Jimmy Carr was born in Slough, Berkshire to Irish parents and was educated at Burnham Grammar and later at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe where he achieved 4 A grades at A-level, before going on to receive a 2:1 degree in Social and Political Sciences from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. After leaving Cambridge, Carr was hired by the oil company Shell as a marketing executive, a job which he described as "the easiest job in the world". Less than two years afterwards, he took redundancy and joined JC Productions Ltd in order to begin a career in stand-up comedy. Whilst working at JC Productions with his father, Carr made his first film at Pinewood starring Craig Charles and Roy Dotrice. The film, The Colour of Funny, was a flop and this failure motivated him to try his hand at comic writing and stand-up. Carr eventually gained recognition at the Royal Variety Performance, and was chosen by Channel 4 to host game shows such as Distraction and Your Face or Mine? In 2004 he released his first stand up DVD entitled simply Jimmy Carr Live, and the following year (2005) his second was released, Jimmy Carr Stand Up. He currently presents 8 Out of 10 Cats on Channel 4. In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.
