Jim Jefferies has revealed he still feels “shame” about his one and only encounter with childhood icon and skateboarding legend, Tony Hawk.
The Australian comedian, who has been sober since 2021, recalled the incident during a recent episode of the “Rolling Stone Uncut” podcast, which occurred after a show at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in 2013.
Jefferies explained that after his set, in which he opened for Flight of the Conchords and Dave Chappelle, he went back to his dressing room, where he began drinking excessively.
“… I was literally drinking vodka from the lip,” he said. “Because it’s an arena, they gave me the dressing room where the boxers would be. So it was all lockers with those wooden benches. I got paralytically drunk in the interval after my set.
“Tony Hawk was in the audience, and Tony Hawk had asked to meet me because he’d seen some of my stand-up and he enjoyed the show. I get a knock on the door from the promoter, who said, ‘Tony Hawk wants to meet you.’ And Tony Hawk came in, and I was so fucking legless. I couldn’t string a sentence together. I remember watching an episode of ‘Cribs,’ and I’m into pinball, and I said, ‘You have a South Park pinball machine. That’s a good machine with the toilet and everything. It’s one of the rare ones from Stern that has a five-ball multi-ball.’
“He didn’t ask for a photo or anything. He goes, ‘You should go to bed. It was very nice meeting you.’ I still feel shame about that because he was one of those icons from my childhood. He asked to meet me, and then I was such a fucking hero to zero.
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“And that’s what alcohol could always do to you, you know what I mean? I had so many social cues and problems with meeting people, and anxiety when I would meet people, and a lot of self-hate and things from my childhood and stuff like that. Not liking yourself really.
“You go from being something on stage that people admire, or people think is something else. Then being able to talk to somebody one-on-one gave me so much anxiety. There were 15,000 people in that audience!”
Jefferies will return home to Australia this July and August with his “Son of a Carpenter” tour. Check out all of the dates below.
Jim Jefferies 2026 Australia Tour
Ticket information available here
Saturday, July 4
Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Monday, July 6
Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Friday, July 10
The Star Gold Coast, Gold Coast, QLD
Sunday, July 12
Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, SA
Thursday, July 16
Mystate Bank Arena, Hobart, TAS
Friday, July 17
John Cain Arena, Melbourne, VIC
Saturday, July 18
Red Energy Arena, Bendigo, VIC
Sunday, July 19
Geelong Arts Centre, Geelong, VIC
Thursday, July 23
WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, NSW
Friday, July 24
Royal Theatre, Canberra, ACT
Saturday, July 25
Coliseum Theatre, Western Sydney, NSW
Sunday, July 26
Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Newcastle, NSW
Thursday, July 30
RAC Arena, Perth, WA
Saturday, August 1
AANT Centre, Darwin, NT
Wednesday, August 5
Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, QLD
Thursday, August 6
The Empire Theatre, Toowoomba, QLD
Friday, August 7
Great Western Hotel, Rockhampton, QLD
Saturday, August 8
CPAC Theatre, Cairns, QLD