Review: Jimmy Carr, Wolverhampton Civic Hall

Jokes (lots of them), risqué humour, audience participation, heckling and a long list of subject matters that would be too taboo for many comedians.

The audience at Wolverhampton Civic Hall were not disappointed.

This was dubbed as a 'greatest hits' of Carr's 16 years in stand-up, with the hugely popular comedian picking the finest one-liners from the thousands that he's told time and time again.

But despite it being difficult to turn on your TV after 9pm without Carr's shiny face staring back at you, laughing like a distraught seal (that's the clean version of how he was labelled by one shouty audience member here) this show felt fresh.

I'd seen Carr once before at the same venue three years ago and also watched two of his live stand-up DVDs, but there were only one or two of the 300 jokes he told that I recognised.

The audience didn't seem to think the material was old either. They absolutely lapped up a show that lasted the best part of two and a half hours (plus a 20-minute break in the middle).

The lowbrow bar was set on the floor very early on. There were as many gasps and groans as there were laughs.

Race, sex, religion, homosexuality, paedophilia, pornography – no subject was off limits. But the difference between Carr and, say, Roy Chubby Brown, who also performs at the Civic this month, is that every line is laced with tongue-in-cheek irony.

Carr pokes fun at our stereotypes and pushes our buttons – these aren't his personal views.

What's more, he's likeable, punctuating many lines with that trademark laugh. He's also extremely self-deprecating, bringing up his own problems with the tax man on several occasions.

The Civic is a venue he genuinely loves and that comes through too. As does his love of audience interaction – a section of audience text messages on a big screen was the highlight of the night.

It even indirectly led to a marriage proposal. His text didn't make it on screen but that didn't deter one romantic soul who shouted out to Jimmy that he wanted to propose to his girlfriend – Carr duly got the couple up on stage and the lucky lady said yes.

Not that Carr didn't try and persuade her to answer otherwise, telling the audience she was making a big mistake as her new fiancé was batting well above his weight.

You wouldn't expect anything less from a comedian who pushes his luck at every turn.

By Tim Spiers