49 Facts About Jimmy Carr

James Anthony Patrick Carr was born on 15 September 1972 and is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor.

Jimmy Carr is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners, for which he has been both praised and criticised, and his distinctive laugh.

James Anthony Patrick Jimmy Carr was born on 15 September 1972, in Hounslow, London, England, the second of three sons born to Irish immigrant parents Nora Mary, an accountant who became the treasurer for computer company Unisys.

Jimmy Carr's parents were married in 1970 and separated in 1994, but never divorced.

In 2021, Jimmy Carr said he had not spoken to his father since 2000 and had not seen him in person, with the exception of an autograph signing after a gig in 2015.

Jimmy Carr's parents remained in contact with their Irish relatives, and the family made frequent trips to Limerick and Kilkee.

Jimmy Carr went on to work in the marketing department at Shell, but took voluntary redundancy in January 2000 as he felt "miserable" there.

Jimmy Carr took a course in neuro-linguistic programming, which he has claimed helped him realise how his mind was working to hold him back from following his dreams of becoming a comedian.

Jimmy Carr performed his first paid stand-up gig later that month, having done his debut pub show unpaid only the previous month.

Jimmy Carr 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 and 100 Scary Moments.

From 2004 until 2006, Jimmy Carr hosted a United States version of Distraction for Comedy Central.

Jimmy Carr was nominated for the 2006 Rose d'Or award for Best Game Show Host.

Jimmy Carr has presented special episodes known as The Big Fat Quiz of Everything.

Since 2005, Jimmy Carr has presented the comedy panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats.

Since 2012, Jimmy Carr has presented 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, a combination of his panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats and daytime quiz show Countdown.

Jimmy Carr 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, Jimmy Carr guest-presented two episodes of Sunday Night at the Palladium on ITV.

From 2018 to 2020, Jimmy Carr hosted the Comedy Central series Roast Battle.

Jimmy Carr contributed sketches to Channel 4 topical comedy TV programme The 11 O'Clock Show and has frequently appeared on panel shows A League of Their Own and QI, being one of the most-featured guests for both shows.

Jimmy Carr was described as "the worst driver we've ever had" and "the luckiest man alive" by Top Gear test driver the Stig.

Jimmy 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.

Jimmy Carr is a regular guest and interviewer on Loose Ends and The Fred MacAulay Show.

In January 2005, Jimmy Carr hosted It's Been a Terrible Year, a comedy review of 2004, on BBC Radio 2.

In January 2006, Jimmy Carr made a joke on Radio 4's Loose Ends, the punchline of which implied that Gypsy women smelled.

The BBC issued an apology, but Jimmy Carr refused to apologise and continued to use the joke.

Jimmy Carr appeared in two episodes of the radio series of Flight of the Conchords in 2005.

Jimmy Carr 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.

Jimmy Carr appeared at the EICC during the Edinburgh Festival in August 2005 with his Off The Telly show.

Jimmy Carr released his third DVD, Jimmy Carr: Comedian, in November 2007.

In late 2008, Jimmy Carr began touring his latest show, Joke Technician.

Jimmy Carr released a DVD entitled Jimmy Carr: Telling Jokes on 2 November 2009.

Also in July 2009, Jimmy Carr toured with Las Vegas band the Killers.

In October 2009, Jimmy 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.

Jimmy Carr defended his own joke as "totally acceptable" in an interview with The Guardian.

Carr's sixth Live DVD, Jimmy Carr: Making People Laugh, was released on 8 November 2010.

Jimmy Carr was criticised in November 2011 for a joke about the Variety Club's Sunshine coaches, which offer holidays for children with Down syndrome.

Jimmy Carr defended himself by saying nothing should be off limits.

Carr released the Jimmy Carr: Laughing and Joking DVD on 18 November 2013.

In June 2019, Jimmy Carr was criticised for the content of his touring show Terribly Funny.

Jimmy Carr was criticised by charity Little People UK, accusing him of prejudice for an "offensive" abortion joke he made about people with dwarfism.

Jimmy Carr is taking the money from those tickets and he, as far as I can see, is putting all of that into some very dodgy tax-avoiding schemes.

In February 2018, Jimmy Carr appeared on Room 101, where he talked about the controversy.

Jimmy Carr said that the law should become clearer by eliminating any loopholes, instead of leaving it up to individuals to decide what is morally right.

Jimmy Carr continues to reference the scandal in his performances and public appearances.

Jimmy Carr was condemned by the Auschwitz Memorial, Hope not Hate and The Traveller Movement, who called anti-Romani prejudice the "last acceptable form of racism" in the UK.

Jimmy Carr faced criticism from British politicians, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary.

Jimmy Carr has since made comments critical of organised religion.

Jimmy Carr has spoken of the depression he experienced in his 20s, while working in marketing, and credits his decision to pursue a comedy career in helping him to cope with depression.

Jimmy Carr has dual British and Irish citizenship, travels on an Irish passport, has spoken of his pride in having Irish ancestry, and was presented in 2013 with a certificate of Irish heritage in his parents' home city of Limerick by the city's mayor.