Comedy a la Carr

THE THAI CAPITAL’S only English-language comedy venue, The Comedy Club Bangkok, is celebrating its second anniversary with a special treat – Jimmy Carr live in Bangkok. With the first show on September 11 selling out in two days and tickets for the second later that night booked within a week, the organiser recently managed to secure a third show on September 12 to satisfy die-hard fans of the UK’s best comedy import.
More than two million people have now seen Carr perform live and his latest tour has had him performing some 200 dates across four continents. Now it’s Bangkok’s turn to share the joy. One of the biggest selling live acts in UK comedy, Carr is bringing his brand new show, “Funny Business” to The Westin Grande Sukhumvit.
Carr’s television credits include 18 series as host of panel show “8 Out of 10 Cats”, 10-plus years as host of Channel 4’s “Big Fat Quiz of The Year” and three appearances on “The Royal Variety Performance”. He has also regularly appeared on such shows as “QI” and “A League of Their Own”, was one of the stars of Channel 4’s “10 O’ Clock Live” and has been a guest on several chat shows including “The Jonathan Ross Show”, “Graham Norton” and “Alan Carr: Chatty Man”.
Live comedy is what Carr does best. Known for his witty, painfully funny and satirical one-liners, his stand-up achievements to date include a British Comedy Award for ‘Best Live Stand-Up Tour’ and a Perrier Award nomination. On stage, he’s even funnier and even more outrageous and “Funny Business” promises to have audiences rolling in the aisles.
“This is our biggest international guest act so far,” enthuses Chris Wegoda, comedian and creative director of The Comedy Club Bangkok. “He’s one of the biggest in the world and I’ve long dreamed of Jimmy coming to Bangkok. His jokes are so beautifully written and simple and he’s supremely relaxed on stage. This show will set a benchmark for the future. Aside from being pretty much the biggest international British comedian right now, he’s also one of my biggest influences.”
The show will be packed with one-liners, stories and jokes – some clever, some rude and a few totally unacceptable. Come for the witty and incisive musings on the human condition and stay for the knob gags.
“Jimmy Carr has a very distinct style. He basically tells joke jokes, one after the other along with crowd work. The show narrative is basically that we are going on a journey of comedy and offence and how comedy can conquer! Jimmy’s had a very good following internationally, so I would imagine the Bangkok audience’s will find him hilarious. He’s a master, a grand wizard and a Brit,” Wegoda continues.
With the ever-expanding market for comedy, Wegoda sees more big acts gracing the Bangkok stage in the near future.
“Stand-up comedy and comedy in general has a huge market in Bangkok. The immediate audience is, of course, English speaking expats but we’ve seen a steady increase in our Thai audience. We also have some huge plans on the horizon for expanding the scene, especially with Thais in mind. Watch this space.”

Jimmy Carr’s added third show is on Monday, September 12 at The Westin Grande Sukhumvit Hotel close to Asoke BTS.
The show starts at 8.
Tickets costing from Bt1,800 are available from www.ComedyClubBangkok.com.