Jack Carroll: Brighouse comedian who shot to fame on Britain's Got Talent talks new tour The Fall Guy

“It’s a big constant and everything I do is kind of informed by having a Yorkshire upbringing and that stuff. Also, I think it's a great place. We're very lucky to be from where we're from,” says Carroll, who when growing up went to St Joseph's Catholic Primary School and Brighouse High.

Thankfully, he doesn’t feel the need to leave the region to succeed professionally.

“I'm not in a position where I feel like I have to go down to London. I’m perfectly happy to stay rooted where I am. I can go watch Leeds on a Saturday and not have to pay through the nose for a pint of beer. It suits me down to the ground.”

He has a season ticket in the South Stand at Elland Road, so attends most home games.

Just like his love of Leeds United, comedy has always been on the cards.

“I wanted to be a comic really, like ridiculously, young, because I think having a laugh is something that was always rewarded in my family setting and in my social groups,” he says.

“And then I started watching a lot of comedy, like early 2000s British comedy when I was probably a little bit too young to be doing so.

"So I thought from very early on that that was something that I wanted to do.

"And then from there, I managed to convince my parents (Matthew and Sue) to let me perform at their silver wedding anniversary party at the Cedar Court Hotel in Bradford. My uncle filmed that performance and put it online.”

He was just 11, BBC Look North ran a piece about his routine and there was no looking back then.

“There's a certain level of fearlessness, I think, when you're a young kid, or there certainly was for me. You’re just in it for the fun of doing it, you're not as aware of the things that could possibly go wrong.

"I'm really fortunate and glad that I started when I did because by the time most people are starting, (I had) already got eight or nine years experience of being on a stage doing comedy. I’m really pleased that I got going when I did, really - it was either that or chimney sweeping.”

Everything changed at 14, when he appeared on Britain’s Got Talent in 2013 and was the ITV competition’s runner-up.

Opening his audition routine on stage with his walking aid (Carroll has cerebral palsy), dark hair past his ears and glasses, he said: “Don't worry, I know what you're thinking… Harry Potter's had a nasty quidditch accident.”

The audience and judges took to him straight away.

Reflecting today, he says: “I don't think there's anything quite like Britain's Got Talent for catapulting you on to the national stage in that way. If you want a quick hit to get you (noticed) overnight there's nothing like that. I think, as well, that fearlessness as a youngster, you’re just kind of really enjoying the rollercoaster ride that it is.

“I can say this without sounding vain because it does kind of feel like it happened to someone else to a degree, but those early performances, the only time I watch them is usually if I'm in the back of a taxi and the guy asks what you do for a living,” he says.

"So through taxi drivers’ car speakers is usually (when I listen to them), but I'm still pretty pleased with some of that stuff, really, because there's a good amount of energy to it and a good amount of in-the-moment, off-the-cuff stuff that is really good in there.”

The Fall Guy, his latest tour, starting in Bradford next month, examines subjects that can make people feel awkward, all “within the safe confines of his northern charm,” promises promotional material.

Audiences can expect jokes about the "broken promises of modern life”, internet rabbit holes and his disability.

The comic, now in his later 20s, says: "There are certain things I've got to mention. If I never mentioned the disability, people would be wondering why I wasn't talking about it. In any subject, really, the more tension you can create about something, the bigger the laugh is when you eventually puncture that tension because people go, ‘Oh, thank God’, and then they also laugh at the same time.

"I like doing that and I think that's where the fun is, really. I think comedy can sometimes be a little bit mean or whatever and I think it's nicer to go on the mischievous side of things.

"You can kind of bring people along and have a laugh at the same time around those difficult topics.”

Another of Carroll’s strengths is acting - he actually did that before he was on Britain’s Got Talent – and has previously been seen on CBBC show Ministry of Curious Stuff as well as Doctors, the Sky sitcom Trollied and as character Carla Connor’s nephew on Coronation Street.

In 2024, Carroll was a winner of the BAFTA for Best Short Form along with the team behind short film Mobility.

Now, he’s back on stage and buzzing for his hometown gig in Bradford.

“From BGT onwards, stand-up comedy has been the bedrock of everything for me and there’s nothing quite like being in a live environment having a laugh. As such I am very much looking forward to taking my new show on tour.”

Jack Carroll performs his stand-up show The Fall Guy at The Studio, Bradford, on February 13; Raynor Lounge, Sheffield, on February 14; Leeds City Varieties on October 23; and ARC, Stockton, on November 12. Tickets: www.jackcarroll.co.uk