Carr: Reaction to soldier joke felt terrible

Published: Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:01:01

Comedian Jimmy Carr has explained he "really took… to heart" recent criticism he received after making a joke about British forces personnel. While performing in Manchester last month, Carr quipped that, given the number of soldiers injured during campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, the UK would have a "f*****g good Paralympic team in 2012". The 37-year-old apologised for any offence he may have caused with the joke after widespread criticism of the remark but stressed his "huge" support for British troops.

"I really took it to heart," he told Radio 1's Newsbeat. "I spend a lot of time reading the papers and writing jokes about things that are in the papers and you sort of think it's all fun in the tabloids.

"I'm a huge supporter of our troops and it felt terrible." Carr explained he felt the joke had been taken out of context and added: "When people come to see me live, they know what kind of jokes I do. They know I'm going to be very, very edgy and I'm going to be saying things that are perceived as unsayable on television or radio."

The former marketing executive, whose Rapier Wit tour is booked up until August 2010, confirmed he had also received many positive responses after his controversial joke. "I've had a huge amount of support from guys in the armed forces," he said. "There's things like Twitter now where it feels like if you get a hard time from the papers there is a direct line.

"That was really heartening because a lot of guys that I've met in the armed forces find that sort of thing very funny, it's a very dark sense of humour."

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