Television Hosting Carr has hosted
Channel 4 game shows
Distraction and
Your Face or Mine?. He 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. Beginning in 2005, Carr presented the comedy panel show
8 Out of 10 Cats. The show aired on
Channel 4 until 2016, when it moved to
More4. It later went to
E4. Since 2012, Carr has also presented over 150 episodes of
8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, a combination of his panel show
8 Out of 10 Cats and daytime quiz show
Countdown. In April 2010, Carr hosted the first British version of a comedy roast show, Channel 4's
A Comedy Roast. On 6 May 2010, he was a co-host of Channel 4's
Alternative Election Night, with
David Mitchell,
Lauren Laverne and
Charlie Brooker. He joined the three presenters again for ''
10 O'Clock Live'', a
Channel 4 comedy current-affairs show, which started airing in January 2011. In 2014 and 2015, Carr guest-presented two episodes of
Sunday Night at the Palladium on
ITV. In 2018, he presented American comedy panel show
The Fix on
Netflix. From 2018 to 2020, Carr hosted the
Comedy Central series
Roast Battle. From 2021, he has hosted the Channel 4 quiz show
I Literally Just Told You. In March 2025, he hosted the first series of
LOL: Last One Laughing UK with
Roisin Conaty. In October 2025, Carr hosted the first series of
Am I The A******? with
GK Barry and
Jamali Maddix on
Comedy Central.
Guest appearances Carr contributed sketches to Channel 4 topical comedy TV programme ''The 11 O'Clock Show
and has appeared on panel shows A League of Their Own and QI. During a guest appearance on the BBC motoring show Top Gear'', Carr set a new celebrity test track lap record on the '
Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' segment. He was described as "the worst driver we've ever had" and "the luckiest man alive" by
Top Gear test driver
the Stig. Carr has appeared as a contestant on celebrity editions of
Deal or No Deal (won £750 for
Helen & Douglas House),
The Chase (won £1,000 for
Variety Club),
Benchmark (won £1,000 for
Elton John AIDS Foundation),
Tipping Point (won £7,000 for
Blue Cross),
Catchphrase, and
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, winning £1,000. Carr was a guest presenter for one edition of
Have I Got News for You; in 2007 he joined
Ian Hislop's team in the edition of the show chaired by
Ann Widdecombe, with whom he "flirted" outrageously. Later in the episode, Widdecombe said: "I don't think I shall return to this programme."
Radio In January 2006, Carr made a joke on Radio 4's
Loose Ends, the punchline of which implied that
Gypsy women stank. The BBC issued an apology, but Carr refused to apologize and continued to use the joke. He appeared in two episodes of the radio series of
Flight of the Conchords in 2005. Carr has appeared on BBC Radio 4's
The Museum of Curiosity a total of seven times since 2011. He was the Museum Curator (in his five appearances in 2012) and a guest on the 2018 Annual Stock Take Christmas special, alongside
Lee Mack,
Jo Brand, and
Sally Philips.
Podcasts Carr's
podcast appearances go back to at least 2010 with a one-off podcast called
Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle: Meet the Comedians. Carr's podcast appearances ramped up significantly during the height of the
COVID-19 pandemic, with recent appearances during this period including
The Betoota Advocate Podcast,
You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes, ''
The Comedian's Comedian, The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
, and Dane Baptiste Questions Everything''.
Stand-up comedy Carr tours for most of the year, and originally took only five weeks off between shows. His first five minutes of stand-up (unpaid) were at an Islington pub, the Tut 'n' Shive, in December 1999. From 2000 to 2003, he started appearing regularly around London, at
Up The Creek, The Banana Cabaret, and The Bearcat Comedy Club. In 2003, he was listed in
The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2004, he threatened to sue
Jim Davidson for using a joke that Carr considered his own. The matter was dropped when it became apparent that the joke in question was an old one used for decades by many different comedians. He toured the country with his show
A Public Display of Affection, starting on 9 April 2005 at the
Gulbenkian Theatre in
Canterbury and ending on 14 January 2006 at the
Gielgud Theatre in London's
West End. He also appeared at the EICC during the
Edinburgh Festival in August 2005 with his
Off The Telly show. In August 2006, he commenced the tour
Gag Reflex, for which he won the 2006
British Comedy Award for "Best Live Stand-Up". He released his third DVD,
Jimmy Carr: Comedian, in November 2007. In 2007, in a poll on the
Channel 4 website for 100 Greatest Stand-Ups, Jimmy Carr was ranked 12th. A national tour, titled
Repeat Offender, commenced in autumn 2007, beginning at the
Edinburgh Festival. On 3 February 2007, Carr's performance in front of 50 people in London was broadcast simultaneously on the virtual platform
Second Life. His
Rapier Wit tour opened on 20 August 2009 with eight shows at the Edinburgh Festival before touring the UK. He released a DVD entitled
Jimmy Carr: Telling Jokes on 2 November 2009. Also on 5 and 6 July 2009, Carr was the warm up act for
Las Vegas band
the Killers at their DVD record gigs (
Live from the Royal Albert Hall). In October 2009, Carr received criticism from Sunday tabloid newspapers for a joke he made about British soldiers who had lost limbs in
Iraq and
Afghanistan, saying the UK would have a strong team in the
London 2012 Paralympic Games. Carr defended his own joke as "totally acceptable" in an interview with
The Guardian. He had met staff and patients at the rehabilitation centre
Headley Court in March 2009. Carr's sixth Live DVD,
Jimmy Carr: Making People Laugh, was released on 8 November 2010. Carr's 2010–11 tour, entitled
Laughter Therapy, started with a run at the Edinburgh Festival before touring the UK. Carr was criticised in November 2011 for a joke about the
Variety Club's Sunshine coaches, which offer holidays for children with
Down syndrome. The charity and Down Syndrome Education International condemned the joke. Carr defended himself by saying nothing should be off limits. A
Guardian profile in 2012 said: "In terms of reach and earning power... one of the nation's most popular stand-up comedians... in his ability to pull in crowds which generate millions in tour and DVD sales..." and as "the undisputed king of deadpan one-liners...". Carr released the
Jimmy Carr: Laughing and Joking DVD on 18 November 2013. In June 2019 Carr was criticised for the content of his touring show
Terribly Funny. Among the controversial jokes were jokes about dwarves, fat women and
female genital mutilation. Carr was also criticised by charity Little People UK (co-founded by actor
Warwick Davis), accusing him of prejudice for an "offensive" abortion joke he made about people with
dwarfism. During his Terribly Funny Tour (which began pre-COVID lockdown and ended April 2024) he wrote his next tour by trying out new material in every gig. As a result of this, Jimmy Carr Laughs Funny started 17 April 2024. On 17 April 2024, the
Netflix recording of Carr's
Terribly Funny 2.0 tour was released as
Natural Born Killer. The one hour special attained a Top 10 spot in 29 countries. In the week 15–21 April 2024 Netflix listed the show as being 8th in the global Top 10 (in the category TV, English) with 2.3 million viewing hours. In September and October 2024, Carr joined Australian comedian
Jim Jefferies for a number of joint gigs, slotted between dates for Jefferies's own tour, in
Canada. Their shows were billed as
The Charm Offensive Tour.
Edinburgh The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is an annual arts festival in Scotland which has been a showcase for comedians since at least the 1970s. Carr has often said how important the festival is to anyone who wants to get into comedy, and that he is "a performer at night but during the day I'm a punter and have conversations with people about what show they liked and what they didn't." Carr has said that he first went to Edinburgh around 2000 to "see what it was about". Although he would eventually return each year as a paid stand-up comic, he initially had to resort to trying to save money by sleeping in his car (a Rover 75) or on the floor of somewhere that other comedians had rented. Titled
Rubbernecker, it also featured
Ricky Gervais,
Stephen Merchant and
Robin Ince. The two-week stint with
Rubbernecker was Carr's first Fringe appearance with his name in the official programme and his first mention on the comedy site
Chortle. In 2002, although this was Carr's second entry (in one of the festival's programmes) this was his first solo show:
Bare Faced Ambition. This was the year that he received a nomination for what was then known as the
Perrier Award. The poster and programme billed him as "England's answer to
Emo Philips", and he performed in the dining room of the
Gilded Balloon. By the time of 2003's festival, the now 30-year-old Carr had built a larger fan base through touring, several appearances at
Montreal's Just For Laughs and numerous TV appearances (including co-hosting
Your Face or Mine?). This enabled him to move his shows to the larger venue of the
Pleasance Courtyard, but the festival's rules on TV appearances meant that he was judged to now be a "star" and therefore could not be nominated for the 2003
Perrier Award. He performed for 25 nights from 30 July to 25 August 2003. followed on from another hit TV show (
Distraction); this tour show was called
Public Display of Affection. This meant another move up in venue size with six shows at the
Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) which had a 1,200-seat capacity at that time. The 2005 Fringe was Carr's fifth. He again presented all-new material. The show was called
Off The Telly and he performed eight shows at the EICC. Material for the new tour, named Gag Reflex, had been tried out at a WIP (work in progress) gig at the
Hen and Chickens Theatre on 5 August 2006. Trial of the new material continued in Edinburgh across six nights from 17 August at the EICC. Carr only managed to fit in a brief appearance at the 2007 Fringe on 21 August. Held at the
Edinburgh Festival Theatre, it was a regular Fringe fund raiser, headed by
Alan Carr, for
Waverley Care. He was still writing material for his planned
Repeat Offender tour, as evidenced by him using a clipboard on stage. Previously,
The Guardian had been reasonably positive in relation to reviews of comedians headlining at the Fringe; however, articles from 2007 declared that "household names were drowning out more pioneering art". The 2008 Edinburgh programme never listed dates or a venue for Carr's shows this year; this was possibly because his attendance was confirmed after printing. His presence (and the unveiling of his
Joke Technician tour) was, however, mentioned in
The Independent and also Chortle. Edinburgh 2009 saw Carr return for what is billed as his "eighth solo show", thereby confirming his seventh attendance in 2008. He returned to the
EICC with his new show,
Rapier Wit, for eight nights spanning 20 to 30 August. He also attended the
Edinburgh International Television Festival to be a judge on a ''
Britain's Got Talent'' spoof (called TV's Got Talent) alongside
Amanda Holden and
Louis Walsh. Edinburgh 2010 saw Carr debut his new show,
Laughter Therapy, a few days after the end of his
Rapier Wit tour. He was back at the
EICC for eight nights. Although he performed a number of gigs in Scotland during 2011, Carr never made it to that year's festival. At Edinburgh 2012, he was back to perform his new show,
Gagging Order, with six nights at the EICC. 2014 saw Carr return for his 11th solo Edinburgh show, called
Funny Business. Based once again at the
EICC he played four nights in what would appear to be his last Fringe appearance (with a comedy show). In August 2017, Carr returned for a different kind of Edinburgh Festival: the
Edinburgh International Television Festival. He interviewed
Comedy Central President,
Kent Alterman, in an on-stage Q&A session in front of industry staff. After a 10-year absence Carr returned for his 12th solo show (
Laughs Funny), in August 2024. He described the
Festival as being "
where it all began" and performed 5 shows, across 3 nights, at the
Edinburgh Playhouse.
American TV Early support was shown by
Conan O'Brien, and Carr appeared on ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien twice in 2002, twice in 2006, and then again in 2007, 2008 and 2009 (that last appearance being onThe Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien). Appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno were 2003 and 2005; The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon was 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2024; and there was an additional appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden'' in 2016. His first venture into making TV shows in the US was
The Strategic Humour Initiative (hosted by Sir
David Frost) in 2003. It was a joint UK–US–Canada production, and Carr was chosen to be the UK comedian. Only one episode was made. Carr hosted 12 episodes of the American version of the shock gameshow
Distraction (which he had hosted in the UK) in 2005. A second US series (14 episodes) was commissioned in 2006.
Comedy Central (US) made two episodes of
Comedy Central Presents: Jimmy Carr in 2005 and 2009. Netflix produced 10 episodes of
The Fix in 2018 hosted by Carr. It was an attempt to export the UK panel show format to America. Although still available on
Netflix, no further episodes have been made. Carr was the first British comedian to have a Netflix stand-up special with his show
Funny Business.
American stand-up Because of the frequency of his trips, Carr has collaborated with American comedians in various ways.
Neal Brennan credits him with the idea for his
Blocks podcast, and
Jeffery Ross frequently invites him to be part of his Roast events (including
The Roast of Rob Lowe). Across two nights of the 2022 Netflix is a Joke Festival, Carr was a support act for
Dave Chappelle at the
Hollywood Bowl (30 April and 3 May 2022, the show where Chappelle was attacked on stage). During this festival, Carr slotted in one of his own tour gigs, at the Palace Theatre, and also performed at the
Hollywood Palladium as a part of the line-up for
Bill Burr Presents Friends Who Kill, which was filmed for another Netflix Special. As a member of the
Netflix comedy roster, he was also invited to a celebratory brunch at the home of Netflix co-CEO, Ted Sarandos.
The Comedy Store opened in
Los Angeles in 1972 and has been a popular venue for stand-up comedians ever since. Carr has been performing there for many years and is one of a small number of British comedians that are listed as alumni and, in 2018, was given the honour of having his name painted on one of the club's walls. Since 2015, Carr has made several appearances on the US live comedy show
Kill Tony. 2024 once again saw
Netflix host Netflix is a Joke Fest, in Los Angeles (2–12 May). Carr posted (on
X) that he had performed two gigs in the UK on 3 May and then performed at the
Outside Joke event, at the
Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, on 4 May. In the final months of his Terribly Funny 2.0 tour, Carr made several trips to the US. Each trip consisted of around a week of criss-crossing the country. He also toured in March and April 2024; the last trip ended up consisting of new material under the tour name
Laughs Funny. On 5 May, Carr attended the
Netflix special live stream of
The Roast of Tom Brady.
American charities Carr is a supporter of the
Bob Woodruff Foundation (a non-profit that supports
post-9/11-impacted service members, veterans, and their families). On 5 November 2018, he was on the bill of the 12th Annual
Stand Up for Heroes event at
Madison Square Gardens and again, for the 17th event, on 6 November 2023, at the
Lincoln Center. Carr was one of the British comics supporting
Amnesty International at the 2012
Secret Policeman's Ball in New York.
Books In 2006, the book
The Naked Jape: Uncovering the Hidden World of Jokes, on the history and theory of joke-telling, by Carr and Lucy Greeves, was published by
Penguin.
Before & Laughter, a
memoir and
self-help book authored by Carr, was published by
Quercus in December 2021. ==Controversies==