James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British and Irish comedian, presenter and writer. He is known for his rapid-fire deadpan delivery of one-liners and edgy, often controversial sense of dark humour. He began his comedy career in the late 1990s and rose to prominence for hosting the Channel 4 panel shows The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (2004–present), 8 Out of 10 Cats (2005–2021), and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (2012–present). Alongside his television work, Carr has established a successful career as a touring stand-up comedian, performing internationally.
Early life and education James Anthony Patrick Carr was born on 15 September 1972 in Isleworth, London. He is the second of three sons born to Irish parents, Nora Mary (; 19 September 1943 – 7 September 2001) and Patrick James "Jim" Carr (born 1945). Carr's father was an accountant and later became treasurer for computer company Unisys. Natives of Limerick, his parents were married in 1970 and separated in 1994, never divorcing.
Carr spent most of his early life in the Buckinghamshire village of Farnham Common, where he attended Farnham Common School and Burnham Grammar School. Carr was diagnosed with dyslexia and could not read or write at his expected level until around ten or eleven years old. He completed sixth form at the Royal Grammar School in nearby High Wycombe.Jimmy Carr, Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4 (Mar 2017)
After earning four A grades at A-level, Carr studied social science and political science at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, graduating with first-class honours in 1994. He went on to work in the marketing department at Shell, but took voluntary redundancy in January 2000 as he felt "miserable" there. He performed his first paid stand-up gig later that month. He said a course in neuro-linguistic programming helped him realise his mind was working to hold him back from following his dreams of becoming a comedian.
Career Television
Hosting
Carr began his TV hosting career in the early 2000s, hosting Channel 4 game shows like Distraction and Your Face or Mine?. He presented several episodes of 100 Greatest, including "100 Worst Pop Records", "100 Worst Britons", "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 and 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. Since 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."
US appearances Conan O'Brien was an early supporter of Carr's career, with Carr appearing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien twice in 2002, twice in 2006, and again every year between 2007 and 2009 (the last appearance being on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien). Carr continued to appear on American late night, appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2003 and 2005; The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2024; and on The Late Late Show with James Corden in 2016.
Carr's first venture into producing TV in the US was the joint UK–US–Canada production,The Strategic Humour Initiative (hosted by Sir David Frost) in 2003. Carr was chosen as the UK comedian. Only one episode was made.
In 2005, Carr hosted 12 episodes of the American version of the shock gameshow Distraction, as he had hosted the original UK version. A second US series (14 episodes) was commissioned in 2006. Comedy Central (US) also made two episodes of Comedy Central Presents: Jimmy Carr in 2005 and 2009.
In 2015, Carr was the first British comedian to have a Netflix stand-up special with his show Funny Business. 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.
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 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 Though often recognized for his TV appearances, Carr primarily considers himself a stand-up comedian, saying on a July 2018 episode of Peter McGraw's podcast, "I’ve always thought I’m in stand-up and everything else is a little bit of a side show."
Carr performed his first five minutes of stand-up, unpaid, at an Islington pub called the Tut 'n' Shive in December 1999. From 2000 to 2003, he started appearing regularly around London at clubs like 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.
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 band The Killers at performances recorded for their DVD album, Live from the Royal Albert Hall.
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.
A Guardian profile in 2012 called Carr "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 "the undisputed king of deadpan one-liners". Carr released the Jimmy Carr: Laughing and Joking DVD on 18 November 2013.
Carr has also frequently collaborated with American comedians. Since 2015, Carr has made several appearances on the US live comedy show Kill Tony. 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).
Carr has been performing at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles for many years and is one of a small number of British comedians that are listed as alumni. In 2018, he was given the honour of having his name painted on one of the club's walls.
Carr is a frequent Netflix collaborator and has praised Netflix for ushering in a "Golden Age" of comedy where "people can reach a bigger market". 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 the festival, Carr performed for his own tour 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. Carr was also invited to a celebratory brunch at the home of Netflix co-CEO, Ted Sarandos.
During his Terribly Funny tour (which began pre-COVID lockdown and ended April 2024) Carr wrote material for his next tour by trying out new material in every gig. He announced his next tour, Jimmy Carr: Laughs Funny, in October 2023.
On 17 April 2024, the Netflix recording of Carr's Terribly Funny 2.0 tour was released as Natural Born Killer. 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. Natural Born Killer received mixed reviews, with a 42% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and The Spectator calling it "not especially funny," with material not "refreshingly transgressive so much as gratuitously unpleasant".
Carr posted on X that he had performed two gigs in the UK on 3 May before traveling to Los Angeles for the 2024 Netflix is a Joke festival. He then performed at the Outside Joke event, at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, on 4 May. On 5 May 2024, Carr attended the Netflix special live stream of The Roast of Tom Brady. In the final months of his Terribly Funny 2.0 tour, Carr made several trips to the US, criss-crossing the country each time. He also toured in March and April 2024; the last trip ended up consisting of new material under the tour name Laughs Funny.