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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Freedumb

Jim Jefferies

Netflix · 2016 · 86 min

A cynical Australian take on American freedom and politics.

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Jim Jefferies spends much of this hour telling a theater full of Americans why their country is not actually the land of the free. The centerpiece of the set is an extended deconstruction of the 2016 presidential election, where Jefferies targets the rise of Donald Trump and the voters who support him under the guise of wanting a “straight talker.” He argues that simplicity is not the same thing as honesty, delivering a plea that became one of his most-shared clips: “Don’t be the asshole, America.”

Filmed at the James K. Polk Theater in Nashville, Tennessee, and released on Netflix in July 2016, the special caught Jefferies at a transition point. He had spent the previous two years enjoying a massive bump in international name recognition thanks to his viral routine on gun control from his 2014 special, Bare. With Freedumb, he attempts to follow up on that political edge while holding onto his established persona of a heavy-drinking, crude storyteller adjusting to domestic life and fatherhood.

Not all of it is political. He dedicates a long segment to the fallout of his previous routines about Bill Cosby, detailing how protests outside his Australian shows forced him to make a distinction between what he actually believes and what he thinks is funny to say on stage. There is also an extended, cynical metaphor comparing human progress to a train where the scientists and innovators in the front engine are being dragged down by the religious “befuddled masses” in the back cars, a premise that ends with Jefferies wondering what would happen if they simply unhooked the coupling.

While some fans and critics felt the special leaned slightly too far into preachy lecturing compared to his looser, early-career club material, it solidified his transition from a low-brow Aussie shock comic into an influential, late-night-adjacent political commentator. It directly paved the way for Comedy Central to greenlight his own weekly satirical show the following year.

The set list

5 bits

  1. Addressing Bill Cosby and the controversy surrounding joking about rape

    Argues that a joke does not mean intent and contrasts his vulgarity with Cosby's clean image hiding actual crimes, delivering a comedic PSA that rape is wrong.

  2. Parenting, toilet training, and pregnancy

    Offers candid, raw anecdotes about dealing with a pregnant partner, meeting other school parents, arguing over vaccinations, and executing the sit-down wee.

  3. Fallout from his viral gun control bit

    Describes receiving dozens to hundreds of daily hate mail messages from gun owners and addresses inaccurate statistics he used in his earlier special.

  4. Donald Trump and American politics

    Analyzes Trump's reactive hate politics and fearmongering, contrasting it with the idea that hate cannot beat hate, urging America not to be the asshole.

  5. Letter to his son for his 18th birthday

    Reflects on the kind of world left to his son and personal hopes for the future.

How it plays

Tone
Black humor, raunchy, provocative, sarcastic, and no-filter.
On stage
Likable despite saying offensive and dark things, ferociously vulgar, sarcastic, and unapologetic.
Pace
Ferocious energy, settling occasionally into a comfy chair, wandering off on yelled rants interspersed with deeply personal admissions.
About
fatherhood and parenting, gun control and fallout, American freedom and politics, Donald Trump, religion and ISIS, Bill Cosby and rape controversy

What the critics said

Praised for sharp political satire and unflinching, offensive humor, though noted for its extreme vulgarity and long-form wandering rants.

In the room: Packed, responsive Nashville crowd laughing along despite provocative jokes about local sensitivities such as guns and religion.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: vulture.com, imdb.com, allmovie.com, holdingsteadfast.com, decider.com, letterboxd.com, en.wikipedia.org, longislandpress.com.

Backstory

Filmed in Nashville, Tennessee amidst contentious discussions on American gun politics, religion, Donald Trump's rise, and following extensive backlash and hate mail over his viral gun control stance.

Details

Released
Taped
James K. Polk Theater, Nashville
Runtime
86 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Ryan Polito
Topics
Before
Bare (2014)
After
This Is Me Now (2018)

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