With his short sharp shocks, Jimmy Carr has outraged and amused audiences around the world. He tells Brian Donaldson why no one has the right to be
hurt by a bit of wordplay
hese days. whenever you speak to a
stand-up about offensive comedy. they
seem to be united on one thing: audiences should just lighten up a hit. 01' some of them anyway; you wouldn't want to generalise. While they understand that certain individuals will have their own little areas of concern that they feel aren‘t suitable for comedy. they just wish they would keep their feelings to themselves. 01‘. even better. just be offended by everything and don't go to see comedy. or strap yourselves in and be offended by nothing. ‘()ne person came tip to me after a show and said that they really liked the stuff about retarded children. they loved the stuff about gypsies. that was line but they had a child with ADD. so the joke about that wasn't funny} (‘arr tells me over the phone from Montreal. where he is taking his part in that city's annual comedy festival. ‘So. everything else is line. as long as it doesn't affect you'.’ Now you are the arbiter of good taste."
The right to offend is almost like a sacred oath for modern comics which allows them to crank up the nastiness and leave a crowd laughing almost involuntarily or shifting uncomfortably in their seats. For Carr. the gag which produces a mixture of the two is the moment when comedy makes its most profound impact. With this year's Fringe show. Carr will once again test the limits of tolerance among his gathering. And over eight nights at a full Edinburgh International Conference Centre that’s a lot of
20 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 9-16 Aug
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