Alan Carr

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* stand-up comedy

**Alan Graham Carr** (born 14 June 1976) is an English comedian and television personality.

Carr was born in Weymouth, Dorset, and spent most of his childhood in Northampton before moving to Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, where he began his comedy career. Carr's breakthrough was in 2001, winning the *City Life* Best Newcomer of the Year and the BBC New Comedy Awards. In the ensuing years, his career burgeoned on the Manchester comedy circuit before he became well known for hosting *The Friday Night Project* with Justin Lee Collins. This led to the release of a short-lived entertainment show *Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong* in 2008 and, eventually, his popular comedy chat show *Alan Carr: Chatty Man*, which aired on Channel 4 between 2009 and 2016. Carr often stands in as a team captain on *8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown*.

Carr also hosted a radio show, *Going Out with Alan Carr*, on BBC Radio 2 between 2009 and 2012 as well as releasing his autobiography *Look Who It Is!* (2008) and going on three arena tours: *Tooth Fairy Live* (2007), *Spexy Beast Live* (2011) and *Yap, Yap, Yap!* (2015). In 2019, Carr became a judge on *RuPaul's Drag Race UK*.

Carr has won two British Comedy Awards, two National Television Awards and a BAFTA TV Award.

## 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*. He filled in on BBC Radio 6 Music 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 (later replaced by Melanie Sykes). The show was broadcast every Saturday evening from 6 pm to 8 pm. On 7 March 2012 he announced that he made the decision to leave to focus on his *Chatty Man* show. Carr said: "I've loved every minute of it but it's time to reclaim my weekends. I wish Radio 2 every success but I'll listen from my home in the future instead." His last show was on 31 March 2012. Carr was replaced by Liza Tarbuck. He returned on Boxing Day 2015 for a one off show on the station.

For four weeks in January/February 2017 Carr again returned to BBC Radio 2 to sit in for Paul O'Grady on his Sunday show. Carr reunited with Sykes to present a 10-week show called 'Summer Escapes' sitting in for Graham Norton on Saturdays from July to September 2017 on BBC Radio 2 and again in 2018. It included features based around summer including the 'British Seaside Survey'.

## 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. He has performed at the Apollo Theatre in London, which was televised for the BBC One series *Live at the Apollo*, and has been featured in the Royal Variety Performance.

He has appeared and performed at many festivals, including the Reading and Leeds Festivals, Latitude Festival and Kilkenny Comedy Festival. He has performed stand-up internationally, including an appearance at the Montreal "Just For Laughs" festival.

In 2010, Carr took part in *Channel 4's Comedy Gala*, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.

## Personal life

His father, whose family come from the North East of England, is former Northampton Town manager and Newcastle United chief scout Graham Carr. Carr has a younger brother, Gary.

Carr went to Weston Favell School, Northampton and graduated from Middlesex University with a 2:1 BA (Hons) degree in Drama and Theatre Studies.

After completing his degree in his early 20s, Carr moved to Manchester, seeking a better life and aspiring to be a comedian. He moved into a house in Chorlton-cum-Hardy after which he moved to Stretford; which he cites as an inspiration for his comedic work. Carr soon became a regular on the Manchester comedy circuit, including *Alan Carr's Ice Cream Sunday* at the Manchester Comedy Store. Carr also made friends with fellow comedians based on the Manchester circuit, including Jason Manford, Justin Moorhouse and John Bishop.

While Carr is openly gay, he does not consider his sexuality to be a focal part of his act, once saying, "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?" In January 2018 Carr married his partner of ten years, Paul Drayton, in Los Angeles. The wedding was officiated by his close friend, singer-songwriter Adele.

## Controversy

When accepting his award for Best Entertainment Personality at the British Comedy Awards in December 2008, Carr dedicated it to Karen Matthews, who had earlier that month been found guilty of kidnapping Shannon Matthews, 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?".

Shahid Malik, MP for Matthews' constituency of Dewsbury, described Carr's comments about Matthews as "sick and insensitive". Carr subsequently apologised for his comments, saying "I realise what I said was insensitive and I am very sorry for any offence caused." 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."

## Filmography

### Film roles

 2009
 2015
 *Yap, Yap, Yap! Live* | Himself

## Bibliography

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## Awards

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* 2001 Manchester *City Life* Best Newcomer of the Year
* 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*
* 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
* 2010 *Alan Carr: Chatty Man* wins Best Entertainment Show at the TV Choice Awards
* 2012 Best Talk Show at the National Television Awards for *Alan Carr: Chatty Man*
* 2012 Loaded LAFTA Award for Best Stand Up
* 2012 Television and Radio Industries Club for Best TV Personality
* 2013 BAFTA TV Award for Best Entertainment Performance
* 2015 National Television Award for Chat Show Host

## References

1. ↑ "Alan Carr - Who Do You Think You Are? A mysterious change of name...", *The Genealogist*, Who Do You Think You Are? (26 September 2011). Retrieved on 2 October 2018.
2. ↑ "Alan Carr's Christmas Box". BBC Radio 2. Archived from the original on 28 December 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071228183349/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/musicclub/event\_alancarr.shtml. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
3. ↑ "Going Out With Alan Carr - Next on - BBC Radio 2". https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00k2lq6/broadcasts/2009.
4. ↑ "'I've loved every minute!' Alan Carr quits Radio 2 show to concentrate on Chatty Man", *Daily Mail* (London) (6 March 2012).
5. ↑ "Alan Carr". Archived from the original on 22 January 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080122072713/http://www.hahaheehee.com/comedians/alan\_carr.html. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
6. ↑ "The Official Alan Carr Website – Biography". alancarr.net. Archived from the original on 9 April 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100409043001/http://www.alancarr.net/biog/. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
7. ↑ Swan, Kim (7 May 2011). "Comedian Alan Carr back to his North East roots". http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2011/05/07/comedian-alan-carr-back-to-his-north-east-roots-72703-28651980/.
8. ↑ "'Graham Carr: Ex-Newcastle chief scout takes director role at Northampton Town'", *bbc.co.uk/sport* (22 August 2017).
9. ↑ Barkham, Patrick (20 November 2007). "'I couldn't be cool if I tried'", *The Guardian* (London). Retrieved on 6 March 2009.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Day, Elizabeth (15 April 2008). "Elizabeth Day meets award-winning comedian Alan Carr", *The Observer* (London). Retrieved on 4 April 2009.
11. ↑ "Prestigious Alumni". http://alumni.mdx.ac.uk/Page.aspx?pid=222&srcid=287. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
12. ↑ "Interview: Alan Carr". This is Nottingham. 8 October 2008. http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/gamesandbooks/Interview-Alan-Carrarticle-384576-details/article.html. Retrieved 18 January 2009. Template:Dead link
13. ↑ "Life's no joke for camp Carr", *City Life* (23 June 2005). Retrieved on 25 November 2011.
14. ↑ "Alan Carr looks back on his early days on the Manchester comedy scene", *Manchester Evening News* (5 August 2011). Retrieved on 25 November 2011.
15. ↑ "Alan Carr gets married to long-term boyfriend in LA", BBC (20 January 2018). Retrieved on 20 January 2018.
16. ↑ "Adele 'got ordained to marry Alan Carr'" (in en-GB), *BBC News* (2018-04-03).
17. ↑ Carr sorry over comedy award dedication *Digital Spy*. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2008
18. ↑ "Comedian sorry for Matthews joke", *BBC News* (7 December 2008). Retrieved on 8 December 2008. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008.
19. ↑ Apologies All Round Template:Webarchive. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2008.

## External links

* Template:Official website
* *Alan and Mel's Summer Escape* (BBC Radio 2)
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* Template:British Comedy Guide

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