The king of crude brought his new sold-out show The Night Talker Tour to Perth’s RAC Arena.
He’s the comic with an extensive history of drug and alcohol abuse, well known for his offensive misogynistic jokes that certainly aren’t to everyone’s taste. That didn’t stop Jim Jefferies from selling out Perth’s RAC Arena last Saturday night – the very city he began his comedy career in nearly twenty years ago.
Jefferies has always encapsulated the Aussie larrikin humour in his routines, following the likes of Australian acts such as Kevin Bloody Wilson and Rodney Rude. However, bad taste humour hasn’t been ‘in’ for the last decade, which explains why Jefferies is mostly known for his 2015 common-sense routine about gun control – which IMO does not accurately reflect the comedian’s true style of humour. If one was to base their opinion of Jefferies from the gun control routine alone, you would rightfully assume he was a socially conscious liberal who uses his platform wisely to spread important messages. Instead, Jefferies’ main go-to jokes have previously included distasteful topics such as fat women, pro-rape culture and homophobic rants.
The Night Talker Tour came for its second show at Perth’s RAC Arena after it’s debut at The Adelaide Entertainment Center, with the sold-out show being a testament to how adored Jefferies is not only in his current home of LA but also back in here in Australia. The evening showed a more mature Jefferies, who focused less on offensive shock value material and more on self-deprecating storytelling. Jefferies, in a similar way that Louis CK. has done in his routines, made light of the otherwise pitiful breakdown of his marriage to his child’s mother and his attempts at trying to navigate the single parent life and the misfortunes that come along with it.
He told a hilariously engaging hour-long story about how he had recently dated an Instagram model, going into great detail about the high maintenance behaviour he was made to put up with. The unnamed model wouldn’t allow Jefferies to use the bathroom in public, which resulted in him going in his trousers while they were out together. He referred to the woman as a “bitch”, but that was the closest he came to woman-bashing for the entire evening, which was a welcome surprise.
Jefferies also made some brutally honest social commentaries throughout the evening, with a highlight being his discussion on letting old-people be old, and for society to stop expecting people well into their seventies and eighties to change their views to suit modern society. He used his father as a point of reference, making hilarious remarks to how his father really does try to be politically correct, but still makes remarks such as “I don’t mind if people are gay – just as long as they don’t involve me!” I’m sure we’ve all heard our grandparents say such comments thinking they’re being open-minded.
As a long-standing Jim Jefferies fan, I have to say this was his best stand-up routine in years. Despite being a fan, I often watch his specials thinking that parts are brilliant whilst other jokes are at times tailored to the lowest level of humour – incredibly offensive humour. It began to seem as though Jefferies’ act was becoming tiresome and out of place in a world that rejects misogyny and rape jokes, especially when the Sydney Morning Herald wrote an opinion piece in 2015 regarding his irrelevance in today’s society.
Perhaps Jefferies has learnt from the success of his gun control routine and has intently incorporated more mature themes in his routines, helping him remain relevant in a world that values political correctness. If you have washed your hands of Jefferies due to his past content, it would be worth giving him another shot. He had the crowd roaring with laughter all evening, this time at no one’s expense but his own.
The Night Talker Tour wraps up at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on December 17th.
