Jim Jefferies

One of the greatest myths in rock 'n' roll is that you can't write a great song sober. Inspiration is to be found at the bottom of a bottle of Jack Daniel's or in a cocktail of LSD and mescaline. True genius is chemical.

Bollocks!

Much fuss has been made pre-festival about Jim Jefferies cleaning up his act. He's (largely) given up drinking. He's settled down, with a baby on the way, and focusing more attentively on his writing. And in Fully Functional, this new approach has certainly paid off. Jefferies is back at his provocative best; this is his first set in years to genuinely rival the giddy heights of the 2006 and 2007 shows that made him the international comedy star he is today.

Gone is the nasty, straight-up misogyny and unreconstructed malice that marred Jefferies' most recent Fringe runs—in particular, 2008's Hammered. But that's not to say he has become safe or embraced the mainstream; you still won't be able to bring along Karen from the office. Instead this is provocative, aggressive, close-to-the-bone standup but with a likeable, even liberal, undercurrent running below the surface.

Moreover, this is probably Jefferies' most technically accomplished and varied set. He deals with both the personal and the political in a way that is both edgy and consistently very funny.

If pushed, one could criticise the show for almost fizzling out with the weakest of Jefferies' stories—involving an awkward erotic encounter in a Canadian hotel room—but given the strength of the preceding 50 minutes, Fully Functional is a welcome return to form.