James Anthony Patrick "Jimmy" Carr (born 15 September 1972) is an
EnglishThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
-
IrishThe Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
comedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
and humourist. He is known for his
deadpanDeadpan is a form of comic delivery in which humor is presented without a change in emotion or body language, usually speaking in a casual, monotone, solemn, blunt, disgusted or matter-of-fact voice and expressing an unflappably calm, archly insincere or artificially grave demeanor...
delivery and
dark humourA black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
. He is also a writer, actor and presenter of radio and television.
Carr moved to a career in comedy in 2000. After becoming established as a stand-up comedian, Carr began to appear in a number of
Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
television shows, most notably as the host of the panel show
8 out of 10 Cats8 out of 10 Cats is a television comedy panel game made by Zeppotron for Channel 4. It was first broadcast on 3 June 2005. The show is based on statistics and opinion polls, and draws on polls produced by a variety of organizations and new polls commissioned for the programme, carried out by...
. In Ireland he is known for appearances on The Panel and
The Late Late ShowThe Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...
.
Personal life
Carr holds dual British-Irish citizenship. His parents were from Limerick: Patrick James "Jim" (born March 1945), a Roman Catholic and self-made millionaire who became treasurer for computer company
UnisysUnisys Corporation , headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States, and incorporated in Delaware, is a long established business whose core products now involves computing and networking.-History:...
, and Nora Mary (née Lawlor, 19 September 1943 – 7 September 2001), who died of
pancreatitisPancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas. It occurs when pancreatic enzymes that digest food are activated in the pancreas instead of the small intestine. It may be acute – beginning suddenly and lasting a few days, or chronic – occurring over many years...
in
St Thomas' HospitalSt Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS hospital in London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It has provided health care freely or under charitable auspices since the 12th century and was originally located in Southwark.St Thomas' Hospital is accessible...
, London, aged 57. His parents married in 1970, separated in 1994, but never divorced. His father married Natasha in 2003. Carr has an older brother, Colin, and a younger brother, Patrick. He attended
Burnham Grammar SchoolBurnham Grammar School is a co-educational grammar school in Burnham, Buckinghamshire. It is a community school, which takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18. The school has approximately 1200 pupils....
,
BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
and
Royal Grammar School, High WycombeSee Royal Grammar School for the other schools with the name RGS.The Royal Grammar School High Wycombe is a selective grammar school situated in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. As a state school it does not charge fees for students to attend, but they must pass an entrance exam...
, along with
rugby playerRugby player can refer to a participant in one of two different sports rugby union and rugby league. It can also refer to a participant in the sport of wheelchair rugby.*:Category:Rugby union players*:Category:Rugby league footballers...
Matt DawsonMatthew James Sutherland "Daws" Dawson, MBE is a retired English rugby union player who played scrum half for Wasps and Northampton Saints. During his international career he toured with the British and Irish Lions three times and was part of England's 2003 Rugby World Cup winning side...
, before gaining a place at
Gonville and Caius College, CambridgeGonville and Caius College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college is often referred to simply as "Caius" , after its second founder, John Keys, who fashionably latinised the spelling of his name after studying in Italy.- Outline :Gonville and...
, where he graduated with a 2:1 degree in Political Sciences. Carr was a marketing executive for
ShellShell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 22,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. The head office in the U.S. is in Houston, Texas...
in the late 1990s. During an appearance on BBC's Would I Lie to You? (Series 1, Episode 3), Jimmy Carr revealed that he had been a Cristian until his mid-twenties, and remained a virgin until the age of 26 due to his faith. Carr became aware of the writings of
Richard DawkinsClinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
and renounced his religion, becoming an atheist. He stated that he felt religion limited people's desires to live their own lives.
Carr lives in North London with his girlfriend, Karoline Copping, a commissioning editor for Five, whom he has been with since 2001. In March 2004, Carr's father Jim, a self-made millionaire, was arrested by the
Metropolitan PoliceMetropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
after Carr and his brother Colin accused their father of harassment. The father was later acquitted of all charges and awarded costs by the Court. His acquittal was followed by a written apology from the
CPSThe Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
. Later the Metropolitan Police also apologised and paid him substantial damages in an out of court settlement of the false arrest and false prosecution charge.
Television
Whilst working at JC Productions with his father, Carr made his first television pilot / short film at
PinewoodPinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
starring
Craig CharlesCraig Joseph Charles is an English actor, stand-up comedian, author, poet, radio and television presenter, best known for playing Dave Lister in the British cult-favourite science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf...
,
Roy DotriceRoy Dotrice, OBE is a British actor known for his Tony Award-winning Broadway performance in the revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten.-Life and career:...
and himself. The
mockumentaryA mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
, The Colour of Funny was essentially a vanity project for Carr.
Hosting
Carr has hosted
Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
game shows
DistractionDistraction was a game show that aired on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 31 October 2003 to 11 June 2004. Presented by comedian Jimmy Carr, the show involves contestants answering questions, while being distracted in various bizarre, painful and humiliating ways.Carr is aided by...
and
Your Face or Mine?Your Face or Mine? was a game show that ran from 2 September 2002 to 23 May 2003 and aired on E4. It was hosted by Jimmy Carr and June Sarpong.-Round 1:...
. He has also presented the 100s series of programmes for Channel 4: 100 Worst Pop Records, 100 Worst Britons, 100 Greatest Cartoon Characters, 100 People Who Look Most Like Jimmy Carr (a spoof) and 100 Scary Moments. Carr has also presented a series of
Commercial BreakdownCommercial Breakdown is a BBC/Celador light entertainment television programme which shows humorous television advertisements from around the world.-History:...
.
From 2004 to 2006, Carr hosted a
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
version of Distraction for
Comedy CentralComedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
. He was also nominated for the 2006
Rose d'OrThe Rose d’Or is one of the most important international festivals in entertainment television. It was founded in Montreux in 1961 and has taken place in Lucerne since 2004. Producers, executives from independent and public service broadcasters and heads of production companies from over 40...
award for Best Game Show Host. Carr presents the
Big Fat Quiz of the YearThe Big Fat Quiz of the Year is an annual British television programme broadcast in the last or first week of the year on Channel 4. Essentially, the show is a comedy panel game in the style of a pub quiz. Three teams, of two celebrities each, are asked questions relating to the events of the year...
on Channel 4, having presented the first 7 shows each December (2004–2010). He also currently hosts the quiz show
8 out of 10 Cats8 out of 10 Cats is a television comedy panel game made by Zeppotron for Channel 4. It was first broadcast on 3 June 2005. The show is based on statistics and opinion polls, and draws on polls produced by a variety of organizations and new polls commissioned for the programme, carried out by...
.
In April 2010, Carr hosted the first British version of a comedy roast show, Channel 4's
A Comedy Roast. On 6 May 2010, he was a co-host of Channel 4's Alternative Election Night, along with
David MitchellDavid James Stuart Mitchell is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is half of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, alongside Robert Webb, whom he met at Cambridge University. There they were both part of the Cambridge Footlights, of which Mitchell became President. Together the duo star in the...
,
Lauren LaverneLauren Cecilia Fisher , known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is an English radio DJ, television presenter, author and singer...
, and
Charlie BrookerCharlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...
. He joined the three presenters again for
10 O'Clock Live10 O'Clock Live is a British satirical comedy/news television programme presented by Charlie Brooker, Jimmy Carr, Lauren Laverne and David Mitchell....
, a Channel 4 comedy current affairs show, which started airing on 20 January 2011.
Writing
Carr is also a writer as well as performer, with writing credits including
Bo' Selecta!Bo' Selecta! is a British sketch show written and performed by Leigh Francis, known for its often deeply surreal, abstract toilet humour, which lampoons popular culture. It was broadcast on Channel 4 and ran for three series between 2002 and 2004, spawning several spin-offs...
(C4),
Meet Ricky GervaisMeet Ricky Gervais was a chat show written and hosted by the comedy writer and performer Ricky Gervais. It was produced by Talkback for Channel 4 in 2000 and ran for one series on Friday nights....
(C4) and material for
Lily SavagePaul James Michael O'Grady MBE is an English comedian, television presenter, actor, writer and radio DJ. He is best known for presenting the daytime chat television series, The Paul O'Grady Show and, more recently, Paul O'Grady Live, as well as his drag queen comedic alter ego, Lily Savage, as...
and
Frank SkinnerFrank Skinner is a British writer, comedian and actor. He is best known for his television presenting, often alongside David Baddiel, with whom he also collaborated for the football song "Three Lions."He is a radio presenter on the Saturday morning slot on Absolute Radio.-Youth and early career...
.
Guest appearances
Carr was a guest presenter for one edition of
Have I Got News For YouHave I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show...
; later he joined
Ian HislopIan David Hislop is a British journalist, satirist, comedian, writer, broadcaster and editor of the satirical magazine Private Eye...
's team in the edition of the show first shown 23 November 2007, chaired by
Ann WiddecombeAnn Noreen Widdecombe is a former British Conservative Party politician and has been a novelist since 2000. She is a Privy Councillor and was the Member of Parliament for Maidstone from 1987 to 1997 and for Maidstone and The Weald from 1997 to 2010. She was a social conservative and a member of...
with whom he “flirted” outrageously. Widdecombe later vowed "I will never appear on Have I Got News for You again."
Carr has appeared on
Never Mind The BuzzcocksNever Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game television show with a pop music theme, currently without a permanent presenter. It stars Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding as team captains. The show is produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC, and is usually aired on BBC Two...
twice, as well as multiple times on
QIQI is a British comedy panel game television quiz show created and co-produced by John Lloyd, hosted by Stephen Fry, and featuring permanent panellist Alan Davies. Most of the questions are extremely obscure, making it unlikely that the correct answer will be given...
.
During a guest appearance on the BBC motoring show
Top GearTop Gear is a British television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunch in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous style...
, Carr set a new celebrity test track lap record on the 'Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' segment. He was described as "the worst driver we've ever had" and "the luckiest man alive" by Top Gears test driver
The StigThe Stig is a character in the British motoring television show Top Gear. The character plays on the anonymity of racing drivers' full-face helmets, with the running joke that nobody knows who, or indeed what, is inside the character's racing suit. The character was the creation of presenter Jeremy...
. His re-appearance on Top Gear in May 2006 placed him last in the brand new Reasonably Priced Car, with the slowest time ever (due to the fact that he spun off on his timed lap). Carr also hosted a highlights edition of the show, and on the Top Gear Live World Tour of 2009/10 he hosted the section 'Carmageddon' in which The Stig successfully attempted a 'gear change'.
In the United States, Carr has appeared on
Late Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
twice and
The Tonight Show with Jay LenoThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...
three times. Carr has also appeared on the Irish news comedy show The Panel.
In 2003, Carr was in the music video for the song "
Proper Crimbo"Proper Crimbo" is a Christmas song from the comedy programme, Bo' Selecta, in which Leigh Francis sings as Craig David and Michael Jackson. Crimbo is a slang term for Christmas. The video for the song sees Francis perform as other characters over the track, and includes appearances from real-life...
".
Carr appears at the end credits of
Ross NobleRoss Markham Noble is an English stand-up comedian, brought up in Cramlington, Northumberland, England.Noble rose to mainstream popularity through making appearances on British television, particularly interviews and on celebrity quiz shows such as Have I Got News for You...
's Randomist DVD, where he punches Noble on his way back to the dressing room. Noble had joked in his show that Carr only performed for a "weak" 1 hour 20 minutes, as opposed to Noble's 2 and a half hour show. Carr can also be seen for a few seconds in the audience for
Dara Ó BriainDara Ó Briain is an Irish stand-up comedian and television presenter, noted for hosting topical panel shows such as The Panel and Mock the Week....
's live DVD.
In January 2008, Carr appeared on E4 show Big Brother Celebrity Hijack as a hijacker for the day.
Carr appeared on the
Royal Variety PerformanceThe Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening held annually in the United Kingdom, which is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family, usually the reigning monarch. In more recent years Queen Elizabeth II and The Prince of Wales have alternately attended the performance...
in December 2008.
Radio
Carr is a regular guest and interviewer on
Loose EndsLoose Ends is a British radio programme originally broadcast on Saturday mornings, and then transmitted early Saturday evenings from 1998 by BBC Radio 4. It was hosted by Ned Sherrin until he became ill in late 2006 with a reported throat infection, and later throat cancer...
(
BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
) and
The Fred MacAulay Show (
BBC Radio ScotlandBBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle...
). In January 2005, Carr hosted 'It's Been a Terrible Year' — a comedy review of 2004, on
BBC Radio 2BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
. Up until July 2006, he had a Sunday morning radio show on
XFMXfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...
, with the mercurial comedian
Iain MorrisIain Morris is an English writer and comedian. Morris is best known for writing The Inbetweeners with his writing partner Damon Beesley and co-hosting a show on London radio station XFM with stand-up Jimmy Carr...
. The show had a strong emphasis on toilet humour.
Features, of varying popularity, have included:
- Goth Classics — Item lasting about four weeks in which The Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band that formed in 1980. After achieving early underground fame in UK, the band had their commercial breakthrough in mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasing new recorded output in protest against their record company...
track 'This Corrosion' was played twice.
- Now That's What I Call A Jukebox — Long running item invented by Iain Morris where a number of songs are selected from a Now That's What I Call Music album, and are put to a vote. The song with the most votes is played.
- The Songs You Should Like And The Songs You Do Like (But You Like The Song You Should Like As Well) — This catchy-titled item consists of playing in sequence one credible but underrated or overlooked song (The first was 'Touch Sensitive' by The Fall) and one guilty pleasure (Liberty X
Liberty X were a British pop vocal group formed by the five contestants eliminated from the final ten qualifiers from the 2001 ITV show Popstars. The group consisted of Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Michelle Heaton, Kelli Young and Jessica Taylor...
's 'Just A Little Bit' followed) On 9 July 2006, the item was renamed 'A Song to Patronise, A Song To Sanitise.' Traditionally, items are carried out with little professionalism, presumably to match the rest of the show content.
In January 2006, Carr made a joke on Radio 4's Loose Ends, the punchline of which implied that Gypsy women smelled. Although the BBC issued an apology, Carr refused to, and continues to use the joke during his acts.
Carr appeared in 2 episodes of the radio series of
Flight Of The ConchordsFlight of the Conchords was a radio series broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 2005, starring the New Zealand musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords. A 3-CD set containing all the episodes was released in 2006 by the BBC. Each disc consisted of 2 episodes...
in 2005.
On 22 January 2009, he covered
Zane LoweZane Lowe also known as 'Zipper', is a radio DJ and television presenter. He was born in New Zealand and grew up in Auckland, where he was a presenter on the local music station Max TV, before moving to England...
's evening show on
BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
between 7 and 9pm.
Stand-up comedy
Carr does stand-up tours continuously over the course of the year, taking only five weeks off between them. In 2003 he sold out an entire month's performances of his
Edinburgh FestivalThe Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
show Charm Offensive by the second day of the festival, and received 5-star reviews from four major newspapers. In 2004 he performed sold out solo shows at
Dublin's Vicar StreetVicar Street is a concert and events venue in Ireland, located on Thomas Street, Dublin 8. Its capacity allows for 1,000 people for seated performances, and 1,500 people for standing gigs...
,
Leicester'sLeicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
Comedy Festival,
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
Festival,
Kilkenny Cat LaughsThe Cat Laughs Comedy Festival is a comedy festival held over the first weekend in June each year in Kilkenny, Ireland. It was founded in 1994 in response to the burgeoning wealth of Irish comic talent with no clear national outlet for expression...
and the
GalwayGalway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
Festival along with appearances at
The Bloomsbury TheatreThe Bloomsbury Theatre is a theatre on Gordon Street, Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, owned by University College London.The Theatre has a seating capacity of 535 and offers a professional programme of innovative music, drama, comedy and dance all year round.Funded by a UGC grant and a...
where he filmed his first live
DVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. Also in 2004 he threatened to sue fellow comedian
Jim DavidsonJim Davidson OBE is a British comedian, actor and television presenter. He has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to entertainment, particularly of British service personnel in conflict zones.- Biography :The son of a Glaswegian father, Davidson was born in...
for using a joke that Carr considered 'his'. The matter was dropped when it became apparent that the joke in question was an old one used for decades by many different comedians. He toured the country with his show, A Public Display of Affection, starting on 9 April 2005 at the Gulbenkian Theatre in
CanterburyCanterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
and ending on the 14 January 2006 at the
Gielgud TheatreThe Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, London, at the corner of Rupert Street. The house currently has 889 seats on three levels.-History:...
in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's
West EndThe West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
. He also appeared at the EICC during the Edinburgh Festival in August 2005 with his Off The Telly show. Later on in the year, in late November, he released his second DVD "Jimmy Carr: Stand Up".
In August 2006, he commenced a new tour, Gag Reflex, for which he won the 2006 British Comedy Award for "Best Live Stand up". He released his third DVD, Jimmy Carr: Comedian in November 2007. He also performed at the 2006
Just for LaughsJust for Laughs is a comedy festival held each July in Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1983. It is the largest international comedy festival in the world.- Information :...
festival in
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, as well as making a return visit to the Newbury Comedy Festival. In 2003, he was listed in
The ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2007, a poll on the
Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
website for 100 Greatest Stand Ups Jimmy Carr was the 12th. A new national tour commenced in autumn 2007 named Repeat Offender, which began at the
Edinburgh FestivalThe Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
that year. In Autumn 2008, Carr began touring his new show, entitled Joke Technician. As with his previous tour, he performed many shows at the Edinburgh Festival, even adding an extra date due to ticket demand.
On 23 April 2009, the dates for Carr's 2009/10 tour, entitled Rapier Wit, were announced. The tour opened on 20 August 2009 with 9 shows at the
Edinburgh FestivalThe Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
before touring the country.
On Twitter, Carr released details about his new DVD entitled Jimmy Carr: Telling Jokes. The DVD was released on the 2 November 2009.
In July 2009, Carr revealed that he is currently touring with
Las VegasLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
band The Killers. Killers frontman
Brandon FlowersBrandon Richard Flowers is an American musician, best known as the frontman of the Las Vegas-based rock band The Killers. He has also released a solo album titled Flamingo.-Early life:...
explained that it was part of his vision for his band’s shows to become more of a Las Vegas-style spectacle. Flowers, who grew up in Vegas, said: “We had met Jimmy before, at a
Comic ReliefComic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...
gig, then we bumped into him again at a party a couple of weeks later. “We were just throwing ideas around and having a comedian as part of the show sounded like a Las Vegas thing to do — it used to be common in the Sixties and Seventies – “Jimmy seemed to like it so we are giving it a go.”
Carr's sixth Live DVD, Jimmy Carr: Making People Laugh, was released on 8 November 2010.
Carr's 2010/11 tour, entitled Laughter Therapy, was announced on 8 April 2010. The tour will start with a run at the
Edinburgh FestivalThe Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
before touring the country.
Carr will also be appearing at the
Just For LaughsJust for Laughs is a comedy festival held each July in Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1983. It is the largest international comedy festival in the world.- Information :...
Festival in
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
in July 2011. At which he will be performing his 2010/11 tour show 'Laughter Therapy'. He is due to appear at the Gesu Theatre from July 21 – 30.
Carr's latest stand up DVD was released on 21 November 2011 with the title of Jimmy Carr: Being Funny.
Live Tour Shows
| Title |
Years |
| Live |
2004-2005 |
| Stand Up |
2005-2006 |
| Gag Reflex |
2006-2007 |
| Repeat Offender |
2007-2008 |
| Joke Technician |
2008-2009 |
| Rapier Wit |
2009-2010 |
| Laughter Therapy |
2010-2011 |
| Gagging Order |
2012-2013 |
DVD releases
| Title |
Released |
Notes |
| Live |
8 November 2004 |
Live at LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Bloomsbury Theatre |
| Stand Up |
7 November 2005 |
Live at LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Bloomsbury Theatre |
| Comedian |
5 November 2007 |
Live at LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Bloomsbury Theatre |
| In Concert |
3 November 2008 |
Live at LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Bloomsbury Theatre |
| Telling Jokes |
2 November 2009 |
Live at LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Bloomsbury Theatre |
| Making People Laugh |
8 November 2010 |
Live at Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
's Clyde AuditoriumThe Clyde Auditorium, familiarly known as "The Armadillo", is an iconic concert venue in Glasgow, Scotland. The building sits on the site of the now infilled Queen's Dock on the River Clyde, adjacent to the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre....
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| Being Funny |
21 November 2011 |
Live at BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
's Symphony HallSymphony Hall is a 2,262 seat concert venue located inside the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, England. It was officially opened by the Queen in June 1991, although had been opened on April 15, 1991. It is home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and hosts around 270 events...
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Second Life
On 21 December, 2006, Carr announced plans to become the first major comedian to perform in the virtual reality world of
Second LifeSecond Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
. This was confirmed on his
MySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
webpage on 3 January 2007, and a competition launched to choose a select audience from the list of his MySpace friends.
Carr's Second Life show took place on 3 February 2007 at 7pm, at Adam Street Bar and Members Club in central London. Fifty MySpace friends made up his live audience, with 100 virtual attendees in Second Life itself. The show was enjoyed by both sets of audiences, with excellent feedback received on both Carr's MySpace profile and within Second Life.
Carr hinted at the show that he may perform future shows in Second Life.
In March 2007, Laura Jackson from the Guinness Book of World Records confirmed that Carr had obtained the world record for being the first comedian to perform a stand-up gig to an audience in
cyberspaceCyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
, following on from his
Second LifeSecond Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
show.
Controversy
Detractors of Carr's humour include
ConservativeThe Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician
Ann WiddecombeAnn Noreen Widdecombe is a former British Conservative Party politician and has been a novelist since 2000. She is a Privy Councillor and was the Member of Parliament for Maidstone from 1987 to 1997 and for Maidstone and The Weald from 1997 to 2010. She was a social conservative and a member of...
, who — following an appearance with him on
BBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
panel show
Have I Got News For YouHave I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show...
— wrote in the
Daily ExpressThe Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
that "His idea of wit is a barrage of filth and the sort of humour most men grow out of in their teens".
Veteran comedian
Arthur SmithBrian Arthur John Smith is an English alternative comedian and writer. He was born in Bermondsey, South London, brother to Richard Smith...
was quoted in the
Sunday MirrorThe Sunday Mirror is the Sunday sister paper of the Daily Mirror. It began life in 1915 as the Sunday Pictorial and was renamed the Sunday Mirror in 1963. Trinity Mirror also owns The People...
in 2005 as saying "He has a terrible act. There I've said it and already I feel better". Smith has gone on to criticise Carr on other occasions. In a 2009 interview with
The TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
he said: "He (Carr) makes jokes like little clocks. He has no interest in their context or meaning, only that they cause an explosion of laughter. I want a comedian to have a hinterland. The best comedians are interested in jazz, poetry, and the world".
In October 2009, Carr received criticism from several Sunday tabloid newspapers for a joke he made about British soldiers who had lost limbs in battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. The newspapers themselves came under criticism for falsely claiming the audience reacted with stunned silence when the joke was told. Carr himself has defended the joke as "totally acceptable" in an interview with
The GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, in which the interviewer noted his tendencies to make jokes about disabilities and rape. Carr would go on to describe the interview, with Guardian journalist Stephen Moss in the paper's G2 section, on his
TwitterTwitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account as about "[selling] my DVD to the
liberal eliteLiberal elite is a political stigma used to describe affluent, politically left-leaning people. It is commonly used with the pejorative implication that the people who claim to support the rights of the working class are themselves members of the upper class, or upper middle class, and are...
."
Awards
- LAFTA Awards 2008: Best Stand Up
- LAFTA Awards 2007: Funniest Man
- British Comedy Awards 2006 – Best Live Stand Up
- Rose D'Or Nomination 2006: Best Game Show, 'Distraction'
- LAFTA Awards 2005: Funniest Man
- Rose D'Or Nomination 2004: Best Presenter, 'Distraction'
- Loaded Lafta Award 2004 – Best Stand Up
- Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
Award Winner: Best On-Screen Newcomer 2003
- Perrier
Perrier is a brand of bottled mineral water made from a spring in Vergèze in the Gard département of France. The spring is naturally carbonated...
Award Nominee: 2002
- Time Out Award Winner: Best Stand Up 2002
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role |
| 2006 - Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
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Alien Autopsy |
Gary's manager |
| Confetti |
Antony |
StormbreakerStormbreaker is a 2006 British spy film based on Anthony Horowitz's novel of the same name, the first novel in the Alex Rider series. It stars newcomer Alex Pettyfer as the teenage spy alongside actors Mickey Rourke and Bill Nighy...
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John Crawford |
| 2007 This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...
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I Want CandyI Want Candy is a 2007 British comedy film from Ealing Studios.-Plot:A group of film students at Leatherhead University in search of funding for their feature film "The Love Storm" end up having to rewrite and make it into a porno...
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Video Store Guy |
| 2009 The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note...
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Telstar Telstar is a film adaptation of James Hicks' play of the same name. It stars Con O'Neill as Joe Meek and Kevin Spacey as Meek's business advisor, Major Banks...
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Gentleman |
External links