Comedians are unusual creatures in that they show affection through criticism, Jim Gaffigan said this week on the Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend podcast. It’s the conceit behind roast comedy — we only hurt the ones we love.

There’s one comedian who’s “the most powerful roaster or roast comic that's ever existed, and this includes Don Rickles,” Gaffigan claimed. “More powerful than any who came before him. I think Martin Short is beyond a doubt the quickest, the meanest, and so funny.”

“Without a doubt,” O’Brien agreed.

Because he’s a nice person at heart, Gaffigan said, Short will use his Jiminy Glick character to get away with comic punches that Short himself might be hesitant to throw.

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“He can hide in the fat suit,” continued O’Brien of Short’s fleshy suit of armor. “And he can say things like, ‘You know, your career never quite took off now,...