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<p><span>Australian comedian Jim Jefferies participates in the BUILD Speaker Series to discuss the television series, "The Jim Jefferies Show", at AOL Studios on Thursday, March 22, 2018, in New York.&nbsp;</span></p>

Australian comedian Jim Jefferies participates in the BUILD Speaker Series to discuss the television series, "The Jim Jefferies Show", at AOL Studios on Thursday, March 22, 2018, in New York. 

Australian stand-up comedian Jim Jefferies will perform at UF on Thursday, replacing comedian John Mulaney who canceled due to other career opportunities.

Jefferies will speak at the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Doors will open at 7 p.m., and the event will begin at 8 p.m. He will be doing an hour-long stand-up show and will hold a 15-minute question and answer session, Accent Chairwoman Shelby Buchanan wrote in an email.

“We feel very fortunate that Mr. Jefferies was available to come to UF after John Mulaney’s cancellation,” she said.

Students with a valid Gator 1 can receive up to two tickets between noon and 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Accent office, located on the third floor of the Reitz Union. Buchanan said there are about 1,700 tickets available. Any remaining tickets can be picked up at the box office at the center.

The Accent Speaker’s Bureau originally scheduled comedian John Mulaney to perform on April 19. Mulaney canceled the event March 26 after his agents said he had “career opportunities that were too good to pass up,” according to Alligator archives. Mulaney is slated to host the April 14 episode of "Saturday Night Live," according to Entertainment Weekly

Buchanan said the group wanted to find another comedian to replace Mulaney. Jefferies was available to perform during one of the dates the organization had on hold at the Phillips Center, which were April 9, 12 and 19.

Buchanan said the event is co-sponsored by Accent and Student Government Productions. Jefferies is being paid a total of $125,000, with Student Government Productions paying $50,000 and Accent $75,000. This is a $40,000 increase from what John Mulaney was being paid before his cancellation.

“The way the speaking industry works, the closer to the event date, the higher the offer,” she said. “We wanted to make sure there was still a stand-up comedian coming to UF.”

Jefferies released his Netflix special “Freedumb” in 2016 and premiered “The Jim Jefferies Show” on Comedy Central in 2017. His show premiered its second season March 27.

“Mr. Jefferies’ unique comedic style makes him stand out among comedians,” Buchanan said. “His willingness to tackle important issues can help members of the Student Body facilitate conversations on difficult subjects.”

David Brice said Jim Jefferies or John Mulaney would’ve made him happy.

The 27-year-old said Jefferies is one of his favorite comedians because he has a different perspective on America, politics and a different way of thinking.

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“I like how his style is that he doesn’t care what people think,” the UF biomedical sciences doctoral student said. “He’s very confident in himself, but he’s still able to find absurd things about himself.”

Clarification: A previous version of this story said that David Brice was a graduate student. It has been updated to reflect that he is a doctoral student. 

Contact Christina Morales at cmorales@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @Christina_M18.

Australian comedian Jim Jefferies participates in the BUILD Speaker Series to discuss the television series, "The Jim Jefferies Show", at AOL Studios on Thursday, March 22, 2018, in New York. 

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