Jimmy Carr (Personal Life, Career): Childhood, Stand-up, Radio, TV
Jimmy Carr (Personal Life, Career)
James Anthony Patrick "Jimmy" Carr was born on 15 September 1972. He is a British-Irish stand-up comedian and humourist, known for his dark humour. He is also a writer, actor and presenter of radio and television. Stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr is best known from he began to appear in a number of Channel 4 television shows, most notably as the host of the panel show 8 out of 10 Cats. Comedian�s girlfriend is Karoline Copping, a commissioning editor for Five, whom he has been with since 2001.
Personal Life
Stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr has both British and Irish citizenship given the fact that his parents were from Limerick: Patrick James "Jim" and Nora Mary. Comedian�s parents married in 1970 they separated in 1994, but never divorced. Jimmy Carr has an older brother, Colin, and a younger brother, Patrick.
Future stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr attended Burnham Grammar School, Buckinghamshire and Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe. He then gained a place at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a degree in Political Sciences. In the late 1990s, stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr worked as a marketing executive for Shell.
On 7 September 2001 his nother died of pancreatitis in St Thomas' Hospital, London, aged 57. Soon after, his father married Natasha in 2003.
In March 2004, comedian Jimmy Carr's father, a self-made millionaire, was arrested by the after Carr and his brother Colin accused him of harassment. Later, the stand-up comedian�s father was acquitted of all charges and awarded costs by the Court and Police as well as written appologies.
Stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr revealed that he had been a Christian until his mid-twenties, and remained a virgin until the age of 26 due to his faith. He conffesed this things during an appearance on BBC's Would I Lie to You? (Series 1, Episode 3). Things changed when the comedian became aware of the writings of Richard Dawkins and renounced his religion, becoming an atheist.
Stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr currently lives in North London with his girlfriend, Karoline Copping, a commissioning editor for Five, whom he has been with since 2001.
Career
Jimmy Carr stared his career in television in 1999, during the time when he was working at JC Productions with his father. Carr made his first television pilot / short film, a mockumentary called The Colour of Funny.
The stand-up comedian continued with television work, hosting a number of shows like Channel 4�s game shows Distraction and Your Face or Mine?. 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 Breakdown.
From 2004 to 2006, Jimmy Carr hosted a United States version of Distraction for Comedy Central. He was also nominated for the 2006 Rose d'Or award for Best Game Show Host. The comedian presents the Big Fat Quiz of the Year on Channel 4 each December since 2004 to 2010. He also currently hosts the quiz show 8 out of 10 Cats.
Comedian Jimmy Carr has done radio as well. He is a regular guest and interviewer on Loose Ends (BBC Radio 4) and The Fred MacAulay Show (BBC Radio Scotland). In January 2005, Carr hosted 'It's Been a Terrible Year' � a comedy review of 2004, on BBC Radio 2. Up until July 2006, he had a Sunday morning radio show on XFM, with comedian Iain Morris.
The comedian is also a regular guest on The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 and his voice can be heard in Lloyds TSB adverts. Jimmy Carr appeared in 2 episodes of the radio series of Flight Of The Conchords in 2005 and he was a guest on the Christian O' Connell breakfast show at Absolute Radio on 20 November 2008. On 22 January 2009, the stand-up comedian covered Zane Lowe's evening show on BBC Radio 1 between 7 and 9pm.
Jimmy Carr started his serious stand-up comedy career in 2003 when he sold out an entire month's performances of his Edinburgh Festival show Charm Offensive by the second day of the festival. Same year, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.
In 2004 he performed sold out stand-up comedy shows at Dublin's Vicar Street, Leicester's Comedy Festival, Glasgow Festival, Kilkenny Cat Laughs and the Galway Festival along with appearances at The Bloomsbury Theatre where he filmed his first live DVD. Well known by now, the stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr toured the country with his show, A Public Display of Affection, starting on 9 April 2005 at the Gulbenkian Theatre in Canterbury. He also appeared at the EICC during the Edinburgh Festival in August 2005 with his Off The Telly show. In late November, he released his second DVD "Jimmy Carr: Stand Up".
In August 2006, Jimmy Carr embarqued on a new tour, Gag Reflex, for which he won the 2006 British Comedy Award for "Best Live Stand up". He also performed at the 2006 Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, as well as making a return visit to the Newbury Comedy Festival.
Stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr commenced a new national tour in autumn 2007 named Repeat Offender, which began at the Edinburgh Festival that year. He released his third DVD, Jimmy Carr: Comedian in November 2007.
Jimmy Carr also made a stand-up comedy show on Second Life on 3 February 2007 at 7pm, at Adam Street Bar and Members Club in central London. With this show, in March 2007, Carr obtained the world record for being the first comedian in cyberspace, entering the Guinness Book of World Records.
In Autumn 2008, Carr began touring his new show, entitled Joke Technician. Another tour entitled Rapier Wit opened on 20 August 2009 with 9 shows at the Edinburgh Festival before touring the country. The stand-up comedy DVD Jimmy Carr: Telling Jokes was released on the 2 November 2009. In July 2009, Carr revealed that he is currently touring with Las Vegas band The Killers.
Comedian Jimmy 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 started with a run at the Edinburgh Festival before touring the country.
Jimmy Carr is also a writer. His writing credits including Bo' Selecta! (C4), Meet Ricky Gervais (C4) and material for Lily Savage and Frank Skinner.
Quick Info Jimmy Carr (Personal Life, Career)
Stand up comedy biography published in: Comedian Biographies
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