Jim Jefferies: Hammered: Udderbelly’s Pasture, Bristo Square, Edinburgh, 2008
Jim Jefferies: Alcoholocaust: E4 Udderbelly McEwans Hall, Edinburgh, 2010
Jim Jefferies: Fully Functional: Assembly Hall, Edinburgh, 2012
Jim Jefferies is a highly offensive, filthy-mouthed, Australian comedian whose solo show I have seen three times at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. In 2008’s Hammered, he drunkenly and angrily staggered onto the stage to let loose a tirade of depraved stories and incidents in his life. In 2010, the hard-drinking, fiercely opinionated comic gave the audience Alcoholocaust which featured stories about depression, prostitution and bodily functions. In 2012 Fully Functional explored the relationship with his mother and family.
Jefferies’ skill at mixing extremely deplorable jokes with real-life stories is amazing. Susceptibility and impudence lift him up from other shock comics and he expertly drives out the humour of the dangerous situation without ever going for easy laughs. If this is your bag, his shows always contain lots of queasy laughs and he is a mesmerising act to watch.