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Bare

Jim Jefferies

Netflix · 2014 · 77 min

An aggressive hour anchored by a massive bit on gun control.

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Jim Jefferies found his American audience by explaining to them why their gun laws make no sense. The Australian comedian spends a massive, meticulously structured chunk of this hour picking apart the Second Amendment, comparing the Sandy Hook aftermath to Australia’s 1996 buyback program, and systematically shooting down every standard argument for civilian firearms. It is a defining piece of stand-up that relies on basic logic disguised as belligerence.

Filmed at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston, the set arrived in 2014 just as his FX series Legit was wrapping up its two-season run. The crowd is rowdy, cheering through his transgressive material about cocaine binges, waiting outside emergency rooms to hit on off-duty nurses, and attempting to establish a holiday dedicated to anal sex. It is an aggressive, highly profane hour of comedy.

The gun control segment is what turned the release into a massive hit. The clip earned millions of views online and shifted his public image from a shock comic to a political commentator, eventually leading to his own late-night television show.

The set list

5 bits

  1. Gun control in the United States

    An Australian perspective dissecting American gun ownership arguments and the Second Amendment in front of a live American audience.

  2. Fatherhood and accidentally losing a baby

    Opening fifteen minutes exploring life with a newborn, culminating in an offensive premise about losing a child with a twist regarding race.

  3. Auditioning disabled actors for the TV series Legit

    An unsentimental reflection on the casting process and working with disabled actors on his television show.

  4. The Oscar Pistorius murder trial

    A hard-hitting, taboo routine examining the details and defenses in the Pistorius case.

  5. Airport security procedures

    Subverting classic travel complaints by wanting tighter security upon returning home after growing accustomed to American airport measures.

How it plays

Tone
Crude, transgressive, raunchy, confrontational, and satirical.
On stage
An unapologetic, crude, and confrontational Australian provocateur blending raw bar-room storytelling with surprising intellect.
Pace
Conversational and stream-of-consciousness, allowing premises to breathe in a theater setting while stacking punchline upon punchline.
About
Gun control, Fatherhood and parenting, Sex and pornography, Disability and auditioning actors, Airport security, The Oscar Pistorius trial

What the critics said

Praised for its brilliant, incisive commentary on topics like gun control and disability, alongside divided reactions regarding its heavily crude, below-the-belt sexual and transgressive humor.

In the room: A rowdy, vocal theater crowd whooping, hollering, and reacting enthusiastically to confrontational and offensive material.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: vulture.com, imdb.com, chortle.co.uk, letterboxd.com, thecomicscomic.com, latimes.com.

Backstory

Adjusting to recent fatherhood with his son Hank, coping with the cancellation of his series Legit, and preparing for the Oddball Festival tour.

Details

Released
Taped
Wilbur Theatre, Boston
Runtime
77 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Shannon Hartman
Topics
Before
Fully Functional (2012)
After
Freedumb (2016)

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