Comedian Jim Jefferies returns to Ireland this week to play three nights at the Galway Comedy Festival. We caught up with the stand-up to discuss his new show and how his material has changed.
"I'm so happy to be here," the Aussie native tells me over Zoom, having just landed in Galway. "I never get to play festivals, and I've got a lot of friends here who I haven't seen in years."
Remaining horizontal for the chat, the stand-up squeezed in some interviews between naps, attempting to recover from jet lag before going on stage - a far cry from his early days on the comedy circuit.
"Down in the lobby was Andrew Maxwell, Rich Hunter, Rhys Darby, Phil Jupitus," he lists. "Apart from Phil, who was already famous on Nevermind the Buzzcocks when I came over - me and Rhys and Andrew all started out together as young men on the British circuit.
"To see us all as old bas***ds now is quite funny," he laughs. "We were the young lads, but now we're all grown up, all with kids, all moved to different parts of the world, so I think we'll share our war stories tonight."
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Although he says he'll do his best to watch his long-time friends perform, like many comics, Jefferies avoids watching too much stand-up himself.
"For the most part I don't watch much comedy," he admits, "I don't like to be too influenced by what other comics are doing. I like to focus on my own stuff."
With ten specials under his belt, an on-going world tour, an Australian-based game show, and a long-running podcast, it seems that Jefferies has no plans to slow down - especially since giving up alcohol.
"Being sober has actually helped," he says of his latest tour. "It turns out that when you aren't hungover, flights aren't anywhere near as bad as you think they are. Being sober has probably given me an extra five years of touring, I reckon."
"I've been a really, really lucky guy who probably got a lot more than he deserved so I'm very thankful for that."
A father of two, Jefferies has created a somewhat modern family in LA, with his ex-partner (the mother of his first son) living down the road from the home he shares with his wife and toddler. According to the Sydney-native, the linear family get along well, spending substantial time together.
"I try to tour one week on, one week off so that I'm with my boys as much as possible," he explains. "You have to pay attention to them as much as possible, otherwise, what are you doing it for?"
"In the summer breaks from school, I normally take my son on the road with me for a month or so. He doesn't enjoy it that much but, hopefully, when he's older, he'll look back on it with some fond memories.
"We went all around Europe, all around Australia, met all these different comedians. I know for a little fella it's a lot of plane rides but I enjoy having him around. I try to take my family on tour as much as possible."
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Titled Give 'Em What They Want, Jefferies' latest show hails a new style for the famously opinionated comic.
With so much darkness in the world, the comic hopes to shed a little light.
"There was a phase in my career where I felt I was telling the audience what they needed to know, right? My edgy comedy was holding a mirror up against society and blah, blah, blah. Now do you know what I want you to do? I want you to have the best night of your life.
"I want you to laugh from the moment I get out there to the moment you leave. And if that's crowd-pleasing, that's what I'm trying to do."
"I've done all the gun control, and I've talked about all the politicians, and I've talked about atheism, and I've given my opinions on different religions and all that type of stuff," he continues. "Now, man, I'm a 46-year-old guy and you know what my opinions are. I just want to make you laugh now."
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With so many accomplishments ticked off his career bucket list, where will his marker of success move to next?
"I just try to keep busy, do you know what I mean? I've been more successful than I thought I was going to be. It's so frustrating because I've way exceeded my expectations for myself, but I still believe that I could have done better," he muses.
"I think now that if I had more opportunities to act, I could have been a better actor given the chance. But, like, f**k me, I was given the chance," he admits, laughing. "It's better than most get so I try to be thankful for what I got.
"I've been a really, really lucky guy who probably got a lot more than he deserved so I'm very thankful for that. Whatever comes my way, I'm just grateful to have another day in the sun."
Jim Jeffries plays Leisureland, Galway from October 25th - 27th as part of this year's Galway Comedy Festival - find out more here.
