glick character to get away with comic punches that Short himself might be hesitant to throw.
“He can hide in the fat suit,” continued O’Brien of Short’s fleshy suit of armor. “And he can say things like, ‘You know, your career never quite took off now, did it?’”
The most devastating part, according to Gaffigan? “He’s stating the obvious.”
O’Brien and Gaffigan recently co-hosted a charity benefit at the Beacon Theater in New York City. Short stopped by to “help out,” which meant everyone was in for evisceration. O’Brien and Gaffigan were down for it like “kids in a candy shop.” “The artistry of what he does compared to roasting that you see at that Tom Brady roast or you think of Don Rickles, who is obviously magical,” marveled Gaffigan. “But what Marty does … and by the way, none of it is scripted! I think he just does it!”
While O’Brien agreed with Gaffigan about Short’s brilliance, he had a different opinion about the comic’s preparation. “I do think he thinks ahead of time, not to take anything away from him,” O’Brien said. “Because the writing is so sharp. He can do it ad lib, but I think he also has some (jokes prepared) ahead of time.”
At the benefit, Gaffigan claimed, Short “literally walked out and stole the whole show, just dressing us down for five minutes. And he left. He was shooting the next day. He’s 75 years old, he walked out, ripped into us, left, and everyone’s like, ‘Well, that’s the best part of the show.’”
The hosts, “two pale skeletons,” had no chance, O’Brien agreed. He joked that they promised the audience that Short might return so everyone would stay in their seats.
The irony, as with Rickles, is that “he’s a sweet guy,” Gaffigan said.
“He’s the real deal,” said O’Brien.
“Maybe he’s got a split personality,” concluded Gaffigan.