gistfile1.py

>>> import functools
>>> def thingy(a, b):
...     return "{} {}".format(a, b)
... 
>>> data = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]
>>> a, *b = data
>>> a
0
>>> b
[1, 2, 3, 4]
>>> [functools.update_wrapper(functools.partial(thingy, b=item), thingy) for item in b]
[functools.partial(<function thingy at 0x7f7ac0412bf8>, b=1), functools.partial(<function thingy at 0x7f7ac0412bf8>, b=2), functools.partial(<function thingy at 0x7f7ac0412bf8>, b=3), functools.partial(<function thingy at 0x7f7ac0412bf8>, b=4)]
>>> [func.__name__ for func in [functools.update_wrapper(functools.partial(thingy, b=item), thingy) for item in b]]
['thingy', 'thingy', 'thingy', 'thingy']
>>> [func(i) for i,func in enumerate([functools.update_wrapper(functools.partial(thingy, b=item), thingy) for item in b])]
['0 1', '1 2', '2 3', '3 4']