Dad is Fat

In June we decided to go with a sort of non-traditional choice and read “Dad is Fat” by Jim Gaffigan. This is a book but many of our group listened to the audio version because it is narrated by the author, a stand-up comedian.

Jim Gaffigan is well known as a clean, or family friendly comedian-something he kind of makes fun of during the book. He is the father of five children, and lives in a small apartment in Manhattan, NY.  Most of the book is focused around funny things he has experienced as either a father, observed as being a parent, or reflecting on his own parents.

It is mostly a group of funny bits, some of which are easily available on YouTube as part of his stand-up routine, but combined all together it is a funny view on parenthood, children, and life. Our group enjoyed the book quite a lot, and we spent some time talking about how laughter helps us. Some discussion on how children laugh up to 200 times a day, while adults are averaging about 17 times a day suggested to us that we all should find ways to laugh more.

With that in mind, we discussed things that we have found funny, to share our ideas on what to watch or read to increase our daily laughter levels. Everything from funny cat videos, good books, movies and video sketches, standup and sitcoms can bring us a smile even during a sad time. We took a few minutes to enjoy a few funny videos that our group recommended.

We watched a few clips by Jim Gaffigan, a couple skits by Studio C, and a funny skit by Saturday Night Live. It was a really fun evening and we enjoyed the book and the fun company.