Jim Gaffigan Explains Why Dads Tell Horrible Dad Jokes

Jim Gaffigan is one of the funniest dads in comedy, partly because he isn’t afraid to really lean into fatherhood by utilizing a litany of dad jokes. But have you ever wondered why he and other dads tell such terrible jokes, especially since he knows they’ll cause eye rolls? Well, Gaffigan has the answer — and it’s hilarious.

The proud dad of five recently visited The Drew Barrymore Show to chat about his upcoming movie, Peter Pan & Wendy, but a conversation with Gaffigan wouldn’t be complete without his signature jokes.

In the segment, Gaffigan and Barrymore read off dad jokes, and three dads in the audience ranked each one out of five, with five being the best score for a dad joke.

“No one ever talks about Peter Pan's brother, Peter Pots,” Gaffigan said to a collective groan.

Next, Barrymore read off the next: “How come Peter Pan is always flying? Because he Neverlands,” which gets a score of four from the dads.

Gaffigan read off another — perhaps the best.

“Did you hear the rumor about butter? Well, I'm not gonna spread it,” he said, which got a perfect score from one dad.

There were a few more dad jokes aired in the segment, each a perfect blend of cheesy and funny. But arguably, the best takeaway from the segment is Gaffigan’s brutal honesty on why dads tell these corny jokes all the time.

“I love dad jokes because the reason dads do dad jokes is to make the children unhappy,” he confessed.

“It’s the fact that they're so bad that they annoy a child bring joy to an older man.”

You can watch the full segment of Gaffigan — and see more dad jokes getting ranked — on The Drew Barrymore Show on YouTube.