Alan Carr (born 14 June 1976) is an English stand-up comedian and media personality, known for his deliberately camp demeanour and self-deprecating humour.

ALAN CARR TICKETS Trans-Siberian Orchestra The Eagles Tickets Sebastian Maniscalco Tickets Andrea Bocelli Tickets Jerry Seinfeld Tickets Jim Gaffigan Tickets

Personal life

Carr was born in Weymouth, Dorset, and grew up in Northampton. His father is former Northampton Town F.C. manager Graham Carr. ^[1]

Carr moved to Manchester after a string of dead-end jobs in his hometown of Northampton seeking a better life and with aspirations of becoming a comedian. He moved into a house full of activity in Chorlton-cum-Hardy after which he moved to Stretford; which he cites as an inspiration for his comedic work. Carr gained a degree in BA (Hons) Drama and Theatre Studies, graduating with a 2:1 from Middlesex University. ^{[2] [3]}

Despite being openly gay and famously camp, he doesn't consider his sexuality to be a focal part of his act, once saying that "I just think gay people need to get over themselves. Just because you're gay and on the telly doesn't mean you're a role model. I'm just a comedian. That's all I am. ... What am I meant to do? Do I go down the Julian Clary route and talk about fisting and poppers? I don't talk about being gay and I think what better equality for gays than that?". ^[4]

Television

He is currently presenting Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong and Alan Carr: Chatty Man .

Carr makes regular guest appearances on game shows and panel shows. These include FAQ U , 8 Out of 10 Cats , ''Countdowns dictionary corner and Never Mind The Buzzcocks''.

He also featured as a panellist on Channel 4's Big Fat Anniversary Quiz , which celebrated the channel's 25th anniversary. ^[5], and has been interviewed as a guest in various shows including Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and Tubridy Tonight with Ryan Tubridy. ^[6] In 2008 Carr fronted his own TV gameshow, Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong . The show included guests such as Davina McCall, Louis Walsh and Chris Moyles, and premiered on Channel 4 on 1 February 2008. ^{[7] [8]} A second series began in October 2008 in a new format where the contestants are two teams of celebrities.

He co hosted the Sunday Night Project for 3 years from 2006 - 2009 with Justin Lee Collins until the show ended in February 2009.

Carr recalled his days growing up in Northampton when interviewed for the BBC 2 series The Comedy Map of Britain .

He appeared in episode one of series 11 of Top Gear on BBC 2, with Justin Lee Collins, in the Reasonably Priced Car. ^[9]

Carr landed a £3m chat show deal with Channel 4; the programme, entitled Alan Carr: Chatty Man, which began on June 14, 2009. ^{[10] [11]}

On Red Nose Day 2009 he co-presented Comic Relief on BBC One as well as appearing on Comic Relief Does The Apprentice during which he was subsequently fired from the boys team. He also appeared in the spoof of Mamma Mia , mimicking Colin Firth.

Radio

Carr made his radio presenting debut on Christmas Day 2007 for BBC Radio 2 as part of their Festive Highlights, with the show Alan Carr's Christmas Box . ^[12] He also filled in on BBC 6Music on 16 February and 14 June 2008 for Adam and Joe and co-presented The Russell Brand Show on 4 October 2008. He also presented Alan Carr's Comedy Outings for BBC Radio 2 in 2008. On 25 April 2009, Carr began hosting Going Out With Alan Carr, a new show for BBC Radio 2, in conjunction with Emma Forbes. The show airs every Saturday evening from 6pm-8pm. ^[13]

Performance

Carr performs stand-up regularly, on tour and on television. He has been featured in three Edinburgh shows and in 2007 he toured throughout the UK, which was followed by a DVD entitled "Tooth Fairy Live". Carr had his own monthly show in a Manchester comedy club and he has toured nationwide, supporting other acts. ^[14] He has performed at the Apollo Theatre in London, which was televised for the BBC1 series 'Live At The Apollo', and has been featured in the Royal Variety Performance.

Carr has appeared and performed at many festivals, including the Reading and Leeds Festivals, Latitude Festival, the Kilkenny Comedy Festival and Live Earth, where he welcomed musical acts David Gray and Damien Rice on stage. He has performed stand-up internationally, including an appearance at the Montreal 'Just For Laughs' festival.

Controversy

In December 2008 Carr, when accepting his award for Best Entertainment Personality at the British Comedy Awards, dedicated it to Karen Matthews, who had very recently been found guilty of kidnapping her own daughter. Carr was quoted by BBC News as stating: "I should dedicate this award to her [Karen]. She would be my dream guest. I think she's a gay icon. People like a bit of rough, don't they?" ^[15]

Shahid Malik, MP for Matthews' constituency of Dewsbury described Carr as "sick and insensitive". Alan Carr subsequently apologised for his comments, saying "I realise what I said was insensitive and I am very sorry for any offence caused". ^[16] On his own website he added: "For those of you who have enjoyed my comedy and seen my act over the last seven years you all would have got used to my tongue in cheek style and near the knuckle observations. Last night at the Comedy Awards [...] I was being ironic, these aren't my real sentiments obviously". ^[17]

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2004	Today With Des and Mel	Himself
2005	Law of the Playground	Himself
2005	Richard & Judy	Himself
2006	Countdown	Himself
2006	FAQ U	Himself
2006-2009	Friday/Sunday Night Project	Host
2007-2008	Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong	Host
2007	Big Fat Anniversary Quiz	Himself
2007	8 Out Of 10 Cats	Himself
2007,2008	Never Mind The Buzzcocks	Contenstant
2007,2008	The Graham Norton Show	Guest
2008	Live at the Apollo	Himself
2007,2008,2009	The Paul O'Grady Show	Guest
2008	Friday Night with Jonathan Ross	Guest
2008	GMTV	Guest
2008	Later With Jools Holland	Guest
2008	This Morning	Guest
2008	T4	Guest
2008	Pride of Britain Awards	Himself
2009	Gordon Ramsay: Cookalong Live	Himself
2009	Top Gear	Himself
2009	Comic Relief	Himself
2009-Present	Alan Carr: Chatty Man	Host

DVD releases

• Alan Carr Tooth Fairy Live (2007)
• The Friday Night Project Unleashed (2007)
• Alan Carr: Now That's What I Call A Ding Dong (2008)

Awards

• 2001 The BBC Best New Stand Up
• 2006 Best In Show — Sheffield Comedy Festival
• 2006 The Golden Rose of Montreaux for Best Entertainment Show for The Friday Night Project
• 2006 LAFTA's Funniest Double Act (with Justin Lee Collins)
• 2006 LAFTA's Funniest Entertainment Show for The Friday Night Project 2005
• 2007 British Comedy Award for Best Live Stand Up
• 2007 Cosmopolitan Celebrity Men Of The Year (with Justin Lee Collins)
• 2007 LAFTA's Funniest Double Act (with Justin Lee Collins)
• 2008 British Comedy Award for Best Entertainment Personality
• 2009 Television and Radio Industries Club 'Personality of the Year' Award
• 2009 Royal Television Society Entertainment Performance of the Year
• 2009 Heat's Funniest Book of 2009

Book

In 2008, Alan Carr released an autobiography, Look Who It Is! published by HarperCollins Publishers.

References

1. 'I couldn't be cool if I tried'
2. Prestigious Alumni
3. Interview: Alan Carr
4. Elizabeth Day meets award-winning comedian Alan Carr - Stage - The Observer
5. The Big Fat Anniversary Quiz
6. Biography
7. I couldn't be cool if I tried
8. Take Part!
9. Top Gear
10. Alan Carr 'lands C4 chat show deal'
11. [1]
12. Alan Carr's Christmas Box
13. Going Out With Alan Carr
14. Alan Carr
15. Carr sorry over comedy award dedication ''Digital Spy''. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2008
16. Comedian sorry for Matthews joke
17. Apologies All Round. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2008.