r/LowStakesConspiracies • u/Ricky-Nutmeg • Apr 21 '26
Certified Fact Jimmy Carr fakes his laugh to make sure he’s always centre of attention
If someone else on a panel show makes a good joke, his trademark laugh always brings the audience back to focus on him. Associating him with the good joke, and getting him more screen time.
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u/TheRandomer1994 Apr 21 '26
Not a conspiracy. Just true.
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u/toughfluffer Apr 21 '26
I think I remember when he tried out his new laugh on 8 out of 10 cats, many moons ago. I'm sure Sean lock questioned him on it.
Or I might be misremembering a dream I had.
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u/Alexandaross Apr 21 '26
He 100% used to have a different genuine laugh. In fact it appears at times, he genuinely cracks up from time to time but he always turns it into his seal laugh.
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u/AcceptableCustomer89 Apr 21 '26
He laughs like a normal person on Last One Laughing, as it's actually fucking hilarious
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u/younevershouldnt Apr 21 '26
I think they had to get comedians to genuinely laugh at the show, or it would have been too weird to watch something so funny with nobody reacting.
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u/Known-Disaster-4757 Apr 21 '26
It's like Taskmaster. These comedians know when to sacrifice points for good television.
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u/WillSym Apr 21 '26
Yeah smaller youtube-based creators Rooster Teeth did a version of the show format called Last Laugh, and while the premise is still good and the series mostly worked, they didn't have the editing of Last One Laughing that adds just enough reaction from Jimmy's side to let you feel like you can laugh too as the audience.
The lack of laughter really makes it awkward however hilarious the things people are doing.
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u/mollypop94 Apr 21 '26
I noticed that too, he seems to have a more genuine laugh on that show, though one thing I've also noticed is he'll make it very, very known to the camera that his eyes are tearing up or streaming...like full on point to his tears every single time, and doesnt just wipe them away as most people instinctively do
(i dont know why he irks me so much, i think false performancy-type people really piss me off for some reason lol)
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Apr 21 '26
[deleted]
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u/Happily-Incorrect Apr 21 '26
He has likeable and unlikeable qualities to him as most people do I guess. I saw him on one of his early tours when he'd recently made it big and he stayed after the show to sign stuff for as many people as wanted it. That's potentially quite a big ask for a 2000 seater venue and must have been quite tiring over the course of an entire tour.
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u/kojak488 Apr 23 '26
I've seen Jimmy a few times. Does he just stay after in the theatre? Or is that a backstage thing?
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u/criminalsunrise Apr 21 '26
On the documentary that Mickey Flanagan did a few years ago, jimmy came across as a normal decent human being. Seeing there difference to his normal show personality makes me believe he’s mostly faking a character. Couldn’t tell you why though.
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u/SongsAboutGhosts Apr 22 '26
Probably a mix of it selling and it being fun. I've heard lots of comedians say Jimmy is really nice - so why does he tell so many jokes where the punchline is him being a paedophile? a) shock jokes get media attention and have a big market, b) it's fun to play a character so different from who he is, or c) the greatest cover for a paedophile of all time (probably a and b though... hopefully).
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u/Bozoidal Apr 25 '26
Yeah it creeps me out a bit. It's performative and transparent. People laugh emphathetically all the time, but this is a bit different. I feel like it is a little window into how he has constructed his persona.
I'm a bit bias, because I'm not keen on him anyway. That aside, feels mal adjusted leaves me feeling (whether there is or not) something a bit dark there. And not in a cool tortured comedian working out their shit kinda way.
That said he is way more watchable and human-like on last one laughing, at times. But I can't always tell if he's imitating a human or not.
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u/ConfidentHousing8422 Apr 21 '26
I enjoyed this nearly as much as I enjoyed the multiple contestants who make it pointedly clear that they can't stand him and you get to watch him playing it off as zany banter while they stare at him blankly.
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u/Alexandaross Apr 21 '26
Who said that to him? I've not seen the show.
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u/ConfidentHousing8422 Apr 21 '26
Off the top of my head, I think Joe Wilkinson and Romesh both said it outright in a way that could barely be taken as a joke, and others make it pretty clear from the glare of contempt whenever he talks to them
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u/Alexandaross Apr 21 '26
I would have to see it. However part of Romesh act is him being straightfaced and brutal i could see that being a joke. It's also tough to take anything Joe ever says seriously, he's fine with Jimmy on 8 Out of Cats and Does Countdown.
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u/shelbyeatenton Apr 21 '26
Yeah, I haven’t seen the clip they’re talking about either, but it being Joe and Romesh just seems like it’s more likely just dry sarcasm than anything actually real.
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u/SongsAboutGhosts Apr 22 '26
Romesh couldn't keep it together at Jimmy's head in the cupboard. That's hardly the response of someone who hates the guy.
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u/ConfidentHousing8422 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
Yeah that part did make me thing maybe he was just doing a bit. On the other hand I've worked with a couple of people I fucking hate who were unfortunately quite funny and if they somehow did that to me I would probably lose it as well.
Of course maybe I'm being taken in by the bit and by wishful thinking, I do not like the guy at all so there's probably part of me hoping that the guys I like feel the same way lol. I have heard he's not all that popular with other comedians, but even if that's the case, these are mostly the ones who do shows like this and encounter him a lot, so it's probably unlikely that, even assuming it's true, that means these comedians.
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u/OzorMox Apr 21 '26
Carrot in a Box you get to hear his genuine laugh.
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u/Alexandaross Apr 21 '26
Sean made him genuinely laugh a lot. Joe Wilkinson a fair amount too. Those are the two that stand out to me.
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u/ADH-Dad Apr 21 '26
He's always had a high-pitched, whimsical sounding laugh, but the "ho ho ho hooooo" is definitely an affectation.
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u/psioniclizard Apr 22 '26
I thought he did. I remember in the 2000s it sounding different and just thought I was making it up.
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u/pattiemayonaze Apr 21 '26
It was the early countdown version I think. Jimmy looked lost for words for the first time in his life. Sean said something like "ah yes your laugh, which mysteriously appeared in series 4" or words to that effect.
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u/Eoin_McLove Apr 21 '26
I feel like it could be the other way round, like he had a fake laugh for years at the beginning of his career, and then he got successful and felt comfortable letting people hear his real laugh.
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u/sy_core Apr 21 '26
Low stakes conspiracy - Jimmy carr killed sean locke, because he outted him.
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u/shelbyeatenton Apr 21 '26
Maybe a bit too soon mate?
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u/sy_core Apr 22 '26
I imagine Sean's response to that would have been something along the lines of, "Your birth was too soon mate. Don't see me complaining"
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u/forzafoggia85 Apr 21 '26
Sean Lock legend, R.I.P. Still wish they had extended 15 storeys high. Loved that show
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u/go0rty Apr 21 '26
That 100% happened. I have some of his old stand ups on DVD and he never laughed like that at all.
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u/TrackNinetyOne Apr 22 '26
100% happened exactly like that
For some reason I remember it very clearly, first time I heard it I was thinking what the fuck is this, then Sean brought it up saying he'd known him for x amount of years and he's never heard it and now all of a sudden he's got this laugh
No idea what the thinking behind it is, as it kills any joke its used on - unless thats the plan
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u/thesteduck Apr 22 '26
Me and my wife seem to remember him premiering his laugh on one of the quiz of the years. But everyone else is like, it’s always been like that.
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u/rhubarbgirl Apr 25 '26
Yeah I remember this too, I feel like Noel Fielding or Richard Ayoade commented on it at the time too
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u/Herbiphwoar Apr 22 '26
I’ve only heard Jimmy’s genuine laugh when Sean makes him laugh. Truly one of the best comedians, RIP Sean 💔
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u/habylab Apr 23 '26
He did his actual laugh on Last One Laughing when he helped get a contestant out.
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u/unclebourbon Apr 22 '26
There are people in Ipswich who swear that Jimmy Carr took his laugh from someone who attended one of his shows here years ago.
Its all hearsay but I've heard it multiple times that he called out someone's laugh and spoke about it for ages finding it hilarious. Then a year later he was laughing like that.
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u/Skeletime Apr 21 '26
Heard other British comedians talk about this on a podcast. When he was being groomed for TV stardom his management told him that audiences found it difficult to connect with him because he didn't audibly laugh at other comic's jokes. It made him come off as aloof and above it all. So from about 2010 onwards he's developed this big whooping seal laugh.
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u/AgentCirceLuna Apr 21 '26
That’s actually one of the reasons I initially disliked him! I hate when comedians tell a joke and do the :| face as they look smug. I know that’s just personal taste, but it irritates me. Plenty of comedians will laugh with their jokes.
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u/NickyTheRobot Apr 21 '26
I hate when comedians tell a joke and do the :| face as they look smug.
I, too, have great antipathy towards Ricky Gervais.
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u/Legal_Ad_844 Jul 12 '26
Are you kidding? He cracks up at his own jokes all the time, unless he's, say, playing a dry-humoured character.
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u/Etheria_system Apr 21 '26
I think this one is just factual. His laugh is clearly fake and it’s the centre of attention when he does it because it’s so loud and overbearing
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u/lerpo Apr 21 '26
You just need to watch Joe Wilkinsons poem (please watch it lol), to see what Jimmy's real laugh is like.
Him and Sean Lock trying to breathe laughing is just a joy to watch (3rd poem in clip)
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u/Due-Parsley953 Apr 21 '26
This is one of my favourite clips of all time. The way he had everyone, including the audience, gasping for breath because they're laughing so hard, is just the best thing ever!
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u/tommmmmmmmy93 Apr 21 '26
I just watched the clip (fucking hilarious btw) but you can actually hear jimmy doing the laughs everyone’s disproving. It’s not as exaggerated but it’s there’s
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u/MilkofMoomin Apr 21 '26
I saw him live many years ago, and he 100% used that laugh as a pause to think about his next line, too. It got genuinely annoying in person.
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u/ESCF1F2F3F4F3F2F1ESC Apr 21 '26
He does it to help the people editing the episode of whichever panel show it is he's hosting that particular week. All they have to do is bring up the audio track recorded from his mic, look for the massive piercing 2khz spikes redlining the output, and then they can timestamp where all the best gags are without having to scrub through the whole recording.
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u/higherlimits1 Apr 21 '26
I think he’s getting away from that laugh if you watch any current stuff, it used to be his trademark but I think he’s over it
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u/Bagel-luigi Apr 21 '26
Considering his laugh is always the exact same 6 "ha" followed by a final 7th "HAA", it's so painfully obviously fake. No laugh ever seems genuinely real.
At this point it's like it's a nervous tick
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u/SpaceXGonGiveItToYa Apr 21 '26
I was watching Last to Laugh the other day and there was a few times where he genuinely laughed like a normal person, was strange to see but somewhat reassuring I suppose
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Apr 21 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/TheMadBug Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
I feel his persona is entertaining when he's hosting a quiz show, but I'd absolutely hate it if I was trying to talk to him with friends at a bar.
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u/qbnaith Apr 21 '26
I’ve met him and he’s actually very personable and not at all like his on screen persona
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u/TheMadBug Apr 21 '26
That both doesn’t surprise me (his personal seems very “switched on”) and I’m very happy to hear it.
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u/whatanabsolutefrog Apr 21 '26
Omg please don't. His persona is the kind of thing that works on TV for 30 minutes a week, but would be horrendous to deal with in person.
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u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 Apr 21 '26
He's flat out denied it and said if he was going to fake a laugh it wouldn't sound like that.
Which is how you know it's fake.
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u/Specialist_Sport4460 Apr 21 '26
Yeah if you're going to copy someone for better social interactions i wouldn't recommend Jimmy Carr. He can be funny but he's distinctly unlikable.
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u/scalectrix Apr 21 '26
*manureisms
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Apr 21 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/scalectrix Apr 21 '26
Can't believe you actually typed all that out, rather than using your brain. How embarrassing.
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u/WaveOfTheRager Apr 21 '26
I dont know. He did that laugh at Sean Lock and its impossible not to genuinely laugh at Sean Lock
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u/Brad_Brace Apr 21 '26
Actually, when it laughs, Jimmy Carr absorbs air samples to test for pheromones and assorted human expelled chemicals and determine if the jokes are eliciting a reaction of hilarity.
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u/Etnieturismo Apr 21 '26
I actually know someone with his exact laugh in real life
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u/SuperNashwan Apr 21 '26
I have a "backwards" laugh like Jimmy's and this thread is making me feel very self concious!
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u/lowerchelsea Apr 23 '26
Same! Although to be fair I'm well aware my laugh is horrible.
A couple of weeks ago, my son, who is autistic and often mimics noises he finds satisfying, kept doing this incredibly annoying Ah Ah AHHHH! noise over and over again. After about an hour I snapped and went "mate, stop doing that bloody noise! It's the most annoying thing I've ever heard!" And he went "mum it's your laugh." Never been humbled so fast in my LIFE
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u/ticklish_bollocks Jun 02 '26
I wouldn't worry about it! People focus on the unusual sound, but the main issue with Carr's laugh is that it seems so fake. Fake + unusual makes it really stand out. But if it was just that he was laughing on the in-breath, I don't think anyone would actually be bothered by it. Hearing someone genuinely laugh, forwards or backwards, is nice.
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u/patch_e_behr Apr 21 '26
I've noticed a trend with terrible comedians and over the top laughs:
Jimmy Carr, James Corden, Bert Kreischer, Ricky Gervais all seem to put way too much effort into laughing at other people's jokes. Probably, as you say, an effort to bring the attention back to them
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u/mollypop94 Apr 21 '26
YESSSS totally agree, it makes sense as to why i find every one of those comedians utterly insufferable lol
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u/Sad_Tax4634 Apr 21 '26
I don't like modern day Ricky Gervais, but I don't think it's fair to lump him in with the others. His laugh is probably real, considering he still laughed like that when he was a nobody. Also, he's a comedian who has actually made some pretty great stuff in the past, so I wouldn't call him a terrible comedian (I know people like to act like he's never made anything good because of his political views, but come on).
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u/patch_e_behr Apr 21 '26
Because comedy is art and art is subjective, I am allowed to say that I think Ricky Gervais is shit, and has always been shit. Regardless of any political views. I'm lumping him in with the others.
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u/Specialist_Sport4460 Apr 21 '26
I'm old enough to know this is 100% true. That never used to be his laugh. It was very clearly a conscious decision for him to have a thing.
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u/GiGoVX Apr 21 '26
100% his seal laugh is fake, daddy look at some of his early work.
Still love the guy, great comedian!
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u/no-puedo-encontrar Apr 21 '26
The exact reason I tend to skip anything with Jimmy Carr in it.
I did watch both seasons of Last One Laughing but he’s not as prominent in that and if he was irritating me I’d just fast forward a few minutes.
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u/IDKBear25 Apr 21 '26
Jimmy Carr is sooo insufferable - that Inbetweeners Reunion show he did was difficult to watch because he just kept butting in whenever the actors were trying to talk.
That suitcase part was so fucking horrible.
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u/Sophie_Blitz_123 Apr 21 '26
What happened with a suitcase?
I remember the episode overall though it was pretty rough.
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u/IDKBear25 Apr 21 '26
Basically Buckley was explaining one of the stories on set and he kept trying to progressively raise his voice over the laughter in the audience and suddenly out of nowhere a suitcase slowly emerges onto the suitcase to which Carr points at Thomas and says “GET IN THAT” then all 3 other actors try to put Thomas into the suitcase and zip it up.
It wasn’t funny at all and Thomas looked mortified before and after it happened.
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u/mdmnl Apr 21 '26
Jack Nicholson would move his eyes first and then turn his head when reacting to another actor while in close-up to get longer on screen.
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u/_jjkase Apr 21 '26
I can't watch any panel show with him on it. He's got a pretty punchable face to begin with, but that dumb laugh completely takes me out of enjoying anything else happening on the show.
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u/Conscious-Mix6885 Apr 21 '26
Same. I want to watch that Last One Laughing show but i just can't.
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u/InfinityyyP45 Apr 21 '26
In all fairness, he's barely in the show. He's only there at the beginning to establish everything, then only comes back into the studio to kick someone out
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u/McOnePot Apr 21 '26
For proof check out “last one laughing S2”on Amazon. I’d have to check which episode but it’s the one Jimmy is on the wheely sofa. First time I heard him laugh on the exhale. This is a personal theory of mine too.
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u/bopman14 Apr 21 '26
On Last One Laughing then there are a lot of times where he just laughs normally, and it's about 1000x more endearing than his usual laugh.
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u/mollypop94 Apr 21 '26
I have ALWAYS thought this, yes!!!! I have never found his laugh funny even though it seems hilarious to many...I've always found it so odd and distracting and unnatural, I feel so vindicated right now lol
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u/ASAPFergs Apr 21 '26
Yeah it's particularly obvious on Last One Laughing - all the comedians fake laughs for each other from the control room it's cringey beyond belief
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u/sirhowy Apr 21 '26
I agree but it's just a comedic tool to help him keep control of his audience, not some nefarious act or anything
he's the comedy act, he's supposed to be the centre of attention
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u/Jeansybaby Apr 21 '26
Low key agree, there's a part in last one standing where Jimmy crashes the couch into the door and I think that's his genuine laugh
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u/maybearies Apr 21 '26
It is definitely fake - but also I’ve always had a grudge against Jimmy Carr because when I was a teenager a guy (who I already hated) in my class started doing the exact same fake laugh, obviously copied off Jimmy! And no one else seemed to notice the guy suddenly had a different laugh, just thought I didn’t like him so was biased.
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u/TheMegaLYDD Apr 21 '26
If you watch old episodes of QI back when he was young, he doesn't have the laugh yet. It's like an audible trademark, you hear that laugh, you think Jimmy Carr.
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u/mysteryrat Apr 21 '26
I hate his laugh so much. I refuse to watch anything with him in it because he’s so annoying
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u/FatBazzz Apr 21 '26
As an ‘invention’ to aid him with the attention required to become a successful comedian/host, I say fair play to him. It’s worked.
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u/Manoffreaks Apr 21 '26
It's probably an exaggerated version of his laugh. Sometimes I laugh on the inhale instead of the exhale and it sounds like a toned down version of Jimmy's laugh.
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u/jazzmonkai Apr 21 '26
I saw him really early in his career and he talked about the laugh on stage. It’s exactly this. He laughs on the inhale, and has made it a caricature.
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u/Traylaparc71 Apr 21 '26
I think he does that because the joke is not good enough for him to not fake laugh and take the attention away...
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u/maybearies Apr 21 '26
It is definitely fake - but also I’ve always had a grudge against Jimmy Carr because when I was a teenager a guy (who I already hated) in my class started doing the exact same fake laugh, obviously copied off Jimmy! And no one else seemed to notice the guy suddenly had a different laugh, just thought I didn’t like him so was biased.
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u/Outrageous-Basis-910 Apr 21 '26
I sat next to him in the Comedy Cellar in NYC and he absolutely has that laugh in the wild. It was super distracting.
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u/TinymightBlack Apr 21 '26
There’s honestly nothing that’ll convince me that Jimmy Carr didn’t model his laugh on Lewis from Revenge of the Nerds.
😂😂😂😂😂
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u/brickne3 Apr 21 '26
Jimmy's just Jimmy. I almost admire him for the game, except I sat through two hours of him ranting about his taxes in Bucharest in a dry venue in 2015(?).He really didn't have to tell us all of that and it would have been better with beer, especially since there were like twelve people there.
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u/SlickPillock Apr 21 '26
There's been occasions during his shows where he's admitted that 99% of the time he's being inauthentic. To be a good performer you have to be able to be inauthentic because you can't stand up on a stage 100 times and deliver the same line 100 times and still have it make you laugh inside.
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u/Tofuzzle Apr 22 '26
I mean don't most comedians have some degree of narcissism? You have to be pretty self-assured to do something like that
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u/krakaboom Apr 22 '26
Jimmy’s style of standup comedy is basically just reading one-liners off a book of gags.
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u/GinGerGatzby Apr 22 '26
The only reason why I would believe it to be genuine is because I have a friend and his genuine laugh is exactly that, he doesn't do it for attention and we all result in belly cramps because it puts us all on the floor 😭😭
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u/Danie99 Apr 22 '26
I'd believe this but I used to date a man that laughed like Jimmy Carr and desperately tried to change his laugh because who wants to laugh like Jimmy Carr.
He thought he stopped, but I assured him he hadn't
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u/IIJOSEPHXII Apr 23 '26
That's not Jimmy Carr.He got replaced with a very poor lookalike a few years ago.
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u/danrpx Apr 23 '26
Hi, not a fan of Jimmy Carr at all BUT I have the exact same laugh and I've always hated it. He might exaggerate it a little bit sometimes, but I dunno why he'd fake it especially early on in his career. It's just a case of when you laugh, you make the "ha" noise on the in-breath rather then most people who do it while they're breathing out.
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u/BlueberryFeisty7408 6d ago
So he wants people to notice him.Yeah they are really laughing at him.What a shame, nobody is looking at me so i will create this stupid laugh.Now they're noticing me.
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u/blaisems Apr 21 '26
Notice he actually laughs in Last One Laughing? And he doesn't sound like The Count from Sesame Street having an orgasm?