“I like to think of laughter, in academic terms, as benign violation,” Jimmy Carr tells me, fresh from the first night of his trio of sell-out shows at Dubai’s World Trade Centre. “It’s taking something that is a violation, something that is upsetting, and making it benign by laughing at it.”
If that’s the case, then there has never been a better time for a little benign violation. In a year that has flipped so much on its head and brought with it uncertainty and sorrow, finding some light relief is therapeutic. Cathartic, even.
“I think people need that more than ever,” he says. “Everyone has had a tough time. It’s been tough on kids being away from school, it’s been tough on relationships being together 24/7, it’s been tough on everyone in different ways.”
The one silver lining, the British comedian says, is how much the pandemic has brought people together. And come together they did for the first night of his three-day run for DXB Laughs as part of Dubai Summer Surprises on Wednesday evening, his first time on stage in more than 22 weeks.
“It felt absolutely wonderful,” he says, a genuine buzz still detectable. “It was a joy to be back on stage.”
As a stand-up comedian with two decades of experience behind him, Carr was more than prepared for lockdown. “Hanging around indoors for the day waiting for our two hours on stage is pretty much our standard, so we’ve been in training for this,” he says.
But what he wasn’t prepared for was just how much he would miss performing live. “Covid has revealed a lot of things – both positive and negative,” he says. “For me, one of those things is just how much I love my job. Because I work so much all of the time, you never step back to reflect on what a privileged position you are in, to be telling jokes to people for a living.”
This forced hiatus has left the comedian raring to go, and all that pent up energy was very much felt by audience members inside the World Trade Centre, revised for the new socially-distanced normal.
It’s been a while, I wager, since Carr looked out to empty seats among his audience. “Yes,” he laughs. “But I think the way things have been done here, allowing people to book in groups of two or four or six, will be the model for live shows going forward.”
While much has changed since Carr last stepped foot on stage, the man himself remains true to form. His comedy style is as close to the bone as it comes, and his one-liners hurtle toward you with a relentless force that barely stops for breath during his two-hour set.
This is not my first rodeo, I've done thousands of gigs so you get a sense of what the audience will and won't go with
Carr has always been about the shock factor, and if you find yourself easily offended, his set will be two hours of seat squirming and air sucking for you. But chances are, if you’ve booked a ticket, you know what you are in for.
“The people that come to my show are self-selecting. If they are coming, they aren’t going to be offended – they’ve literally bought into this style of comedy,” he says. “I don’t think anyone came by mistake and thought ‘oh, we’ll go and see a comedian, I imagine it will only be light clown stuff’.”
It's Carr's belief that you can "joke about anything, just not with anyone", and he really hammers that home throughout his Terribly Funny set, which leaves almost no taboo untouched.
But how far is too far? Does Carr have a line, or even know what a line looks like? “The audience decides. The audience is the genius,” he says. “It decides what is and what isn’t funny, and what is and what isn’t acceptable. This is not my first rodeo, I’ve done thousands of gigs so you get a sense of what the audience will and won’t go with.”
For Carr, to get a reaction from a crowd – a gasp or a collective ‘ooh’ – does not make a joke. “There’s no point in being controversial for the sake of it, you have to be funny. First and foremost funny. And if it happens to have a bit of edge, great.”
Still, there are still plenty of gasps to be heard among the laughter as Carr works his savagery on Meghan Markle, Prince Andrew, Michael Jackson and plenty of willing – and not-so-willing – audience members.
“I don’t have a monopoly on a sense of humour, so I like to encourage people to join in,” he says. “You spend all this time writing material, but the bits people always remember are the off-the-cuff quips you thought of in the moment. That’s the magic, the bits that show that you can be funny live, that I’m a funny guy.”
Malcolm & Marie
Directed by: Sam Levinson
Starring: John David Washington and Zendaya
Three stars
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Bio
Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
Monday's results
- UAE beat Bahrain by 51 runs
- Qatar beat Maldives by 44 runs
- Saudi Arabia beat Kuwait by seven wickets
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
I Care A Lot
Directed by: J Blakeson
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage
3/5 stars
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
Results
2.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Mezmar, Adam McLean (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).
3pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 2,000m; Winner: AF Ajwad, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
3.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m; Winner: Gold Silver, Sam Hitchcott, Ibrahim Aseel.
4pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m; Winner: Atrash, Richard Mullen, Ana Mendez.
4.30pm: Gulf Cup Prestige (PA) Dh150,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Momtaz, Saif Al Balushi, Musabah Al Muhairi.
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 1,200m; Winner: Al Mushtashar, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
