1. He really hands it to the hecklers
Heckling stand up comedians is, by its very definition, a bit of a dangerous sport. And yet, people persist, adorably imagining that this might prove to be their gateway to fame and fortune. What usually happens, though, is something very different as the poor sod winds up becoming part of the evening’s entertainment. To what extent depends on the comedian. Some are generous chaps, putting their detractors down wittily but gently.
Heckling stand up comedians is, by its very definition, a bit of a dangerous sport
Not so Jimmy Carr. Gentleness is for losers as the comedian tends to unleash the whole arsenal to put the heckler in his place. Said arsenal tends to include ‘yo mama’ jokes, fat jokes and anything else that might be considered offensive. And the crowd loves it and laps it up. Because when you have Carr’s panache, you can pretty much get away with anything.
2. He actually apologises
Being able to pretty much get away with anything can cause some celebrities to develop a bad case of ‘bigheaditis’. Symptoms include labouring under the delusion that your are a small deity. Not so Carr. In the (rare) cases when too much became too much, he faced the music and took the rap. Such as the time when he cracked a very ill-advised joke about Down Syndrome, or that other time when he targeted people suffering from dwarvism.
3. His laugh makes us laugh
I’ll be honest – even before I got familiar with Carr’s style, it was his distinctive laugh that made me fall in love with him. There I was, watching Big Fat Quiz of the Year and, after the laughter had long died, this weird (yet, frankly adorable) tail-end of a chuckle continued. And continued. And continued. I peered into the screen to see its source and saw that it was accompanied by a semi-sheepish grin. Anyone who was willing to dump inhibitions and let loose his merriment in that manner must have a rather awesome funnybone. And he did. I was suddenly an avowed Carr fan.
Jimmy Carr. Photo: Wikimedia Commons4. He can take it as well as dish it out
As the saying goes, you’ve got to be as good at taking it as you are at dishing it out. And, amazingly, Carr is. Take that time he was caught taking advantage of a tax avoidance loophall – a legal one, but still a move that’s guaranteed to get the masses miffed given that the comedian is known for being less than forgiving on stage when it comes to this sort of thing. Suddenly, Carr was the butt of his own jokes. You’d think he’d have lain low for a while, but no.
Shortly after apologising, he kept to his agreement hosting BBC’s 8 Out of 10 Cats, where both teams had a field day bringing him down a peg or three. Carr grinned and bore it, even preceeding the show with this tweet: “Tonight I’m recording 8 Out of 10 Cats... I’ve dished it out enough times, let’s see if I can take it.” Makes a refreshing change from some other comedians.
5. He gives it to us straight
Which is always. Carr’s jokes are pretty much guaranteed to offend someone, somewhere. When your punch lines tends to include the words ‘fat’, ‘you mother’, ‘impotence’ and... ’Royhpnol’, you know that the target audience is not the sensitive and retiring type. And Carr makes sure they know this beforehand, no apologies. Even before buying your ticket, you know exactly what you’re getting into, so there are no nasty surprises. Much more refreshing than that other brand of comedian, who will explain at length how his idea is not to be offensive and hurtful before proceeding to deliver
Jimmy Carr performs in Malta as part of the Eden Comedy Club schedule on Friday and Saturday at 8.30pm at the Intercontinental Arena Conference Centre, St Julian’s. Tickets are available online or from the Eden Cinemas box office. Shows are rated 16+.
www.edencinemas.com.mt