Jimmy Carr: Fringe Review

A homage to the witty one-liner, Carr's slick show is jam-packed with jokes. So many, in fact, that even he can't remember them all. Carrying a clipboard as he stalks around the stage, Carr ejaculates one quick-witted quip after another, expertly pausing for just enough time to enable even the "stupider members" of the audience to get the...punchline.

Deftly hopping from paedophilia to poverty, from racism to rape, Carr's rapid-fire technique leaves the audience little time to be offended. And even if they are, Carr's not to blame – it's entirely the fault of his malignant alter-ego. Snobby, misogynistic and cuttingly cruel, Carr's onstage persona enables him to dive headfirst into murky waters generally unfrequented by other comics. As he condemns wife-beating because "it's like keying your own car," and reveals why there's no need for a red-light district in Newcastle: "two Bacardi Breezers and it's a done deal," it's clear that Carr's character – a bigoted right-wing ignoramus – is on top form.

Although a couple of screened sketches and a brilliantly funny poem provide temporary relief from the barrage of gags, the show's general formula becomes tedious. Carr's determination to stick to the script means his notoriously merciless audience-baiting is in short supply; this is a shame, as his caustic retorts to a persistent heckler generate easily the largest laughs of the night.

But Jimmy Carr really is a Repeat Offender. His crime? The wanton excess of one too many one-liners. One gets bored of it, doesn't one?

Read our preview feature of Jimmy Carr's Fringe show