Before & Laughter

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He is a regular on all the top panel shows, including QI and A League Of Their Own, has performed as part of The Royal Variety Performance three times, and a judge on BBC1's I Can See Your Voice. I appreciate what Jimmy Carr was trying to do with this book but personally would have preferred the more traditional biography full of anecdotes and stories rather than how to improve your life. It was personal without being overly invasive and inspiring without being overbearing, the kind of book that sparks a tiny fire to want to do a bit better in you. Whether acting as a host or panellist, he often makes me laugh out loud, even if his humour tends to be more on the deliberately offensive, smutty side.

Please note that it isn’t exactly an autobiography; It really is a preachy self help book peppered with anecdotes, yet, nonetheless still an enjoyable journey. I didn’t like it at all at the start but eventually some of the humour came through and made it a more enjoyable read. But predictably this book is funny and the fact that it's based on a real person's experiences and not just bullshitty abstract dos and don'ts makes it sound normal and readable.

In fact, the only thing that's been on a more extensive world tour in the last 5 years, is coronavirus. After becoming established as a stand-up comedian, Carr began to appear in a number of Channel 4 television shows, most notably as the host of the panel show 8 out of 10 Cats. This insight was something I hadn’t expected but am glad that I got it, as it made for a truly wonderful reading experience. When you're in your 20s all you ever do is think about what other people think about you, but when you're in your 40s you don't really care what they think about you and when you're in your 60s they don't you realise all along they weren't even thinking about you at all apparently attributed to Winston Churchill. The best part of the book is when Jimmy Carr gives personal anecdotes like in a traditional autobiography.

I didn’t really know what to expect going into this book, other than knowing it was going to be funny.In fact, the only thing that's been on a more extensive world tour in the last five years, is coronavirus. If you fancy reading about what you could do, if you didn’t have a mortgage or lived in 2021 Britain this might be the book for you. Here are three tips for when you are feeling depressed, courtesy of the great documentary filmmaker Ken Burns: Remember this won’t last. I believe we’ve got two big adventures in life: the first is finding your purpose and the second is pursuing that purpose.

There isn’t anything particularly unique about the essence of Carr’s advice, but his frame of reference - stand up comedy - is something different. Carr has an interesting perspective on life informed by the nature of his work, which involves more intense labour than you would expect. Z nejakého dôvodu je to self-help kniha, kde sa snaží dávať vážne rady do života, a tie rady do života sú bohužiaľ neuveriteľne banálne a predvídateľné. To be honest they’re so rapid, it was sometimes difficult to reflect on them all and you might be too busy laughing.Overall, if you pick this book up, you are in for some guaranteed laughs and perhaps a few life lessons along the way. At just 20, it's cheaper than Scientology, quicker than therapy, and significantly less boring than church. One of the biggest-selling comedy acts in the world, Jimmy consistently does stand-up to sell-out crowds, performing his shows at venues in over forty countries. I know that is more or less the description advertised but nevertheless I wasn’t expecting so much of the preaching.

I read the first 100 pages and I just couldn’t get into it, I was hoping it would be more about him and less than a self-help/motivational book. I ‘discovered’ Irish comedian Jimmy Carr when I stumbled upon the panel show ‘8 Out of 10 Cats’ on YouTube only a year or two ago. I really loved the fact that this book wasn’t a standard autobiography; the mix between biography and self-help book was both strange and awesome, and to be honest, I wouldn’t expect anything other than strange and awesome from Jimmy Carr. Hugh Grant is a friend and Monica Lewinsky is a friend of a friend and if you haven’t seen her TED Talk on being publicly shamed, may I recommend you stop reading, go and watch that and come back. One of the biggest-selling comedy acts in the world, Jimmy consistently does stand-up to sell-out crowds, performing his shows at venues in over 40 countries.

And I really enjoyed the story where he went to a Royal Variety Show and another about meeting Bruce Springsteen that is really funny.