Jim Class Hero
Australian funnyman Jim Jeffries on trying to crack Hollywood and why, despite claims to the contrary, he really isn't trying to offend the moral majority
Paul Nolan, 02 Nov 2010
A fearless stand-performer known for tackling taboo subjects, Aussie comic Jim Jeffries has of late been based in LA, where he has been looking to get into movies. How has the process been going so far?
“There have been no roles yet,” he laughingly admits. “I just auditioned today for a Jim Carrey movie - it’s a kids’ film about penguins. That’s all I can do really, just keep on going. Is it the right role for me? I don’t know. But I go out for anything. The theory is that if you get one role, that opens the doors for you. I’ve been fucking close. I read for a role with Justin Long and Drew Barrymore, and I got a call-back to do the Owen Wilson part in Death At A Funeral. At different times, it’s been almost happening. But maybe it won’t be movies, it’ll be TV. I still do radio out here, and I’m a lot busier than I’ve ever been really, so I’m not complaining.”
Unlike certain members of Jeffries’ audiences, who have objected to the manner in which the comic approaches such delicate subjects as religion and politics, probably the two most provocative topics available to stand-up performers.
“They’re the most contentious topics in general life,” notes Jeffries. “There are other topics with which you can get under people’s skin. Disability is something that really riles people, and any type of disease. You do a joke about cancer or AIDS...it’s very difficult to police who gets offended, because the guy who gets offended by the cancer joke doesn’t get offended by the AIDS joke. Sensibilities only come down to personal experience, don’t they? If you do a joke about religion, you’re only upsetting the religious people, you’re not upsetting the atheists or the agnostics.”
Jeffries has also antagonised some people with the title of his new show, which is called Alcoholocaust.
“It’s upset people in the Jewish community,” he explains. “I wasn’t doing any Jewish related material, I was talking about how if you drink too much, you’ll kill yourself. That was the premise, but then all of a sudden it was deemed that I was taking shots at people. You find a word that you think is funny and you work backwards. I’m not doing any jokes about the holocaust, but I’ve letters written to me saying that I’m taking the piss out of it. You can’t win.”
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