Born American Jim Gaffigan treats the viewer in The Pale Tourist with not one but two new specials. A performance in Canada and in Spain. What follows is a comical journey through local cuisine and a somewhat cringing triad of cliché jokes. The intro to the Canadian performance starts with images of fatty food, fighting polar bears, flying geese, sandwiches with Canadian ham and of course ice hockey. To which Gaffigan addresses the audience on the stage: “I am a happy man, I have performed all over the world. But the best crowd remains Canadians. ” The room cheers. To which Gaffigan continues: “Well, of course I say that in every country where I perform.”
The mischievous comedian starts with sexually oriented jokes (the capital of Saskatchewan – Regina – rhymes with vagina. The local sports team – another creamy wink – is called ‘The Rough Riders’ and Regina was previously called ‘a pile of erections’). Until Gaffigan ends up at the eatery as usual; local cuisine is an exponent of Canadian petty bourgeoisie. After all, they are well-mannered, patient and thoughtful. Especially compared to Americans. And they eat en masse donair (doner, but in a Canadian way) and poutin (fries with a load of fats parked on them). Gaffigan admits that it causes diarrhea, but it doesn’t bother him.
He imagines the Canadians once thinking, “Hey, let’s put everything that causes heart disease in our dishes, our health care is free anyway.” Then there are perfunctory jokes about the differences between largely English-speaking Ontario and largely French-speaking Quebec – gosh, what Québécois have beautiful swear words. To which follows a joke about Drake (a Canadian pop star), who Gaffigan had long and widely incorporated in his previous sets. The second special, filmed in Barcelona, is a suit of the same sheet. Think of an intro with bullfighting, tapas and typical Spanish-speaking music. And a joke about the fact that Americans call España ‘Spain’. How nonsensical, right?
But the Spaniards also simply call America or the United States Estados Unidos. In other words: Gaffigan’s observation is not so startling. Maybe that’s because he makes his performances for fans, American fans in particular. They still have difficulties with topography and other cultures, because they have little interest in the world around them. Gaffigan could have done more with that. Instead of perfunctory tidbits about the clichés of the cultures of Canada and Spain. For Dutch people – who are said to have a little more knowledge of other cultures – The Pale Tourist may be a bit too much of a celebration of recognition in a negative sense.
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