Jimmy Carr: Gagging Order

Jimmy Carr’s outrageous sense of humour and deliberate disregard of social taboos has brought him criticism over the years and, coupled with the tax scandal, Carr has been a familiar face in the press. His comedy, though, is as good as ever and his show at the Warwick Arts Centre proved his incredible ability to captivate an audience with endless one-liners and anecdotes.

Carr referred to Alan Carr as his sister and poked fun at an audience members who laughed a little late by commenting that it was a ‘mixed ability group…and that was OK.’ His ability to remain dynamic for two hours, bar a short break was quite a feat in itself. Carr managed it effortlessly, encouraging audience participation to form the foundation of his witty comebacks. The comedian asked about the worst presents people had received, whether people had seen ghosts and stories about people getting flashed. This is not a show for the easily offended.

Indeed, he even conquered the tax controversy he was embroiled in earlier in the year by admitting he needed a new accountant and that he was ‘of course’ in Starbucks the other day because of the moral attitudes they share. The candid discussion of this contentious topic will ensure Carr remains as likeable and hilarious as ever. His humorous mention of David Cameron’s opinions of him and the tax scandal in general was light hearted and comical; his distinctive chuckle ensured laughter from the audience. As the night progressed, the comedian’s well-known laugh garnered more and more attention, with Carr even recalling someone once asked if he deliberately laughed like that, to which he replied, ‘If I did…why would I pick THAT? Never has a woman heard that and thought: ‘he sounds intriguing.’’

The show ended with Carr inviting audience members to come onstage and participate in a sit-com style comedy. A first year studying MORSE played the part of Adam and ended up with his hand on the comedian’s knee looking into Carr’s eyes with deep passion, after he had explained MORSE was actually a maths related degree, rather than anything to do with Inspector Morse. Following this, a female audience member who played the love interest in this ‘sit-com’, had an amusing conversation with the comic as she revealed she worked in customer services ‘of all types’ without divulging which company, leaving me to wonder if there was a customer services department in MI6. She did eventually revealed the company, unfortunately nothing to do with MI6 or James Bond. Her mispronunciation of the word ‘impotent’ then had the audience in stitches and was compounded by the fact that ‘Adam’ had stuffed twenty marshmallows in his mouth and was unable to coherently say his lines.

Carr is a friendly and stand-up guy who will continue to entertain audiences and elicit roaring laughter from the audience. Although he is famed for his appearances on TV shows, it is on stage where he is truly in his element, and while I eagerly await the comedian’s next tour my signed ticket takes pride of place on my notice board.