Jim Gaffigan To Kick Off 10th LaughFest [Video]

The portly comic, who loves to talk about food and his five kids will headline a show March 5 at VanAndel Arena.

Gilda’s LaughFest, the nation’s first ever community-wide festival of laughter and Outback Presents today announced that Jim Gaffigan will bring his “The Pale Tourist” tour to Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.  Gaffigan will open the 10th year of Gilda’s LaughFest on March 5 at 8 p.m. at Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids. Individual tickets for “The Pale Tourist” go on sale Friday, Oct. 25 at 10 a.m. EDT and are available at ticketmaster.com and at the Van Andel Arena box office.

 Gaffigan is the first headliner to be announced for the 2020 festival. Tickets for “The Pale Tourist” will be included in LaughFest Ticket packages, which go on sale after LaughFest releases its full lineup on Tuesday, Nov. 19.

 “The Pale Tourist” marks the third appearance for Gaffigan at LaughFest. Both of his previous performances sold out.

One of the nation’s top touring comedians, Gaffigan is a four-time Grammy nominated comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is a two-time New York Times best-selling author, two-time Emmy winning top touring performer, and multi-platinum-selling recording artist. Gaffigan’s movie credits include the “Three Kings,” “Super Troopers”, and “Chappaquiddick.” Called the “King of Sundance,” he has roles in three films, “Troop Zero” with Viola Davis and Alison Janney, “Them That Follow,” and Light From Light,” each  premiered during the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

In April 2019, Gaffigan was seen alongside Alec Baldwin and Salma Hayek in Bron Studios’ “Drunk Parents.” Additionally, he recently released his seventh stand-up special, “Quality Time” with Amazon and continues his international arena and theater tour.

In addition to today’s “The Pale Tourist” announcement, LaughFest earlier this year announced that Cristela Alonzo will participate in a special 10th anniversary LaughFest “off-season” performance at 7 p.m., November 22, at the Wealthy Theatre. Tickets for Alonzo’s performance are available at grcmc.org/event/cristela-alonzo-2019.