Review: Jimmy Carr, Wolverhampton Civic Hall
Easily offended? Look away now. Jimmy Carr was back in Wolverhampton, and so was his hilarious, side-splitting set of gags, targeting everyone and anything.
The one surprise from the three-hour set at the Civic Hall was his lack of jokes about the Black Country.
In fact Carr, famous for presenting Channel 4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats, called on the audience to get behind the venue.
Not much appears to have changed within the venue for the interim reopening of the hall – half-way through its £14.4m revamp.
And the comedian joked: "It looks nothing more than a black curtain." But then he emphasised the importance of the place, citing the music and comedy shows it had played host to.
He passionately called on the audience to stay close to home and stick with the venue instead of heading to Birmingham, while also praising the staff and security.
It got one of the biggest cheers of the night... and was one of the few parts of the gig which can be printed in this review.
This was the third time Carr had been at the Civic Hall in five years, and he returned with his show The Best Of, Ultimate, Gold, Greatest Hits Tour.
His style of comedy is easy to follow, impossible not to laugh over.
Audience participation, self-deprecating gags, picture-based jokes and one-liners.
The question is how far will he go when pushing the boundaries? Watching him, he monitors the audience reaction closely, deciding if he could take it one step further.
Not a problem in Wolverhampton.
When coming back on stage for the encore, he warned that anyone easily offended should walk out as the dial was turned up another notch.
Not a soul left. Groans and laughter followed before another farewell to this much-loved comedian who will surely be back in the city again.
There was just one more chance for Carr to have a swipe at David Cameron over the well-documented accusations of tax evasion back in 2012.
If you get a letter from HMRC, put it in the recycling bin, he said. Get another, put that one in the bin too.
When the Prime Minister breaks from a G10 Summit in Mexico City to talk about your tax payments... pay attention, then.
But then, he paused, at least I’m still in my job.
