Alan Carr

Alan Graham Carr (born 14 June 1976[1]) is an English comedian, television personality, radio presenter, and writer.

This article is about the British comedian. For the American stage and film producer, see Allan Carr. For other people with a similar name, see Alan Carr (disambiguation).

Alan Carr
Carr at the 2007 British Comedy Awards
Birth nameAlan Graham Carr
Born (1976-06-14) 14 June 1976
Weymouth, Dorset, England
Medium
EducationMiddlesex University
Years active2001–present
GenresObservational comedy
Subject(s)
Spouse
Paul Drayton
​
(m. 2018)​
Parent(s)Graham Carr
WebsiteOfficial website

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. His breakthrough was in 2001, winning the City Life Best Newcomer of the Year and the BBC New Comedy Awards. In the ensuing years, Carr's career burgeoned on the Manchester comedy circuit before he became well known for co-hosting The Friday Night Project (2006–2009) with Justin Lee Collins. This led to the release of a short-lived entertainment show Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong (2008), and he went on to star in the comedy chat show Alan Carr: Chatty Man (2009–2016) which aired on Channel 4. Since 2017, Carr often stands in as a team captain on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. In 2019, he became a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race UK.

Carr hosted the radio show Going Out with Alan Carr on BBC Radio 2 (2009–2012), as well as releasing his autobiography book Look Who It Is! (2008), and going on three arena stand-up comedy tours: Tooth Fairy Live (2007), Spexy Beast Live (2011) and Yap, Yap, Yap! (2015). 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.[2] 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.[3] On 8 March 2012 he announced that he made the decision to leave to focus on his Chatty Man show. 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, 2019 and 2020. 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.[4] 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.[5]

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 comes from the North East of England,[6] is former Northampton Town manager and Newcastle United chief scout Graham Carr.[7][8] Carr has a younger brother, Gary.[9]

Carr went to Weston Favell School, Northampton and graduated from Middlesex University with a 2:1 BA (Hons) degree in Drama and Theatre Studies.[10][11]

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.[12] 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.[13]

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?"[9]

In January 2018, Alan Carr married his partner of ten years, Paul Drayton, in Los Angeles.[14] The wedding was officiated by his close friend, singer-songwriter Adele.[15]

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?".[16]

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."[17] 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."[18]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2007 Tooth Fairy Live Himself Stand-up special
2009 Nativity! Critic
2011 Spexy Beast Live Himself Stand-up special
2015 The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water Seagull (voice) UK version
Yap, Yap, Yap! Live Himself Stand-up special

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2005–2006 8 Out of 10 Cats Himself 7 episodes
2006 The Law of the Playground Presenter Documentary series
2006–2009 Friday/Sunday Night Project
2007–2008 Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong Two series; 12 episodes
2007, 2018 Live at the Apollo 3 episodes
2008 The Comedy Map of Britain Himself
2009–2016, 2017 Alan Carr: Chatty Man Presenter 181 episodes (series 1–16; two Christmas specials)
2009–2020 The One Show Guest Presenter 10 episodes
2010–2016 Channel 4's Comedy Gala Presenter
2010 The New Paul O'Grady Show Guest Presenter 2 episodes
2011 Who Do You Think You Are? Himself Episode: "Alan Carr"
My Favourite Joke One series
2011–present Alan Carr's Specstacular Presenter
2012 Playing It Straight UK Narrator
Comedy World Cup Contestant Team Captain, 2 episodes
2012–present Stand Up to Cancer Co-Presenter
2014 Stars at Your Service
The Singer Takes It All Presenter
2016 Alan Carr's 12 Stars of Christmas TV special
Alan Carr's Happy Hour 3 episodes (series 1)
National Treasure Himself 1 episode
2016, 2018 Peter Kay's Comedy Shuffle 2 episodes
2017 The Price is Right Presenter
2018 The Remote Controller Non-broadcast pilot for Channel 4
I Don't Like Mondays Channel 4 game show
The Great Celebrity Bake Off Himself TV special; 1 episode
Hollyoaks 1 episode
Alan Carr's Christmas Cracker Presenter TV special
2019-present There’s Something About Movies Sky One panel show
RuPaul's Drag Race UK Judge
2020 Alan Carr's Epic Gameshow Presenter ITV game show
Meet the Richardsons Himself 1 episode
Secrets of the Driving Test Narrator 6 episodes
Michael McIntyre's The Wheel Contestant Christmas Special[19]
2021 The Masked Singer UK Guest Panellist Episode 6 (Series 2)
Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr Presenter

Bibliography
  • Carr, Alan (2008). Look Who It Is!. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0007278220.
  • Carr, Alan (2016). Alanatomy: The Inside Story. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0718180751.

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 2 October 2018.
  2. "Alan Carr's Christmas Box". BBC Radio 2. Archived from the original on 28 December 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
  3. "Going Out With Alan Carr - Next on - BBC Radio 2". BBC.
  4. "Alan Carr". Archived from the original on 22 January 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
  5. "The Official Alan Carr Website – Biography". alancarr.net. Archived from the original on 9 April 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  6. Swan, Kim (7 May 2011). "Comedian Alan Carr back to his North East roots".
  7. "'Graham Carr: Ex-Newcastle chief scout takes director role at Northampton Town'". bbc.co.uk/sport. 22 August 2017.
  8. Barkham, Patrick (20 November 2007). "'I couldn't be cool if I tried'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  9. Day, Elizabeth (15 April 2008). "Elizabeth Day meets award-winning comedian Alan Carr". The Observer. London. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
  10. "Prestigious Alumni". Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  11. "Interview: Alan Carr". This is Nottingham. 8 October 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  12. "Life's no joke for camp Carr". City Life. 23 June 2005. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  13. "Alan Carr looks back on his early days on the Manchester comedy scene". Manchester Evening News. 5 August 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  14. "Alan Carr gets married to long-term boyfriend in LA". BBC. 20 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  15. "Adele 'got ordained to marry Alan Carr'". BBC News. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  16. Carr sorry over comedy award dedication Digital Spy. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2008
  17. "Comedian sorry for Matthews joke". BBC News. 7 December 2008. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  18. Apologies All Round Archived 1 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  19. "Michael McIntyre's The Wheel, Series 1, Christmas Special". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
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