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Fully Functional

Jim Jefferies

Epix · 2012 · 61 min

Filthy stories about threesomes, airplanes, and Michael Phelps.

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Jim Jefferies recorded Fully Functional just as his career was pivoting from touring club comic to American television fixture. Released on EPIX in 2012, the hour catches him refining the brand of filthy, long-form storytelling that would anchor his FX sitcom Legit the following year. The standout is a sprawling bit about dating Michael Phelps’ ex-girlfriend, a premise he uses to complain about the sheer impossibility of following up an Olympian who burns 10,000 calories a day. He also builds an extended case for why it takes more effort to be a stud than a slut, and recounts a threesome where he starts out feeling like a champion before realizing he is a massive disappointment.

He spent the year touring the act, including a well-reviewed run at the Edinburgh Fringe. The material relies heavily on his established persona as a belligerent atheist and unapologetic drinker, but the structure is tight. Jefferies takes setups that sound like standard barroom bragging and stretches them into narratives where he is almost always the punchline — usually a wheezing, chain-smoking one.

The set list

5 bits

  1. God crashing a party as an obnoxious drunk guest

    Staggering and swaggering around stage depicting God as a belligerent, irrational, and hateful drunk pointing fingers and deciding randomly who and what he hates, including prawns.

  2. Ménage à trois in Montreal

    Recounts orchestrating a threesome where he starts out feeling like a rock-and-roll hero but ends up exposed as a fat slob.

  3. The 'coke wank'

    Unflinchingly details lying alone in a sweaty bed masturbating for four hours without being able to climax after mixing whisky with Colombian cocaine.

  4. Aeroplane seat etiquette

    Turns a mundane flight experience into a hilarious narrative of childish pettiness and near-accidental bigotry.

  5. Support for gay marriage

    Explains his vocal support for gay rights and explicitly tells any homophobic viewers watching the special to turn it off.

How it plays

Tone
Dark, raunchy, caustic, and unapologetic.
On stage
Blunt, foul-mouthed, and straightforward with no filter; combines rock-and-roll debauchery and boundary-pushing provocations with self-deprecating honesty and vulnerability.
Pace
Conversational, casual build-ups punctuated with swaggering and staggering physical act-outs.
About
Atheism and debunking religion, Parenthood and impending fatherhood, Sex and threesomes, Drug and alcohol excess, Aeroplane etiquette, Gay marriage

What the critics said

Praised as revelatory, raucous, and blisteringly funny, demonstrating that beneath the shocking taboos and offensive material lies an intelligent narrative craftsman willing to expose his own flaws.

In the room: Deeply engaged and comfortable with his boundary-pushing provocations, responding with big, rib-shaking laughs even during uncomfortable topics.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: imdb.com, allmovie.com, thetvdb.com, swearmeter.com, gigglebeats.co.uk, list.co.uk, bigissuenorth.com, timeout.com, en.wikipedia.org, tntmagazine.com.

Backstory

Personal life changes including cutting back on heavy drinking, no longer drinking onstage, buying a house, and preparing for fatherhood with his pregnant girlfriend Kate Luyben.

Details

Released
Runtime
61 min
Where
Epix
Director
Jaime Eliezer Karas
Topics
Before
Alcoholocaust (2010)
After
Bare (2014)

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