Even distribution of offensiveness
Alot of C-bombs are dropped in Jim Jefferies’ new comedy special. It is arguably the most offensive of all the four-letter words. The one swear-word that has retained its foul power.
But does Jefferies get away with it? Well, that depends on whether you are or are not — and these are his words, not mine — “a p***y”.
On the face of it it’s all very offensive, yes. And even here, in front of an audience of fans, the first time he says it the collective gasp stops him in his tracks. It doesn’t stop him from almost immediately saying it again, but there’s that fleeting second where you see him wonder if perhaps, just perhaps, he may have gone too far. Crossed the line. F***ed up.
On the face of it the special is almost begging for cancellation. The Netflix home screen picture is a close up of Jefferies, a middle-aged white dude, holding his mic in one hand while the other is in a classic “mansplaining” pose. He also called it
Intolerant, which is only the tiniest smidge away from actually naming the thing Cancelled.
During the show, he argues for the return of a long-cancelled brand of shaming and rages against peanut allergies, germophobes, people who didn’t like Dave Chappelle’s recent comedy specials and the French. But his most vitriolic and goading move is kept for millennials, who he loudly and pointedly labels as, “the worst people to ever exist”.
Golly. Cancel this at once! Well, not so fast ...
Jefferies holds a unique position in comedy. His schtick is to dance on the line between sensible liberal viewpoints — banning guns, supporting trans rights, etc — while also seemingly dancing on its grave by doing things like casually dropping misogynistic jokes and going after the overly woke.
It’s a balancing act. He leans hard into his loutish Aussie larrikin persona to get away with it, often making himself or his loudmouth attitude the butt of the joke. But for those who don’t get it, he takes time out to explain how comedy works.
Offence isn’t the goal, he says. Laughs are. And to get a laugh, he tells the audience, “you have to take risks, to gamble, if you will. Now what happens if you gamble? You don’t always win.”
He also addresses the trend of people digging up old material as a