Jimmy Carr's The Best of Ultimate Gold Greatest Hits
To most of America, Jimmy Carr has only been a comic blip on their radar since about 2015 when his first Netflix Special Funny Business went live, or after he participated in the Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe in 2016. I, however, (being something of a comedy aficionado), have been a fan of his for a while now. My enjoyment of his comedy began when I watched a version of this video on YouTube:
You have to be a real comedy fan to appreciate this montage. One of the biggest things comedians have to contend with while on stage is hecklers, audience members who, perhaps due to being wasted or offended by something the comic's said, try to screw with the comedian while they're performing. The only way to get such people to shut up is, essentially, to publicly humiliate them. Carr is a master of this (as you can see), but the reason he's so good at it is, perhaps, due to his own brand of humor.
Carr is what's commonly called a "One-Liner Comic," a rarity in today's comedy landscape. The few American comics who still use one-liners are people like Larry the Cable Guy, Anthony Jeselnik, and Ron White (the latter two being fairly close to Carr's own sensibility). Most comics either employing Seinfeld-esque Observational humor or Pryor-style storytelling, to be someone who gets up on stage and literally "tell jokes," makes Carr a bit of an anomaly. But that's okay, because if you come to him expecting good, clean, wholesome Bob Hope-esque entertainment, you're in for a fucking surprise.
And his newest special The Best of Ultimate Gold Greatest Hits is a perfect example of this.
In many ways, for people who are new to Carr's comedy, this is the best way to get to get aquatinted with it. As the title suggests, this special is a compilation of Carr's best, and most famous jokes. Until 2015's Funny Business, Carr was almost solely known to comedy-viewing audiences of Europe and Canada. That isn't to say he hadn't done anything here in the States. For example, almost two decades ago, he made an appearance on Conan O'Brien's version of Late Night on NBC:
(Jesus, look at that piss-poor, non-digital, narrow-screen picture. Makes me miss my youth.)
None of the jokes in the above clip are featured in the special, but the tone and sensibility is still the same. If anything, Carr's gotten faster and more relaxed in his delivery. He's also become less afraid of tackling subjects that make people uncomfortable. Compare the above clip to this one from just this past week from his appearance on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show:
If you were offended by any of those jokes (all of which appear in the new special, delivered just a little faster), don't watch. When Carr's in full flight, he's a comedy machine gun, a machine gun firing ribald, raunchy, rude rounds of hilarity. He isn't for everybody (nobody is), but if you have a dark sense of humor, don't mind a swearing, or lots (and lots) of sexual references, then you should definitely watch Jimmy Carr's newest show.
Just to wind things up here, I'd like to close with one of my favorite jokes from the special:
"I'm not a big fan of the predictive text. I just think it makes you look like an idiot when you text a young lady saying you want to put your massive clock in her hairy aunt."
You have to be a real comedy fan to appreciate this montage. One of the biggest things comedians have to contend with while on stage is hecklers, audience members who, perhaps due to being wasted or offended by something the comic's said, try to screw with the comedian while they're performing. The only way to get such people to shut up is, essentially, to publicly humiliate them. Carr is a master of this (as you can see), but the reason he's so good at it is, perhaps, due to his own brand of humor.
Carr is what's commonly called a "One-Liner Comic," a rarity in today's comedy landscape. The few American comics who still use one-liners are people like Larry the Cable Guy, Anthony Jeselnik, and Ron White (the latter two being fairly close to Carr's own sensibility). Most comics either employing Seinfeld-esque Observational humor or Pryor-style storytelling, to be someone who gets up on stage and literally "tell jokes," makes Carr a bit of an anomaly. But that's okay, because if you come to him expecting good, clean, wholesome Bob Hope-esque entertainment, you're in for a fucking surprise.
And his newest special The Best of Ultimate Gold Greatest Hits is a perfect example of this.
In many ways, for people who are new to Carr's comedy, this is the best way to get to get aquatinted with it. As the title suggests, this special is a compilation of Carr's best, and most famous jokes. Until 2015's Funny Business, Carr was almost solely known to comedy-viewing audiences of Europe and Canada. That isn't to say he hadn't done anything here in the States. For example, almost two decades ago, he made an appearance on Conan O'Brien's version of Late Night on NBC:
(Jesus, look at that piss-poor, non-digital, narrow-screen picture. Makes me miss my youth.)
None of the jokes in the above clip are featured in the special, but the tone and sensibility is still the same. If anything, Carr's gotten faster and more relaxed in his delivery. He's also become less afraid of tackling subjects that make people uncomfortable. Compare the above clip to this one from just this past week from his appearance on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show:
If you were offended by any of those jokes (all of which appear in the new special, delivered just a little faster), don't watch. When Carr's in full flight, he's a comedy machine gun, a machine gun firing ribald, raunchy, rude rounds of hilarity. He isn't for everybody (nobody is), but if you have a dark sense of humor, don't mind a swearing, or lots (and lots) of sexual references, then you should definitely watch Jimmy Carr's newest show.
Just to wind things up here, I'd like to close with one of my favorite jokes from the special:
"I'm not a big fan of the predictive text. I just think it makes you look like an idiot when you text a young lady saying you want to put your massive clock in her hairy aunt."
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