"I suppose I'd better warn you that in my act there is a certain amount of bad language. I'm not talking about split infinitives. There will be some swearing and there is some material of a sexual nature. So, if you are offended by rude or crude material, for heaven's sake, don't be a cunt about it."
— Opening lines of Jimmy Carr: Live
James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is an English-Irish comedian and television host/presenter known for his black humour, deadpan delivery, unique laugh, and interactions with hecklers.
Almost nothing is off-limits, as he's tackled such light-hearted topics as rape, pedophilia, 9/11, abortion, and the Holocaust, always in a posh, Sophisticated as Hell manner.
He has been presenter of a number of TV series, including 8 Out of 10 Cats (and its crossover spin-off 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown), Big Fat Quiz of the Year, 10 O'Clock Live, and Distraction, as well as a frequent guest on QI. He also presented the 2003 Channel 4 show The 100 Greatest Scary Moments.
Seriously, heckle him at your own risk.
Carr's stand-up specials:
- Live (2004)
- Stand Up (2005)
- Comedian (2007)
- In Concert (2008)
- Telling Jokes (2009)
- Making People Laugh (2010)
- Being Funny (2011)
- Laughing and Joking (2013)
- Funny Business (2016, streaming on Netflix)
- The Best of Ultimate Gold Greatest Hits (2019, streaming on Netflix)
- His Dark Material (2021, streaming on Netflix)
Tropes associated with Jimmy Carr and his jokes:
- Actually Pretty Funny:
- While the Moral Guardians were a little upset when he joked that the troops wounded in The War on Terror would be good for the Great Britain team at the Paralympics, the soldiers who were actually asked about it found it hilarious.
- Sometimes has this reaction to heckles from the crowd. It's funnier for the audience when he doesn't ask for the Audience Participation and he'll often laugh with them.Carr: And he came back with the epically harsh "No, but [my mum dying of cancer] was funnier than this!"
- He's said that the best heckle he's ever gotten was when he wasn't even on stage, but in the audience of a fellow comedian's show. When he was no longer able to contain his laugh and burst out in hysterics, the comedian immediately stopped his set and said to him in a very offended tone, "Alright, Jimmy, knock it off. I don't laugh when I go see one of your shows!"
- All Men Are Perverts: Played for Laughs; many of his jokes portray him as a pervert or sexual deviant towards women.
- Animal Testing: One example: "Cats have nine lives, which makes them ideal for experimentation."
- Annoying Laugh: If he's known for one thing aside from his super-dark humor, it's certainly his very unique laugh. He himself has pointed out that the main reason his laugh sounds so weird is because he laughs on the inhale, while most usually laugh on the exhale.
- Appeal to Worse Problems: His advice to people wanting to lose a few pounds to get the summer beach bodies they desire?"Why don't you...move to Somalia and get some fucking perspective? There are people with real problems, you fat cow!"
- Audience Participation: He invites the audience to ask him questions or give suggestions, which sometimes leads to heckling.
- In Being Funny, he encourages the audience to insult him, as he misses the actual heckling he used to get when he was less well-known.
- He sometimes receives random put-downs in his live shows and answers them in a variety of ways. Sometimes he just tells them (merrily) to fuck off.
- Auto Erotica: Played with in his "Carr park" joke.
- Bathe Her and Bring Her to Me: One of his gags, when either talking to a sexually adventurous woman in the audience or as a reply to an audience member whistling at him."Have her washed and brought to my room. I'm joking — don't wash her."
- Belief Makes You Stupid: He was raised Catholic, but lost his faith at 26 in what he calls an "early midlife crisis" and has more recently identified as an "anti-theist" (against the concept of religion). As a result, he has made tongue-in-cheek mockeries of Christianity on a number of occasions.
- He has an affinity for Pedophile Priest jokes.
- In his In Concert special, he called creationists "crazies" and "amazingly naive".
- At one point in the Funny Business special, he singled out a Christian in the audience and, assuming he was naturally gullible, pretended to offer him magic beans.
- Bigger Is Better in Bed: Questions this in one of his shows, calling women who think this is important "just shallow."
- Black Comedy Rape:
- Has offered softer descriptions of the act in "struggle snuggle" and "surprise sex".
- His whole scenario based around a superhero called "Rape Boy".
- In one joke, he says that one of the best pick-up lines out there is "Does this rag smell of chloroform to you?"
- Book Ends: His Telling Jokes special begins and ends with him cracking the same joke."The worst part about being told you have Alzheimer's..is it doesn't just happen the once."
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: In one gag, he questions how the English news discuss the weather, pollen count, and terrorist threat levels (in that order).
- Brick Joke:
- In his Telling Jokes special, he cracks a few jokes about Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who imprisoned his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and sexually abused her. Fairly typical of his Black Comedy. Later on, he talks about how McDonald's signs actually say "restaurant":"Who doesn't know what McDonald's do at this day and age? You'd have to be living underground for 25 fucking years."
- See Book Ends above.
- In his Telling Jokes special, he cracks a few jokes about Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who imprisoned his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and sexually abused her. Fairly typical of his Black Comedy. Later on, he talks about how McDonald's signs actually say "restaurant":
- Broken Record: In one joke, he makes a statement that he once did a show for Alzheimer's sufferers that consisted of the same joke for two hours. He then repeats the statement twice.
- Brother–Sister Incest: When describing a threesome he had with twins (a lovely lady and an "all-around great guy")."But what you didn't expect was her brother,
in her." - Butt-Monkey: Became a constant butt of jokes after his tax avoidance scandal in 2012. The 8 Out of 10 Cats episode covering it is especially merciless and all the more hilarious to watch.
- Catchphrase: As is to be expected for a comedian with such taboo subject matter, expect him to say "I'm kidding!" several times a special, with the same trademark rasp.
- Cannot Talk to Women: He's said that as a kid he was too nervous to talk to girls. "I was always too busy hiding in their closets, masturbating."
- Comically Missing the Point:
- Subverted after his delayed reaction to the audience here:"People like to smoke a cigarette after sex, but you can't buy cigarettes until you're sixteen, so I have to buy them for both of us. [to audience] You think it's wrong I'm buying a 15-year-old cigarettes? [realizing] You think it's wrong I'm fucking her?"
- Also in this joke:"The other night, my girlfriend sat me down for one of those serious 'relationship' talks, where she talked at me for about three hours. She said, 'Jimmy, we've reached a crossroads in our relationship. Down one road is hard work and sacrifice, but, ultimately, happiness. And down the other road....well, the other road is a dead end.' To which I replied, 'That's not a crossroad, it's a T-junction.' (Beat, as audience howls.) Well, I'm glad you laughed. She went fucking mental."
- Subverted after his delayed reaction to the audience here:
- Corrupt Church: He's an anti-theist, and usually mentions his Catholic upbringing with a reference to pedophilia."Don't get me wrong, I still respect the Pope. I like to think of him as king of the paedos."
- Country Matters: Uses the "C-word" at least a few times per show.
- Cringe Comedy: Occasionally used in his longer jokes.
- Crosses the Line Twice: Invoked Trope. Sometime near the end of the shows he explicitly goes for either "the most offensive joke [he] could write" or "a career ender". He's even mentioned other comedians have pitched him literal Dead Baby Humor jokes because those would be bad for their act but they believe they'd fit right into his act.
- Dissimile: "The best thing about the British is our ability to laugh at ourselves. By ourselves, I mean other people. And by laugh, I mean invade."
- Domestic Abuse: When describing how stupid the idea is, he says, "It's your wife. It's like keying your own car."
- Early-Installment Weirdness: His trademark laugh is absent from his first CD and barely appears on the second.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- On one episode of 8 Out of 10 Catsnote , Matthew Crosby (who used to work as a teacher) talked about invigilating exams where teachers would stand next to the kid they thought was definitely a virgin or had the unhappiest home life. Jimmy looks scandalised.Jimmy: Unhappiest home life! Oh, no! That is cold! I think that's cold and I'm me.
- During the Audience Participation segments on his live shows, some of the responses he gets will incur visually and audibly appalled reactions from him. This can be after some undoubtedly more offensive jokes that he made.Topic: Worst gift someone's ever gottenJimmy: You got a breadmaker instead of an engagement ring? You broke up with him, right?
- During a live segment where Jimmy encourages the audience to heckle him, one of the things he's offended by is "Your crisps were rubbish!"note
- During one of the years of The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, one of the special guests was Lola the cat, who infamously got thrown into a bin. Just before playing the clip, Jimmy asked Lola's owners to "shield her eyes" because he didn't want her to relive it.
- On one episode of 8 Out of 10 Catsnote , Matthew Crosby (who used to work as a teacher) talked about invigilating exams where teachers would stand next to the kid they thought was definitely a virgin or had the unhappiest home life. Jimmy looks scandalised.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The titles of his first eight comedy specials are as nondescript as they come (ex: In Concert, Telling Jokes, Laughing and Joking).
- Exact Words: After cracking a joke about people in wheelchairs, he often spots someone who didn't take too kindly to the joke and reassures them that of all the times he's told it, "no one in a wheelchair has ever walked out."
- Haunted House: In one joke, he devises an easy way for you to tell if your house is one of these."It isn't. Grow up."
- The Hyena: His appearances on QI often feature his loud, staccato laughter.
- I Banged Your Mom: His comebacks to hecklers have practically turned this into an art form. For one, here's a prime example in Fun T-Shirt form (near the end of the clip).
- Identical Stranger: The fact that Jimmy looks like tennis star Roger Federer has been mentioned more than a few times. He has joked that he gets his likeness from the fact that Federer is his mom.
- Imagine the Audience Naked: His usual answer to when people ask him how he stands up in front of people and tells jokes. He notes that you shouldn't tell the audience that's what you're doing (before eyeing out an attractive female in the audience and staring at her seductively, complete with self-caressing), and it's not wise to do with young children.
- I'm Going to Hell for This: After a shot at Christianity, he remarked, "That seems to have split the room into two groups - one group thought that was hilarious, and the other is going to heaven."
- Innocent Innuendo: He tries to make anything mundane said by his girlfriend during sex into one of these."The recycling's coming tomorrow."
"The recycling's not the only thing coming tomorrow. Yeah, I'll separate your paper and plastic..." - Insistent Terminology: It isn't "porn", it's "gentlemen's special interest literature".
- Interplay of Sex and Violence: Exhibited in his Double Entendre-rife poem "Strip Club War".
- I Take Offense to That Last One:"I've got a friend that got into an argument with a barmaid from Sunderland. Long story short, he ended up calling her a 'fat, ugly Geordie cunt.' And she said, 'I'm no' a Geordie.'"
- Lame Comeback: During an Audience Participation segment in Funny Business, Jimmy unleashes a Your Mom joke on someone who uses a tame and overused heckle. The audience member's response is an unnecessarily complex insult about Jimmy's face being wide. Jimmy has to point out how nonsensical that is.
- One-Liner: A cornerstone of his comedy. He's said in interviews that he writes about 250 one-liners for each new show.
- Never Heard That One Before: He said in his 2013 special Laughing and Joking that he's heard audience members ask "Where's Alannote ?" more times than he cares to count.
- Not Staying for Breakfast:"I was in bed with a girl recently. She said to me, 'I want tonight to be magical.' And it was. After I fucked her...I disappeared."
- Parental Incest:
- One time, he showed the audience a greeting card that had a cover with a happy teenage girl with the caption "You're sixteen!" On the inside, he wrote "But it's still our little secret. Lots of love, Dad".
- Another time, an audience member asked Jimmy a question: "What would you rather do — suck off your dad, or lick out your mum?"Jimmy: Yes, I think if I'm not mistaken, that's one of Wittgenstein's theorems. [...] I'm not from Perth, so I may never have to make that decision.
- Pedophile Priest: One of his many recurring acceptable targets."The church always had us standing, sitting, kneeling. I wish the priest could just pick a position and fuck me.”
- Playing Possum: One of his jokes revolves around the rule of thumb that playing dead is the best thing to do when approached by a bear — not to fool it, but because "it's to get you used to how you're going to be in a minute."
- Precision F-Strike: Many of his jokes rely on this trope a lot.
- Porn Without Plot: Has stated that this trope is tailored towards men so well that he makes it sound shocking when he tells them that women watch porn with actual plot all the way through."Why do women watch porn until the very end? They want to see if they get married."
- Radiation-Induced Superpowers:"Ten years after the Chernobyl accident, and am I the only one that’s disappointed? Still no superheroes."
- Redheads Are Uncool:"I just saw that Harry Potter film. A bit unrealistic if you ask me. I mean, a ginger kid with two friends?"
- Schmuck Bait: Asking Jimmy "Where's Alan?" (see Never Heard That One Before above) never seems to end well. During one special, while explaining how often he hears it, one brave soul in the audience shouts it out anyway, to which Jimmy immediately fires back, "He's in your house, fucking your dad."
- Self-Deprecation:
- He's not afraid to make jokes about his tax avoidance scandal. His first 8 Out of 10 Cats episode after the scandal broke was chock-full of this."In my defense, (Beat) I've got nothing."
- And upon hearing that an accountant was in attendance in at one of his shows:"You're an accountant? Where were you when I fucking needed you, mate?" (Beat) "If you're watching this on Netflix in America, don't Google that, I'm a good guy. (sketchy glance)"
- He once admitted to having a celebrity crush on Angelina Jolie, but stated that his chances with her were slim considering Jolie, at the time, was with Brad Pitt, and "I've got a face that looks like a potato."
- When he appeared on The Russel Howard Hour on a segment about health treatments:"People have been telling me I'm full of shit for years, I figure a colonic is just what I need."
- He's not afraid to make jokes about his tax avoidance scandal. His first 8 Out of 10 Cats episode after the scandal broke was chock-full of this.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: He seems to never perform without wearing a nice suit or his hair slicked.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot
- Smoking Hot Sex: See Comically Missing the Point above.
- Some of My Best Friends Are X: In Laughing and Joking, after cracking a joke about Women Driversnote , he singled out and playfully patronized a female audience member. He then defended himself:"I'm not being sexist; how could I be? Some of my best friends are slags."
- Sophisticated as Hell: Often informs his style, due to his usually posh speaking voice and the fact that he was educated at Cambridge University. See the opening lines from his first DVD at the top of the page.
- Unishment: When he forgot his Phys. Ed. gear at home one day, his "punishment" was being made to watch the girls use trampolines that day.
- Unusual Euphemism:
- Has referred to women being lesbian as "preferring the flatter shoe", and subsequently referred to lesbians turning straight as "getting back on solids".
- After cracking a pedophilia joke and saying he's just kidding, he then remarked that "kidding" sounds an awful lot like a euphemism for child molestation in itself.
- Wham Line: One joke in Laughing & Joking consists of him telling a story about being asked to perform at a hospice for teenagers in palliative care and not realizing until later that it meant he'd be telling jokes for dying kids. While he thought it would go over horribly, he ended up being inspired by how receptive the teenagers were out of their commitment to living in the moment. He then notes that one girl in particular was such a big fan of his that she began getting flirty and hands-on with him. Figuring she just wanted a kiss, he rationalized it with the belief that she would already be dead before she could testify. What follows is a punchline that's revealed to be the setup for a much, much bigger punchline."I can see you think that's bad, but I can make that worse with just two words: true story. It is a true story, it just happens to be about a different Jimmy."
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: One time, when he asked the audience for a superpower, someone shouted out "Rape!" He then made up a scenario based around a superhero called Rape Boy, and genuinely questioned whether rape is really a good superpower.
- Women Drivers: He's quite concerned about them.
- See Some of My Best Friends Are X above.
- There's also this joke:"97% of all dangerous driving offenses are committed by men. You know what that means? It means that 3% are committed by bloody. Women. Drivers. You know who you are, you're a fucking menace!"
