Thursday August 3^rd 2000 saw Jimmy performing in Reading at The Litten Tree, 11, Castle St, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 7SB (which closed March 2026).

The Reading Evening Post (July 28^th edition) had an advert for this 9pm show (£7 for members, £8 for none members) that had a short write up about each of the acts:

• Dave Johns
• Jimmy Carr
• Jo Caulfield

The evening also featured an Open Mic spot for audience members to give comedy a go.

It started by saying “three top comics will be performing at the Standing Ovation Comedy Club in Reading…”. And then went on to say:

• Dave is a Geordie stand-up whose TV credits include Spender, Harry and All Over The Shop
• Jim has an energetic and charismatic style which he injects into his observational material
• Jo is sharp and funny and is a regular comedy circuit act who leaves everyone in stitches

Dave Johns (here) started the Hyena Comedy Club (here) and was featured in 8 Out of 10 Cats does Deal or No Deal (here). I would imagine that he’s not someone that not many people would associate with Jimmy but, as with a lot of these old club comics, when you start looking at old gigs and pulling threads – their paths crossed more than you would think

For anyone that likes image of old British street scenes Reading Museum (here) has a lovely old photo of this 1837 building (search for “11 Castle Street – former Congregational Church”).

Background

At this stage of his career Jimmy had been performing above pubs and “going on stage after strippers” (his words) so there was no tour name.

He was now starting to get more regular bookings and was appearing more in dedicated comedy clubs and slightly bigger rooms.

There is a page (here) about the UK Comedy Circuit and see also Pubs and Clubs 1998-2001 (here).