Australian comedian Jim Jefferies has a semi-autobiographical sitcom on FXX in which he stars as himself. For that reason, people often compare his show, “Legit,” to FX’s comedy hit “Louie.” But Jefferies has a better comparison in mind.
“You could be compared to a lot worse than Louis C.K.,” said Jefferies. “I think my show is closer to ‘Seinfeld.’ It has a similar cast and my best friend is a bald guy who seems to be a bit of a loser.”
Like Seinfeld and Louie C.K., Jefferies has a thriving stand-up career alongside his TV work.
Jefferies will be performing Saturday at Carnegie Hall as part of the New York Comedy Festival.
Was it hard to go from stand-up comedy to a scripted show?
I prefer doing stand-up but I’m more proud of the TV show. I’ve been doing stand-up for so long, I know how to do it. The TV show creatively stretched me. I had to do things that I didn’t know if I could do, like write full scripts and do the editing. I didn’t know I had that in me.
What’s coming up on the second season of “Legit”?
We’re just doing the first two episodes now. If possible, it’s darker than last season. I can’t give away too much, but we’ll have some guest stars. George Lazenby, who played James Bond, plays my dad. Carrie Fisher plays the head of a TV network. ? Now we’ve got Cliff Clavin, James Bond and Princess Leia all in one TV show.
How different are you from your character?
I’m not super-different from the way the character acts. But you’re watching that character for 20 minutes. I have done most of those stupid stories in real life, but they’re little moments. There’s still 23½ hours left in the day.
