Uncooked pork belly bacon strips.

Bacon is a cured meat prepared from a pig. It is first cured using large quantities of salt, either in a brine or in a dry packing; the result is fresh bacon (also known as green bacon). Fresh bacon may then be further dried for weeks or months in cold air, boiled, or smoked.

Bacon is prepared from several different cuts of meat. It is usually made from side and back cuts of pork^{[citation needed]}, except in the United States, where it is almost always prepared from pork belly (typically referred to as "streaky", "fatty", or "American style" outside of the US and Canada). The side cut has more meat and less fat than the belly. Bacon may be prepared from either of two distinct back cuts: fatback, which is almost pure fat, and pork loin, which is very lean. Bacon-cured pork loin is known as back bacon.

Bacon may be eaten smoked, boiled, fried, baked, or grilled, or used as a minor ingredient to flavor dishes. Bacon is also used for barding and larding roasts, especially game, e.g. venison, pheasant. The word is derived from the Old High German bacho, meaning "buttock", "ham" or "side of bacon", and cognate with the Old French bacon.^[1]

In continental Europe, this part of the pig is usually not smoked like bacon is in the United States; it is used primarily in cubes (lardons) as a cooking ingredient, valued both as a source of fat and for its flavor. In Italy, this is called pancetta and is usually cooked in small cubes or served uncooked and thinly sliced as part of an antipasto.

Meat from other animals, such as beef, lamb, chicken, goat, or turkey, may also be cut, cured, or otherwise prepared to resemble bacon, and may even be referred to as "bacon".^[2] Such use is common in areas with significant Jewish and Muslim populations.^[3] The USDA defines bacon as "the cured belly of a swine carcass"; other cuts and characteristics must be separately qualified (e.g., "smoked pork loin bacon"). For safety, bacon must be treated to prevent trichinosis,^[4] caused by Trichinella, a parasitic roundworm which can be destroyed by heating, freezing, drying, or smoking.^[5]

Bacon is distinguished from salt pork and ham by differences in the brine (or dry packing). Bacon brine has added curing ingredients, most notably sodium nitrite, and occasionally sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate (saltpeter); sodium ascorbate or erythorbate are added to accelerate curing and stabilize color. Flavorings such as brown sugar or maple are used for some products. If used, sodium polyphosphates are added to improve sliceability and reduce spattering when the bacon is pan fried. Today, a brine for ham, but not bacon, includes a large amount of sugar. Historically, "ham" and "bacon" referred to different cuts of meat that were brined or packed identically, often together in the same barrel.

Curing and smoking bacon[link]

Bacon is cured through either a process of injecting with or soaking in brine or using plain salt (dry curing).^{[citation needed]}

In America, bacon is usually cured and smoked, and different flavors can be achieved by using various types of wood, or rarely corn cobs; peat is sometimes used in the UK. This process can take up to eighteen hours, depending on the intensity of the flavor desired. The Virginia House-Wife (1824), thought to be one of the earliest American cookbooks, gives no indication that bacon is ever not smoked, though it gives no advice on flavoring, noting only that care should be taken lest the fire get too hot.^[6] In early American history, the preparation and smoking of bacon (like the making of sausage) seems to have been a gender-neutral process, one of the few food-preparation processes not divided by gender.^[7]

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, smoked and unsmoked varieties are equally common, unsmoked being referred to as green bacon. The leaner cut of back bacon is preferred to the bacon from the belly (that is ubiquitous in the United States) which is referred to as streaky bacon due to the prominence of the bands of fat. While there is a tendency on both sides of the Atlantic to serve belly bacon well-done to crispy, back bacon may at first appear undercooked to Americans.

Cuts of bacon[link]

Rashers (slices) differ depending on the primal cut from which they are prepared:

Cooked rasher of streaky bacon

• Side bacon, or streaky bacon, comes from pork belly. It is very fatty with long layers of fat running parallel to the rind. This is the most common form of bacon in the United States. Pancetta is Italian streaky bacon, smoked or aqua (unsmoked), with a strong flavor. It is generally rolled up into cylinders after curing. In America unsmoked streaky bacon is often referred to as side pork.^{[citation needed]}

Back bacon, ready for cooking

• Middle bacon, from the side of the animal, is intermediate in cost, fat content, and flavor between streaky bacon and back bacon.
• Back bacon (called Irish bacon/Rashers or Canadian bacon in the United States^{[citation needed]}) comes from the loin in the middle of the back of the pig. It is a very lean, meaty cut of bacon, with less fat compared to other cuts. It has a ham-like texture. Most bacon consumed in the United Kingdom is back bacon.^[8]
• Cottage bacon is thinly sliced lean pork meat from a shoulder cut that is typically oval shaped and meaty. It is cured and then sliced into round pieces for baking or frying.
• Jowl bacon is cured and smoked cheeks of pork. See Guanciale.

Sliced jowl bacon.

• Slab bacon typically has a medium to very high fraction of fat. It is made from the belly and side cuts, and from fatback. Slab bacon is not to be confused with salt pork, which is prepared from the same cuts, but is not cured.

Bacon joints include the following:

• Collar bacon is taken from the back of a pig near the head.^[9]
• Hock, from the hog ankle joint between the ham and the foot.
• Gammon, from the hind leg, traditionally "Wiltshire cured".
• Picnic bacon is from the picnic cut, which includes the shoulder beneath the blade.^[10] It is fairly lean, but tougher than most pork cuts.

Around the world[link]

Bacon and egg on toast, garnished with a strawberry

Traditionally, the skin is left on the cut and is known as bacon rind, but rindless bacon is also common throughout the English-speaking world. The meat may be bought smoked or unsmoked. Bacon is often served with eggs as part of a full breakfast.

Australia and New Zealand[link]

Generally as for the United Kingdom. Middle bacon is the most common variety and are sold in "rashers". Middle bacon includes the streaky, fatty section along with the loin at one end. In response to increasing consumer diet-consciousness, some supermarkets also offer the loin section only. This is sold as "short cut bacon" and is usually priced slightly higher than middle bacon. Both varieties are usually available in rindless, that is, with the rind removed.^[11]

Roast peameal bacon

Canada[link]

An individual piece of bacon is a slice or strip. In Canada:

• The term bacon on its own or, more specifically, side bacon^[12] typically refers to bacon from the pork belly.
• Back bacon refers to either smoked or unsmoked bacon cut from the boneless eye of pork loin.^[12] Called Canadian bacon in the United States.
• Peameal bacon is back bacon, brined and coated in fine cornmeal (historically, it was rolled in a meal made from ground dried peas).^[12]

United Kingdom and Ireland[link]

Grilled or fried bacon are included in the traditional full breakfast. An individual slice of bacon is a rasher, or occasionally a collop. In this region, bacon comes in a wide variety of cuts and flavors:

• The term bacon on its own suggests the more common back bacon, but can refer to any cut.
• Slices from the pork belly (with streaks of meat and of fat) are referred to as streaky bacon, streaky rashers or belly bacon.
• Slices from the back of the pig are referred to as back bacon or back rashers, and usually include a streaky bit and a lean oval bit.
• Middle cuts with an eye of meat and an extended streaky section are common.
• Heavily trimmed back cuts which may consist of just the eye of meat are available.

United States[link]

A side of unsliced bacon was once known as a flitch^[13] it is now known as a slab. An individual slice of bacon is a slice or strip. The term rasher of bacon is occasionally encountered (e.g., on restaurant menus) to mean a serving of bacon (typically several slices).

American bacons include varieties smoked with hickory or corncobs and flavorings such as red pepper, maple, honey, molasses, and occasionally cinnamon. They vary in sweetness and saltiness and come from the Ozarks, New England and from the upper South (mainly Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia).^[14]

• The term bacon on its own refers generically to strip bacon from the belly meat of the pig, which is the most popular type of bacon sold in the U.S.
• The term Canadian Bacon or Canadian-style bacon must be made from the pork loin, and means back bacon,^[15] but this term refers usually to the lean ovoid portion (longissimus muscle, or loineye).^[10] It also can be made from the sirloin portion of the loin (gluteal muscles), but must be labeled appropriately. Similar products made from the ham are used as less expensive substitutes.

In Japan[link]

In Japan, bacon (ベーコン) is pronounced "bēkon". It is cured and smoked belly meat as in the US, and is sold in either regular or half length sizes. Bacon in Japan is different from that in the US in that the meat is not sold raw but is processed, precooked and has a ham-like consistency when cooked.^[16] Uncured belly slices, known as bara (バラ), are very popular in Japan and are used in a variety of dishes.^[17][18]

Addictive taste[link]

Arun Gupta of The Indypendent has pointed out how bacon possesses six ingredient types of umami, which elicits an addictive neurochemical response.^[19] According to Gupta "the chain lards on bacon" give foods a "high flavor profile" creating a "one-of-a-kind product that has no taste substitute."^[20] This led Dr. David Kessler, author of The End of Overeating, to note how the standard joke in the restaurant chain industry goes, "When in doubt, throw cheese and bacon on it."^[20]

Bacon mania[link]

There is: bacon ice cream; bacon-infused vodka; deep-fried bacon; chocolate-dipped bacon; bacon-wrapped hot dogs filled with cheese; brioche bread pudding smothered in bacon sauce; hard-boiled eggs coated in mayonnaise encased in bacon — called, appropriately, the 'heart attack snack'; bacon salt; bacon doughnuts, cupcakes and cookies; bacon mints; 'baconnaise', which Jon Stewart described as 'for people who want to get heart disease but are too lazy to actually make bacon'; Wendy's 'Baconnator' — six strips of bacon mounded atop a half-pound cheeseburger — which sold 25 million in its first eight weeks; and the outlandish 'bacon explosion' — a barbecued meat brick composed of 2 pounds of bacon wrapped around 2 pounds of sausage.

— Arun Gupta^[20]

Chocolate-covered bacon on a stick

The United States has seen an increase in popularity of bacon and bacon related recipes, dubbed "bacon mania". Dishes such as bacon explosion, chicken fried bacon, and chocolate-covered bacon have been popularized over the internet,^[21] as has using candied bacon. Recipes spread quickly through the national media, culinary blogs, and YouTube.^[22][23] Restaurants are organizing bacon and beer tasting nights,^[24] The New York Times reported on bacon infused with Irish whiskey used for Saint Patrick's Day cocktails,^[25] and celebrity chef Bobby Flay has endorsed a "Bacon of the Month" club online, in print,^[26] and on national television.^[27]

Commentators explain this surging interest in bacon by reference to what they deem American cultural characteristics. Sarah Hepola, in a 2008 article in Salon.com, suggests a number of reasons, one of them that eating bacon in the modern, health-conscious world is an act of rebellion: "Loving bacon is like shoving a middle finger in the face of all that is healthy and holy while an unfiltered cigarette smolders between your lips."^[28] She also suggests bacon is sexy (with a reference to Sarah Katherine Lewis' book Sex and Bacon), kitsch, and funny. Hepola concludes by saying that "Bacon is American":

Bacon is our national meat. The pig is not an elegant animal, but it is smart and resourceful and fated to wallow in mud. A scavenger. A real scrapper.

Alison Cook, writing in the Houston Chronicle (she calls bacon "democratic"), concurs with the third of these reasons, arguing the case of bacon's American citizenship by referring to historical and geographical uses of bacon.^[22] Early American literature echoes the sentiment—in Ebenezer Cooke's 1708 poem The Sot-Weed Factor, a satire of life in early colonial America, the narrator already complains that practically all the food in America was bacon-infused.^[29]

Bacon dishes[link]

A bacon, lettuce, and tomato (BLT) sandwich

Bacon dishes include bacon and eggs, bacon, lettuce, and tomato (BLT) sandwiches, bacon wrapped foods (scallops, shrimp,^[30][31][32] and asparagus), and cobb salad. Recent bacon dishes include chicken fried bacon, chocolate covered bacon, and the bacon explosion. Tatws Pum Munud is a traditional Welsh stew, made with sliced potatoes, vegetables and smoked bacon. There is even bacon jam.

In the U.S. and Europe, bacon is commonly used as a condiment or topping on other foods. Streaky bacon is more commonly used as a topping in the U.S., on items such as pizza, salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, baked potatoes, hot dogs, and soups. In the U.S. Sliced smoked loin, which Americans call Canadian bacon, is used less frequently than streaky, but can sometimes be found on pizza, salads, and omelettes.

Bacon is also used in adaptations of dishes, for example bacon wrapped meatloaf,^[33] and can be mixed in with green beans^[34] or serve sauteed over spinach.

Bacon fat[link]

Bacon frying in its own grease

Bacon fat liquefies and becomes bacon drippings when it is heated. Once cool, it firms into lard if from uncured meat, or rendered bacon fat if from cured meat. Bacon fat is flavorful and is used for various cooking purposes. Traditionally, bacon grease is saved in British and southern U.S. cuisine, and used as a base for cooking and as an all-purpose flavoring, for everything from gravy to cornbread^[35] to salad dressing.^[36]

Bacon, or bacon fat, is often used for barding roast fowl and game birds, especially those that have little fat themselves. Barding consists of laying strips of bacon or other fats over a roast; a variation is the traditional method of preparing filet mignon of beef, which is wrapped in strips of bacon before cooking. The bacon itself may afterwards be discarded or served to eat, like cracklings.

One teaspoon (4 g, 0.14 oz) of bacon grease has 38 calories (160 kJ).^[37] It is composed almost completely of fat, with very little additional nutritional value. Bacon fat is roughly 40% saturated.^[37] Despite the disputed health risks of excessive bacon grease consumption, it remains popular in the cuisine of the American South.

Nutrients[link]

Four 14-gram (0.5 oz) slices of bacon together contain 7.45 grams (0.26 oz) of fat, of which about half is monounsaturated, a third is saturated and a sixth is polyunsaturated, and 7.72 grams (0.27 oz) of protein.^[38] Four pieces of bacon can also contain up to 800 mg of sodium, which is roughly equivalent to 1.92 grams of salt. The fat and protein content varies depending on the cut and cooking method.

Health concerns[link]

A 2007 study by Columbia University suggests a link between eating cured meats (such as bacon) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The preservative sodium nitrite is the probable cause,^[39][40] and bacon made without added nitrites is available. Bacon is usually high in salt and saturated fat; excessive consumption of both is related to a variety of health problems.

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found in 2010 that eating processed meats such as bacon, preserved by smoking, curing or salting, or with the addition of chemical preservatives, was associated with an increased risk of both heart disease and diabetes. The same association was not found for unprocessed meat.^[41]

"Bacon" products[link]

The popularity of bacon in the United States has given rise to a number of commercial products that promise to add bacon flavoring without the labor involved in cooking it or the perceived negative qualities of bacon. Some new products are evidence of the recent fad, including Bacon vodka, bacon peanut brittle,^[42] bacon toothpaste^[43] and bacon mints.^[44] A range of inedible products are also available including bacon bandaids, scarfs, and air fresheners.^[22]

Bacon bits[link]

Bacon bits are a frequently used topping on salad or potatoes, and a common element of salad bars. Bacon bits are made from either small, crumbled pieces of bacon (ends and pieces) or torn or misshapen slices; in commercial plants they are cooked in continuous microwave ovens. Similar products are made from ham or turkey, and analogues are made from textured vegetable protein, artificially flavored to resemble bacon.^[45] They are most often salted.

Popular brands include Hormel Bacon Toppings, Oscar Mayer Real Bacon Bits and Pieces, and the analogue Betty Crocker Bac-Os.

Other bacon-flavored products[link]

Turkey bacon and vegetarian bacon fill a niche for alternatives to the meat from pigs. There is also a wide range of other bacon-flavored products, including a bacon-flavored salt, Bacon Salt,^[46] and a bacon-flavored mayonnaise, Baconnaise.^[47] Jon Stewart satirized Baconnaise in his The Daily Show as a combination of gluttony and sloth: "for people who want heart disease but are too lazy to actually make the bacon."^[48][49] Outside of the United States, baconnaise seems to characterize the U.S. in the same way Stewart proposed, as suggested by the French blog Écrans.^[50]

See also[link]

Bacon portal

• Samgyeopsal
• Zeeuws spek
• Bacon Grill

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up bacon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bacon

Links to related articles v t e Pigs Kingdom Animalia · Phylum Chordata · Class Mammalia · Order Artiodactyla · Suborder Suina · Family Suidae · Subfamily Suinae · Genus Sus Domestic Selection List of domestic pig breeds • Swine judging • Pig show Husbandry Pig farming • Intensive pig farming • Sty • Pannage • Pig toilet • Hog oiler • Gestation crate • Cross-fostering • Swine diseases • Swineherd As food or other product Pig slaughter • Pig scalder • Suckling pig • Pork • Ham  • Bacon • Lard • Blood • Dishes • Pig bladder Other uses War pig • Truffle hog • Miniature pig • Pig racing • Pig wrestling Wild Feral Wild boar • Razorback • Wild pigs of the Philippines • Boar hunting • Boars in heraldry Pigs in culture Iron Age pig • Flitch of bacon custom • Miss Piggy • Porky Pig • "The Three Little Pigs" • Babe • Charlotte's Web • The Sheep-Pig  • Peppa Pig Cultural references to pigs v t e Bacon Dishes Angels on horseback Bacon and cabbage Bacon and egg pie Bacon and eggs (full breakfast) Bacon bits Bacon ice cream Bacon, egg and cheese sandwich Bacon Explosion Baconnaise Bacon sandwich Baconator BLT sandwich Brændende kærlighed Chicken fried bacon Chivito Chocolate-covered bacon Clams casino Cobb salad Coddle Čvarci Fool's Gold Loaf Garbure Guanciale Hangtown fry Hoppin' John Hot Brown Jambonette Kranjska klobasa Kugelis Luther Burger Maple bacon donut Oysters en brochette Peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich Pig candy Pigs in a blanket Pīrags Rouladen Rumaki Samgyeopsal Seven-layer salad Slavink Stargazy pie Stegt flæsk Szalonna Tatws Pum Munud Túrós csusza Drinks Bacon martini Bacon vodka Mitch Morgan BLT cocktail Topics Bacon Bowl Bacon mania International Bacon Day J&D's Down Home Enterprises Heather Lauer Turkey bacon Vallée d'Aoste Lard d'Arnad Vegetarian bacon Books Bacon: A Love Story The Bacon Cookbook Bacon and Hams The BLT Cookbook Don't Forget the Bacon! Everything Tastes Better with Bacon I Love Bacon! Seduced by Bacon Bacon portal Wiktionary Wikibooks Wikiquote WikiSource Wikimedia Commons Wikinews Wikiversity v t e Meat Poultry and game Chicken Duck Turkey Goose Pheasant Grouse Ostrich Quail Partridge Rabbit Venison Livestock Beef and Veal Bison Dog Goat Guinea pig Horse Kangaroo Lamb and mutton Llama Pork Yak Fish and seafood Crab Crayfish Lobster Prawn Shrimp Anchovy Basa Bass Catfish Carp Cod Crappie Dolphin Eel Flounder Grouper Haddock Halibut Herring Kingfish Mackerel Mahi Mahi Marlin Milkfish Orange roughy Perch Pike Pollock Salmon Sardine Sole Swordfish Tilapia Trout Tuna Walleye Whale Cuts and preparation Bacon Barbecued Braised Burgers Chop Corned Cured Fondue Fried Haggis Ham Aged Marinated Offal Pepperoni Pickled Poached Roasted Salami Sausage Salt-cured Smoked Steak Stewed Tartare Tenderized Other Butchery Ethics Preservation Slaughter Red meat White meat v t e Edible fats and oils Fats Pork fats Lard Bacon fat Fatback Salo Lardo Beef/mutton fats Dripping Suet Tallow Dairy fats Butter Clarified butter Ghee Niter kibbeh Smen Poultry fats Chicken fat Duck fat Schmaltz Other animal fats Blubber Muktuk Vegetable fats Cocoa butter Margarine Shea butter Vegetable shortening Oils Almond oil Argan oil Avocado oil Canola oil Cashew oil Castor oil Coconut oil Cod liver oil Colza oil Corn oil Cottonseed oil Fish oil Grape seed oil Hazelnut oil Hemp oil Linseed oil (flaxseed oil) Macadamia oil Marula oil Mongongo nut oil Mustard oil Olive oil Palm oil (palm kernel oil) Peanut oil Pecan oil Perilla oil Pine nut oil Pistachio oil Poppyseed oil Pumpkin seed oil Rapeseed oil Rice bran oil Safflower oil Sesame oil Soybean oil Sunflower oil Tea seed oil Walnut oil Watermelon seed oil See also List of vegetable oils Cooking oil Essential oil

Jim Gaffigan
Jim Gaffigan on February 20, 2010
Birth name	James Christopher Gaffigan
Born	(1966-07-07) July 7, 1966 (age 45) Chesterton, Indiana, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	American
Years active	1991 – Present
Genres	Deadpan, sarcasm, observational comedy, satire
Subject(s)	Pop culture, everyday life, marriage, parenting, obesity, self-deprecation
Spouse	Jeannie Noth Gaffigan (2003-present) 4 children
Notable works and roles	Beyond the Pale King Baby Roy Keene on That '70s Show Andy Franklin in My Boys
Website	http://www.jimgaffigan.com

James Christopher "Jim" Gaffigan (born July 7, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian and actor.

Early life[link]

Gaffigan was born in Chesterton, Indiana and attended La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana. He is the youngest of six children and often jokes about growing up in a large family. He attended one year at Purdue University, where he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity. He graduated from Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business in 1988. Jim Gaffigan wrestled in High School and stated, while on Joe Rogan's podcast, that he played College Football (division 3).

Career[link]

Stand-up career[link]

Gaffigan performing in May 2008

Gaffigan's comedy routines often include humorous, high-pitched "asides" representing commentary on his performance from a hypothetical naive and easily offended audience member. These were inspired by his sister.^{[citation needed]}

Gaffigan is also known for routines or skits relating to being lazy and eating food, especially popular routines regarding Hot Pockets, cake, and bacon. In 2004 Gaffigan's stand up material was featured in Comedy Central's animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties. His 2006 album, Beyond the Pale, consisted primarily of material regarding food and American eating habits. The album was accompanied by an hour-long special on Comedy Central of the same name, which was released on his DVD. His 2009 album, King Baby, was also a television special filmed in Austin, Texas at the end of his "The Sexy Tour". Comedy Central released King Baby on DVD. In a March 2009 interview on Anytime with Bob Kushell, Gaffigan defended his naming of the tour, stating that he thought it would be funny that parents would be unsure about whether to bring their teenage children to the show.^[1]

For Easter 2010, Gaffigan traveled to Israel and had two performances. One was at a theater in Tel Aviv and the second was at Israel's only English-speaking comedy club in Jerusalem.^[2]

On February 25, 2012, Gaffigan taped a one-hour stand-up special Mr. Universe at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C.^[3] He announced that, based on the business model used by Louis C.K.'s Live at the Beacon Theater, the stand-up would be available online through his website for $5, with $1 of the proceeds going to the Bob Woodruff Foundation.^[4]

Acting career[link]

Gaffigan performing at the Carolines on Broadway comedy club in New York City.

Gaffigan is also recognizable for having performed in several comedic commercials for Sierra Mist alongside fellow comedian Michael Ian Black. Furthermore, he appeared in two movies chosen for the 2001 Sundance Film Festival: Super Troopers and Thirty Years to Life. He appeared on That '70s Show. Gaffigan was a regular cast member of the TBS original sitcom My Boys. He left the show at the end of the third season.

Gaffigan produced a series of animated shorts for Late Night With Conan O'Brien, titled Pale Force, in which the animated Gaffigan and O'Brien are superheroes who fight crime with their extremely pale skin.^[5]

In 2009, Gaffigan guest starred as the best friend of Murray Hewitt in one episode of the HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords. Later that same year, he appeared in the Sam Mendes-directed dramedy Away We Go and the teen comedy 17 Again. On June 11, 2009, Gaffigan made his first and only appearance on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. He appeared on Law & Order episodes "Flight" and "Reality Bites".

He was in an episode of The Daily Show as a man who, posing as a prolific Daily Show correspondent, obviously knows nothing about the show (refers to it as "The John Daily Show") and simply wants to be seen with Jon Stewart. This was meant to be a parody of the 2009 White House gatecrash incident.

He was in the movie The Love Guru starring Mike Myers.

Broadway[link]

On November 2, 2010 it was announced that he will next appear on Broadway opposite Brian Cox, Chris Noth, Kiefer Sutherland, and Jason Patric in That Championship Season, which will open in March 2011.^[6]

Personal life[link]

He is married to Jeannie Noth, a Catholic, with whom he has two daughters, Marre and Katie Louise, and two sons, Jack and Michael, and a fifth child on the way. Gaffigan was raised Catholic,^[7] something else he frequently jokes about. He is noted for his consumption of fish on Fridays, his love of McDonald's, his failure to pay attention in church, and his dislike of hecklers.

Discography[link]

• 2001: Luigi's Doghouse
• 2001: Economics II
• 2003: More Moo Moos
• 2004: The Last Supper
• 2004: Doing My Time
• 2006: Beyond the Pale
• 2009: King Baby
• 2012: "Mr. Universe"

Filmography[link]

• Three Kings (1999)
• Cry Baby Lane (2000)
• Super Troopers (2001)
• Igby Goes Down (2002)
• No Sleep Till Madison (2002)
• 13 Going On 30 (2004)
• The Great New Wonderful (2005)
• Stephanie Daley (2006)
• The Living Wake (2007)
• What She Knew (2008)
• The Love Guru (2008)
• 17 Again (2009)
• Away We Go (2009)
• The Slammin' Salmon (2009)
• It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010)
• Going the Distance (2010)

Selected television appearances[link]

• Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (voice)
• Random Play (VH1 Comedy Sketch Series) (1997–1999)
• Law & Order (1998 and 2009)
• Welcome to New York (2000–2001)
• Sex and the City (2001)
• Friends
• The Ellen Show (2001–2002)
• Hope & Faith (2003)
• Ed (2003–2004)
• That '70s Show (2003–2004)
• I Am Comic (2010)
• My Boys (2006–2010)
• Pale Force - Recurring animated short on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (voice)
• Law and Order: Criminal Intent (2002 & 2007)
• WordGirl (2007-present; voice of Mr. Dudley)
• Flight of the Conchords (2009)
• The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (2009)
• The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2009)
• Bored to Death (2010)
• Royal Pains (2011)
• Conan (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jim Gaffigan

• Official website
• Jim Gaffigan at the Internet Movie Database
• Jim Gaffigan on Twitter
• Jim Gaffigan on Myspace
• Pale Force episodes at NBC.com
• 'Getting Late' interview by Pete Dominick on Sirius Radio
• Sexyspeak with stand-up Jim Gaffigan

Al Murray
Born	(1968-05-10) 10 May 1968 (age 44) Stewkley, Buckinghamshire, England
Medium	Stand-up, Television
Nationality	British
Years active	1994-present
Genres	Parody, character comedy, insult comedy, musical comedy
Subject(s)	French and Gender stereotypes, Society, British politics
Influences	Frank Skinner
Spouse	Katherine Perry (1998-2000) (Divorced) Amber Murray (2000-2008) (Separated)
Notable works and roles	The Pub Landlord Time Gentlemen Please Fact Hunt Multiple Personality Disorder

Alastair James Hay "Al" Murray (born 10 May 1968), is a British comedian best known for his stand-up persona, The Pub Landlord, a stereotypical xenophobic public house licensee. In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2007 he was voted the 16th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups and again in the updated 2010 list as the 25th greatest stand-up comic.^[1]

Early life[link]

Murray was born in Stewkley, Buckinghamshire, the son of Lieutenant Colonel Ingram Bernard Hay Murray (through whom he is a great-great-great-great-great-grandson of John Murray, 3rd Duke of Atholl) and Juliet Anne Thackeray Ritchie (through whom he is a great-great-great-grandson of William Makepeace Thackeray).^[2] His grandfather was diplomat Sir Ralph Murray.^[3] Murray attended Bedford School and is a graduate of St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he studied modern history. There he performed in the comedy group, the Oxford Revue in a show directed by Stewart Lee.^[4]

Personal life[link]

Murray married Amber, in 2000. The couple, who have two daughters, Scarlett and Willow, separated in 2008.^[5]

Career[link]

Murray has toured with other comedians including Harry Hill and Frank Skinner. He won the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1999, after being nominated in 1996, 1997 and 1998.^[6] He started out with an act that involved sound-effect impressions, including of guns, animals and a particularly impressive car boot; a combination that prompted an equal number of plaudits for vocal skill and complaints of tastelessness.

The Pub Landlord[link]

The Pub Landlord is a stereotypical, right-wing, British Patriot with a dislike for anything "un-British". He has a particular dislike of Germans and the French; he will challenge the audience to name any country in the world before producing some plausible instance of Britain bettering it. The character also has a great love for the British 1970s rock band Queen, often getting musician(s) on his show to perform a song of Queen's in their own style.

The character is very different from Murray's real life public-school and Oxbridge background and first appeared in 1994 when Murray was the tour support act for Harry Hill.^[4] At that time part of a comedy band called "The Pub Band International" in which he played the drums, they were looking for a link to Hill's act. After trying out a character which they decided didn't work, on the eve of performing at the Edinburgh Festival, Murray created the Pub Landlord.

Murray then made his first television appearances on Hill's TV show playing his big brother Alan ("If it's too hard, I can't understand it!"), and subsequently featured in a short film, Pub Fiction (1995).

Murray's theatre show with the pub landlord character My Gaff, My Rules was short-listed for a Laurence Olivier Award in 2002,^[7] and he has also appeared in character as the central focus of the television series Time Gentlemen Please, as well as a number of other television appearances, including the An Audience with... strand. Subsequent theatre tours, ...A Glass of White Wine for the Lady (another catchphrase) and Giving it Both Barrels also ran to critical acclaim. When asked about the sitcom during live shows, in character as the Pub Landlord, Murray claims to be unhappy with the television series, a joke some have taken literally.

A quiz show, Fact Hunt presented by Murray as the Pub Landlord and named after the fictional quiz machine of the same name from Time Gentlemen Please was shown on late-night ITV in 2005.^[8]

From January 2006, Murray filled in for Tim Lovejoy on Virgin Radio on Sunday afternoons, in character as the Pub Landlord, and broadcast his final show on 24 December 2006.^[9]

His chat show Al Murray's Happy Hour began airing 13 January 2007 on ITV.^[10] The show has won a British Comedy Award and was nominated for a National Television Award. A new series returned on 12 September 2008, and of this Murray said:

"It goes without saying ... the trouble with telly these days is that the viewer is not credited with enough intelligence and the fact I'm back on is proof they know what's good for them".^[11]

Murray was the headliner on 11 July 2009 episode of Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, which was filmed at the Brighton Dome.

On 18 December 2009, Murray hosted the BBC One TV show, Live at the Apollo.

In May 2011, Murray began hosting a new quiz show, Compete for the Meat on the UKTV channel Dave. The show will be co-presented by ex-Blue Peter presenter, Zöe Salmon. The prizes will be a frozen Chicken for 1st place, Sausages for 2nd place and Shame for the Losers! (3rd & 4th places).

Other work[link]

As a teenager, Murray was a drummer in a band with his schoolmates.^[12] He played drums on the music for his Pub Landlord TV series and during an appearance by Phil Collins, they performed a duet. He also plays the drums for the rock cover band T-34 and appeared at the Download festival in 2010, returning once again in 2011.^[13]

In 2003, Murray appeared on an episode of the BBC's Time Commanders alongside Kate Silverton, Raji James and Ricky Groves.

In 2004, Murray appeared as a contestant in the first series of Hell's Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay's cookery based reality show on ITV, and in 2005 appeared as a contestant on Comic Relief does Fame Academy on BBC One.^[14] Murray presented Al Murray's Road To Berlin on the Discovery Channel. This was a series about the last phase of World War II, taking him from the beaches of Normandy, through Arnhem and up the Rhine, ending in Berlin. In the series he drove around in a restored Willys Jeep, and interviewed survivors from both sides of the war. In the episode about Operation Market Garden he parachuted, together with veterans, from a plane, to commemorate the battle.^[15][16]