Jimmy Carr working on “The Rosetta Stone Of Comedy” course and book – British Comedy Guide

UniqueTuesday 16 April 2024, 5:15pm by Jay Richardson

Jimmy Carr: The Born Killer. Jimmy Carr

• Jimmy Carr wants to teach the “language” of comedy writing with a new online course and book
• Co-created with director Amanda Baker and writer Abi Grant, The Rosetta Stone of Comedy the course is scheduled to begin this year, and an accompanying book will follow
• “I think there’s a lot of comedy in comedy writing,” Carr said. “The idea that it can’t be taught by me is very weak. The idea that comedy can’t be taught is like walking, well music can’t be taught”

Jimmy Carr wants to teach stand-up in a new book and online course on the “language” of comedy, the British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.

The comedian, who releases his fourth Netflix special today, Natural Born Killer, and begins his 251st day. Laughter Funny to visit the US tomorrow, is scheduled to record a course, entitled The Rosetta Stone of Comedy this year, with the release of the book to follow, although BCG understands that the publisher has not been set.

Aimed at aspiring comedians, the course has been developed with live director Amanda Baker and comedy writer Abi Grant (Alas Smith & Jones, Have I Got News For You) to focus on areas four, the top 50 types of humor and their features; time; custom design and live stage performance. Discovered in 1799, the Rosetta Stone was the key to deciphering Egyptian art.

Baker, who edited Carr’s 2022 book, Before & Laughter: The Hilarious Guide to Changing Your Life, and Grant have been teaching parts of the course “under the radar” in London classes for the past year and are continuing before doing so. The pair are holding a four-week workshop at Top Secret Comedy Club in the capital from May 1.

“I’m working on a book, kind of an instruction book” Carr told Chris Evans on his Virgin Radio show this morning. “The first thing is to understand how humor works. And the structure, all humor is the same, right? All humor is a sudden revelation of a previously hidden truth… It’s a process of recognition, which is a kind of which kind of gives the human race above all … I think that humor is very important in our study of evolution.

In October, Carr, who has dyslexia, elaborated Modern Wisdom podcast that he’s “trying to write a speech for comedy. I’m trying to write a comedy course, a book.

“I think there’s a lot of magic in comedy writing. I think even the pros, even some of the GOATs, write in a way on stage and incorporate a part of their personality on stage. and they can combine these funny things and there is alchemy.

“Yes, maybe, but you can really screw it up. You can screw up what you’re doing there and it can be taught. The idea that it can’t be taught is very weak to me. The idea that comedy is I can be taught. Being taught is like walking, well music can’t be taught.”

He added: “I’ve had a great career in comedy and what do I leave for posterity? Some dick jokes, right? … I want to leave something behind.” behind the scenes because it made me feel bad. So I’m still working on it and I hope it turns into something in other comedies.”

Elsewhere in the interview, he suggested that “comedy should be taught… I think music is very important but I think stand-up should be taught in schools.

“Think about it. It’s about the clarity of words and it’s about being able to express yourself and it’s about finding your voice and defining who you are and it’s about looking at life where you see the lighter side and try to find fun in something.”

Carr previewed his latest stand-up release on X, formerly known as Twitter, yesterday, writing: “Ahead of the release of my new @NetflixIsAJoke Special: ‘Jimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer’ I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to (insert name of offended party here).

And talking to Kathy Burke about her Where There’s a Will Awake podcast today, revealed that he would like his funeral to be a beast at London’s O2 arena, hosted by American comedy roastmaster Jeff Ross, to be broadcast on Channel 4 and Netflix.

He also reflected on how a childhood battle with meningitis led to him making his mother laugh for the first time, after she contracted the disease at the age of three.

“‘You have to be cruel to be kind'” he recalled. “I think it was the first thing I said that my mother thought was funny.

“I had meningitis when I was a child,” he explained. “So my first thought is a lumbar puncture in Limerick in General [Hospital]and they had to do a lumbar puncture.

“And I was three years old, I think, and … I was always told that it was very close to death. And the doctor said, ‘It’s going to be very painful.’ I said, ‘You have to be cruel to be kind’, in the voice of a small child.

“And I appreciated that aspect of life, because I was always told, ‘Oh, you almost didn’t make it’.”