Posted: Mon 14th Oct 2013

Jimmy Carr ‘Gagging Order’ Review

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area
This article is old - Published: Monday, Oct 14th, 2013

On Saturday night Jimmy Carr made his Wrexham debut when he bought his ‘Gagging Order’ tour to the William Aston Hall.

The stand-up comic and host of 8 Out Of 10 Cats (and other Channel 4 panel shows!) performed two consecutive shows, packed out shows at the Wrexham venue.

Now on his tenth stand-up show, Jimmy Carr has been dubbed the ‘hardest working man in comedy’, a title that he readily laughed off.

In recent years Glyndwr University has been attracting some of the most popular comedians around, however arguably Jimmy Carr is one of the biggest names the University has had perform there to date. Describing the venue as one that made him feel as though he was giving a school assembly, the comedian wasted no time starting the show; adding later that over 200 jokes had been made throughout the night.

Full of one liners, wit anecdotes and tongue in cheek humour, Jimmy Carr effortlessly powered his way through two hours of comedy; covering topics such as chat-up lines, relationships, Alan Carr and ‘your mum jokes’ in the process.

Of course Jimmy Carr’s ‘tax scandal’ was well documented earlier this year, and rather than hide from the subject, Carr readily joked about needing a new accountant and how to rectify a PR fail. Along with mentioning that he shopped in places that shared his values on money.

An occasional break from the ‘main act’ was taken, as Jimmy Carr narrated the audience through a number of cartoons and animations on-screen. A feature that has become a regular part of his act in recent years.

Audience participation was heavily encouraged throughout the show, with the comedian inviting hecklers to shout out throughout the evening. A few took up the challenge, which resulted in Carr excelling at what he does best, by firing off some brilliant one liners and comebacks. However for a show that asks for audience participation, there were times were it felt as though audience needed a bit of encouragement to get involved. There were moments when the comedian appeared a bit shocked when more people weren’t answering his question, joking at one point that he felt the audience were as one, were thinking ‘dance monkey dance’.

After a bit of coaxing this picked up and before you knew it audience members were sharing tales about being ‘flashed in the park’, how someone was ‘almost Australian’ and perhaps the strangest of the night, a man who claimed the ghosts in his home look at him pleadingly. This in itself created one of the highlights of the evening, resulting in a recurring joke surrounding on how the man kept ghosts in cages in his basement.

By the time the comedian reached the ‘Jimmy: The Sitcom’ segment of the show, the audience were more relaxed as the comedian asked for anyone who had any sort of acting experience to take part I hit new ‘sitcom’. One member of the audience said he had studied drama at Yale college, which caused an amusing bit of confusion when the man had to explain he went to Yale college in Wrexham, and not the world-famous Ivy League University in America.

Fans of the comedian and his work already knew what to expect from the evening before the show had begun, and Jimmy Carr certainly did not disappoint. The show is certainly not for the easily offended and while he has made a name for himself as a television host, it is clear that live stand-up comedy is where Jimmy Carr thrives.  As the show’s programme states:

“The show is packed with one-liners, stories and jokes. Some are clever, some are rude and a few are totally acceptable. Alright, more than a few. I hope you’ve left your conscience at home because there is certainly no place for it here.”



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