My birthday is still two weeks away, but tonight I enjoyed one of the very best presents I have ever received. Even if I did have to make an 80-mile round trip to get it.

I found out earlier this week that my children had gone in together to get me two tickets to see one of my favorite comedians, Jim Gaffigan, at the Grove Theater in Anaheim. I can't remember the last time I saw a live comedy show. In fact, the last one was all the way back in the summer of 2001, and I was performing in it as part of a new comedians revue. <em>That</em> was one of the most amazing evenings of my life -- or at least the most amazing five minutes -- but I wasn't nearly as funny as Gaffigan.

[caption id="attachment_142" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Jim Gaffigan"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-142" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/gaffigan-300x300.jpg" alt="Jim Gaffigan" width="300" height="300" />[/caption]

The key to success for any comedian is to find a way in which to be unique, and Gaffigan's success is based on the fact that in addition to doing his act, he uses a second voice to comment on it as if he were a fan in the audience.

<em>"Great, diarrhea jokes."</em>

<em>"That's not funny."</em>

<em>"I don't like it when he does religious jokes."</em>

Many of Gaffigan's funniest bits are about food, whether he's talking about how much he likes bacon and cake (not together) or running down Subway and Waffle House.

He also has done some terrific bits about whales and manatees, and he does the traditional stuff about wife, children and family.

I was actually surprised in one respect. During the opening act -- some guy I had never heard of but who was reasonably funny -- I enjoyed the jokes but never laughed out loud once. I figured that was going to be my reaction to the entire show, that I would enjoy it but not out loud.

Boy, was I wrong. Once Gaffigan hit his stride, I found myself laughing out loud at almost every joke, even the ones I had heard before on his CDs.

The best part of the evening was that Nicole enjoyed it too. As a non-native English speaker, she sometimes doesn't get the humor in some of our comedians. But she not only enjoyed Gaffigan, she didn't have any difficulty at all picking up his speech rhythms.

It was terrific, and what made it even better was that Pauline and Virgile had gone to the trouble to search for a gift that would real