Researching this 2000 appearance on a Gyles Brandreth LBC Radio Show I found mention of an early gig, while scouting around in the British Newspaper Archives.

January 11^th 2001 he was playing the Comedy Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells. Sometimes described as The Trinity Bar and Café it apparently is still hosting comedy nights (image on here – to give you an idea of how small a venue it is).

Sharing the stage with him were Andy Robinson and Mark Maier and tickets were £9.50 (£8.50 concessionary), starting at 8pm.

One of these December 2000 articles described Jimmy as:

Jimmy Carr, writer for Channel 4’s Eleven O’Clock Show and regular guest on Giles Brandreth Show, LBC Radio, is one of the scene’s rising talents. Known as the Gag Man, he will kill you dead with a wit far sharper than yours!

Never heard anyone call him the Gag Man and apologies to Gyles for their spelling (not my typo).

Background

At this stage Jimmy was just performing above pubs and “going on stage after strippers” (his words) so there was no tour name at this point. Just driving up and down the UK, sometimes doing 2-3 venues a night, trying to get spots on open nights and hoping to get enough to cover his petrol money.

There is a new page (here) about the UK Comedy Circuit.