Jimmy Carr Comedy Has Improved His Entire Life.
Written byTimes Magazine
Key Sentence:
- Jimmy may be one of Britain's most famous comedians.
- Still, he also knows that many will remember him nearly a decade ago, mainly because of the controversy surrounding his tax issues.
"If I wrote a bio and didn't mention that I'm publicly embarrassed by the tax scandal, I think readers would feel a little different. While his memoir Before and Laughter covers a wide range of subjects and has one humorous line he is familiar with, doesn't stray from the more challenging aspects of his life to talk about.
The tax scandal is a vivid example. The 49-year-old made headlines in 2012 when it was discovered he had used a system that drastically reduced the taxes he paid. A legitimate but total public relations disaster led Prime Minister David Cameron to label Carr's actions as "morally wrong."
The comedian admitted to a "terrible misjudgment" and refunded the money. Today she thinks the best approach is always to "face your scandal" and talk openly about such things.
"If you want to be canceled, I would recommend you cancel for tax evasion because we can't condone what we can't punish," he said.
"It's straightforward for me to apologize and return it. And then it's done."
Tax affairs did not end his career. In fact, it gave him new material. Carr thought it was a self-destructive joke and was widely praised for handling the consequences - but only after his co-stars burned him on the comedy show he was presenting.
"What helped was I did 8 out of 10 cats at the time, comedy shows nowadays, and what saved me was Sean Locke," he recalls one of the captains on the Channel 4 team who died earlier this year. Sean was on the show; he saw me before, checked if I was okay, and then grilled me for half an hour.
"That's what friends are for saying, 'Listen, you were wrong, you have to deal with it.' And then it's all done without judgment, without any bad feelings. It's a terrible loss after losing Sean, and I've thought a lot about it and how special he has been in the last few weeks. I hate to put him in a tense To set."
Before and Laugh is a good reflection of Carr's personality and career. He wrote openly about how deeply he was devastated by his mother's death and alienation from his father. She's also considering becoming a Virgo at 26, her famous signature laugh, and the work she's put into improving her looks.
But it also acts as something like a self-help book. Comics use their own experiences as stepping stones to encourage readers to make the most of life.
"It's a strange reading. Sometimes it's a bit cliché: seize the moment, save it for the future, pretend to be happy, and you can be satisfied. It looks like a brand for a man who was once famous as the dark prince of comedy, and jokes that can be annoying, shocking, and sometimes just awful, look like an exact brand.
It's undoubtedly characterless, but this approach has its advantages. The book is 90,000 words longer than usual for a celebrity memoir aimed at the Christmas market, and his reflections and advice on life can add depth.
"Some people may care a little about me, but everyone cares about themselves," explains Carr. "So I split the difference in the book. So half for me and the other for you."
There are some things in the book that sound like jokes but have profound meaning hidden behind them. "If you have the cheating syndrome, you are most likely a cheater," he wrote in one chapter. But he turns it into a positive, well-founded feeling of inferiority that "will make you better until you're a part of it in the end."
He hopes to advise and inspire others in the same way as his previous books. "The self-help literature has helped me," she says. "Things like NLP [neuro-linguistic programming] and CBT [cognitive behavioral therapy] help me in life, and I don't want to share that much.
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