Jimmy Carr - In Concert (DVD)

Jimmy Carr is obviously a man who loves his work - on a recent chat show he explained that on completing a mammoth one hundred and sixty date tour he simply starts all over again. He spends more than half his life travelling the length and breadth of the British Isles delivering his unique deadpan rapid fire style of joke telling and observations on life, love and the worlds many problems. And for me it's not hard to see why he enjoys touring so ...
...people will be familiar with Jimmy Carr as the host of the successful Channel four quiz show 'eight out of ten cats', but if you were expecting more of the same you may well be disappointed. This DVD represents the real Jimmy Carr, unburdened by televisual etiquette he is able to really let fly. Recorded at London's Bloomsbury theatre, 'In Concert' is Jimmy Carr's fourth live DVD, and in my mind it's his best so far, he is on top form with nothing ... more

Jimmy Carr is obviously a man who loves his work - on a recent chat show he explained that on completing a mammoth one hundred and sixty date tour he simply starts all over again. He spends more than half his life travelling the length and breadth of the British Isles delivering his unique deadpan rapid fire style of joke telling and observations on life, love and the worlds many problems. And for me it's not hard to see why he enjoys touring so much, he seems so much at home in front of a live audience, he knows how to play to them, how to deliver his jokes with impeccable timing, always articulate and well observed. Many people will be familiar with Jimmy Carr as the host of the successful Channel four quiz show 'eight out of ten cats', but if you were expecting more of the same you may well be disappointed. This DVD represents the real Jimmy Carr, unburdened by televisual etiquette he is able to really let fly. Recorded at London's Bloomsbury theatre, 'In Concert' is Jimmy Carr's fourth live DVD, and in my mind it's his best so far, he is on top form with nothing escaping his razor sharp wit.

The always dapper Jimmy Carr seems particularly at home if a member of the audience is silly enough to try and heckle him; his put downs are swift, crisp and very very hard. Be in no doubt that if you heckle Mr Carr you will come a very poor second. One moment worthy of mention is how he deals with an audience member complaining that he is not racist and doesn't tell any racist jokes; his put down is quite brilliant. A lot of the humour is adult based, on more than one occasion I squirmed a little as he tightrope walks that fine line of controversy and bad taste, suffice to say this is probably not the sort of DVD you want to be settling down to with your Parents, ....or children, ....or indeed anyone where embarrassment is likely to be an issue - this DVD is over eighteen in every sense of the word. A couple of nice little diversions break up the stand up routine nicely on this DVD; firstly Jimmy relaxes in an armchair and ponders those random thoughts that are troubling him, all the while a jazz trio play melancholy tunes as smoke drifts lazily across the stage. He also takes to sitting behind a desk for a segment where he rewrites classic children's jokes to bring them up to date. There is also a little improv section where Jimmy asks audience members to throw up some words and situations, with mirthful consequences.

Satire and dark humour abound then in this ninety minute show. If you like your jokes fast, polished and edgy this is very much the DVD for you. No props or special effects, just one man on a stage doing what he does best. Jimmy Carr in Concert was released on November 3rd 2008 and can be purchased for around twelve pounds. Jimmy Carr reminds me a little of the late great Bob Monkhouse in his mannerisms and speed, and that's no bad thing. I give the main stand up portion of this DVD five stars out of five, and the Extras three out of five, giving an aggregate of four out of five stars.

DVD Extras and Special Features

Not huge amounts to write home about as far as DVD extras are concerned. There is a rather clever thirty minute animated featurette where Jimmy is portrayed in different animated semblances delivering his best put downs to hecklers during the tour (presumably done because there were no cameras present to film the put downs in person.) So if you've ever wondered what a Muppet style or plasticine Jimmy Carr looks like this segment will sate your curiosity no end. There are also nine static comic strip style jokes featuring Jimmy, and the obligatory subtitle alternatives should your first language be Polish, Welsh, Australian, Scouse or Glaswegian. 

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