Given that he's hardly ever off our television screens, it still feels like we don't really know Jimmy Carr. His latest stand-up show, Jimmy Carr: Joke Technician, takes us no closer to the heart of the man. In this age of confessional stand-up, Carr walks a different path.
Jokes, word play, puns and gags are what his audiences pay for – and it's what they get in abundance.
As word play goes, it is dazzling. Most of Carr's jokes are unsuitable for repeating in a family newspaper, and many are of the slow-burn sort th
at might be as enjoyable if they were read .
That said, Carr often does add a dimension to many of his jokes with his absolute deadpan delivery. Joking when he first arrives on stage about the size of his "big face", even he would have to concede that its unusually large circumference could have been built to accompany many of his punchlines.
As accomplished as he is, even Carr realises that standing on stage telling joke after joke for two hours is going to wear thin, so he splits it into three segments.
The first sees him standing in the middle of the stage telling jokes and indulging in wordplay, the second sees him sitting at a table stage left telling jokes and indulging in wordplay and the third he sits on a sofa stage right telling... well, you can guess the rest.
Joke Technician is an apt name for a show in which a comedian displays a flawless technique, it is just a shame that Carr refuses to let anyone see past his highly polished technique.
Sheffield City Hall, October 4 and 5. Halifax Victoria Hall, October 6. Leeds Grand Theatre, October 9. Bradford St George's Hall, October 22.
York Grand Opera House
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