Jesus isn't the only bloke who deserves the title 'son of a carpenter'...

AUSTRALIAN COMEDIAN JIM JEFFERIES IS BACK IN THE UK. MARION MCMULLEN LOOKS AT THE INSPIRATION BEHIND HIS NEW COMEDY TOUR

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You have made your name in America with Netflix specials, game shows and films. Has success changed how you write comedy?

Not really. Becoming a dad, getting married, and getting older have changed what I talk about, but not how I write comedy.

I think of a premise, tell it to a friend, then go on stage and keep talking until it turns into something. I like going off on tangents, then returning - like Billy Connolly used to do.

What do you remember most about your early stand-up in the UK?

The big shift from working in Australia to working in Britain was realising how rich the UK’s standup history is. In Australia or America, people might see comedy a few times a year, but in Britain, the audiences were proper fans.

And the heckling. The best heckles you'll ever get are from British audiences. Americans try to correct you - “Hey buddy, let me tell you something.” Australians try to trip you up at the punchline, but the British? They try to out-laugh you, out-joke you, get the better line. I've always appreciated that.

Even if the laugh’s at my expense, if someone nails it in the room, it’s an extra laugh - saves me a bit of time.

I've always said I'm an Australian-American who identifies as British. I’m a pale bloke built to sit in a pub drinking pints. I was never meant to be out in the sun... and I couldn't handle a gun to save my life. I'm good in England.

What was it like recently touring North America with Jimmy Carr?