Jimmy Carr
Repeat Offender
Wycombe Swan Tuesday, October 23
by Nick Mayo
Performing at the Wycombe Swan is like a coming home appearance for Jimmy Carr, renowned stand-up comedian and host of Channel 4’s, 8 Out of 10 Cats.
Jimmy was brought up in the area, attending Burnham Grammar School and the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe and he returned on Tuesday night to perform in front of a packed audience.
The new show, Repeat Offender, is a traditional comedy performance, with joke after joke rather than the comic going off into surreal improvisation or telling us his life story as many modern comedians do. His act is packed with quick-fire gags rather than long anecdotes meaning you do not have time to get bored.
From the start, Carr makes fun of assumptions he is posh, saying that he ‘went to one of the roughest colleges … in Cambridge’ and laying down the challenge to go ‘al fresco’ for a fight.
Carr performs with a confident ease. He is always ready with one-liners as he cleverly weaves his magic with words.
Jimmy’s appearance with smart suit, polished features and tidy haircut together with his posh voice make his lack of political correctness all the more shocking and comical to the audience.
Everyone from Osama Bin Laden, ‘world champion at hide and seek’, to environmental lefties are ready victims for his wit. For him nothing is sacred. The breadth of subjects covered, including taboo ones, is staggering. He is willing to push the boundaries of acceptability but it is all done with tongue firmly in cheek.
A sketch where jazz music played in the background while Carr told the audience words of wisdom was overlong and under funny. The endless sexual references and innuendos also become somewhat tiresome over the course of the show. These are minor quibbles though, and overall it was a highly professional and laugh-out-loud performance.
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