Jerry Seinfeld and Jim Gaffigan are back on the stand-up comedy stage, and although the two are on separate tours, the close friends made sure their paths would cross.

That includes two shows atChase Center on Nov. 2-3, turning the home of the Golden State Warriors into a massive version ofthe Punch Line, where both comedians appeared on their way up.

They cemented their friendship when Gaffigan appeared on Seinfeld’s unique talk show “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” in 2016. They are also set to star together in the Netflix movie“Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story,”due sometime in 2024. “Jerry and I both have an almost unhealthy obsession about comedy,” Gaffigan said. “It’s like comedy is the only fulfilling thing in life.”

In a conversation with the Chronicle on a conference call from separate locations in New York, Seinfeld, 69, and Gaffigan, 57, spoke of their “like-mindedness” and admiration for each other’s work and recalled some separate early experiences in San Francisco.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Who’s opening for whom?

Gaffigan:We’re opening for each other.

Q: What’s it like doing comedy before an arena crowd, as opposed to small clubs?

Gaffigan:The technology, the sound and the video, has made an arena show completely different from how I might have seen even a basketball game 20 years ago. The audio quality and the screens — Jerry and I want the audience to have the quality of experience. It wouldn’t be worth it doing an arena show if you didn’t have a sense of risk, of killing for us and for the audience. I think it’s a pretty cool experience for people.

Seinfeld:(sarcastically) That’s a great way to sell the show.

Q: Any comic who has achieved success as a stand-up eventually has to come through San Francisco. One at a time: What was your first San Francisco experience like?

Seinfeld:I remember I was working at the Comic Strip in New York City in 1978, and some guy came through looking for comedians for the Punch Line in San Francisco and the Laff Stop in Newport Beach. It was the first time that we would get on a plane to go do a show, which was a really big deal. And I got to the Punch Line in San Francisco I thought, “Wow, these people really like to laugh.” It was a revelation. They were much more into what the comedians were doing. They accepted (comedy) as a legitimate thing. In New York it was like a carny show, a sideshow. But in San Francisco, it was like you were considered an actual legitimate performer and a real artist.

Gaffigan:By the time I came through (in the early 1990s), San Francisco was one of the great comedy cities. The Punch Line was one of the best clubs in the country, and as Jerry said, the audience was exceptional in many ways. When I got to headline there, it felt like a real accomplishment. There were some road rooms where you just couldn’t wait to get to Sunday night. But San Francisco was so amazing. The audience inspired creativity.

And after the show you could go out to dinner! In a lot of cities, you did a comedy club in Cleveland in the ’90s and tried to go out to a late dinner on a Sunday night, you went to a vending machine.

Seinfeld:(laughs) Are we going out to dinner after the last San Francisco show?

Gaffigan:Yes!

Seinfeld:Gentlemen, I am most excited about these dinners we’re going to have after the show. And if you can find us, you can figure out where we are and you can sit with us.

Q: Any of you have a really weird experience in San Francisco?

Gaffigan:It would be disappointing if youdidn’thave a weird experience in San Francisco.

Seinfeld:The first time I went to a department store, the shorts and the ties and the sports jackets all matched, so all you had to do was grab them and put them on and you’d look good. My first “Tonight Show” in 1980, or maybe it was 1981, I wore an outfit I bought in San Francisco at I. Magnin in Union Square.

San Francisco still dresses well, better than New York, better than L.A.

Q: Speaking of decades past, have stand-up comedy audiences changed over the years?

Seinfeld:I think so. I think audiences now come if they think you can do stand-up comedy, they don’t care if you’re in a movie or you have a TV series; that used to be what would draw an audience, that you’re in those other mediums. But now they’re only interested in seeing people that have proven this is a real craft and one that they really care about.

Gaffigan:I’m feeling like the third wheel here. Hey, I’ve got something to say! (Seinfeld laughs) The difference is with cable television and satellite radio, people can consume comedy. Whereas before if you wanted to see stand-up, you’d have to hope that there was a comedian on “The Tonight Show” or on “Letterman.” Now you have Comedy Central, satellite radio, YouTube and every social media platform there is, so a 13-year-old kid knows more about comedy than most 40-year-olds did in the ’90s. They can curate what kind of comedy they like.

Seinfeld:And they really get to know a comedian’s personality on these podcasts, which I still don’t get. Why would I go see a comedian based on his podcasts? Maybe if I saw his bits, and he has funny bits, I’ll go to a show.

Q: Jerry, what’s your favorite part about Jim’s comedy, and Jim, same question about Jerry.

Seinfeld:Not only do we have material we like to talk about, but we talk about where we work and how we work and how it feels. Comedians are a very gabby bunch, obviously, that’s how we got into this profession. All we want to do is talk. When you have an approach, and take the craft seriously, those are the best comedians, and that’s Jim.

Gaffigan:There’s so many things that Jerry has done that are impressive. But I’m most impressed with his work ethic. Comedy, more than anything in the entertainment industry, is ever-changing. It’s very rare for someone to be performing at such a high caliber of quality through different decades.

Seinfeld:I’m speechless.

Gaffigan:I’m reading off this press release.

Q: You’re performingtwo nights at Chase Center. You gotta fill 20,000 seats a night. Give us your best sales pitch for those on the fence.

Seinfeld:I would continue to consider it, give it a lot of thought.Don’t be impulsive, that’s what I would advise. If you’re thinking about it — keep thinking!

Reach G. Allen Johnson:ajohnson@sfchronicle.com