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Jasper
Carrott Bio
Jasper Carrott was born in
Birmingham in 1945, and educated
at Acocks Green
Infants/Junior School and
Moseley Grammar School.
His first performance of
note was as resident compere
at the Boggery Folk Club in
Solihull. There he discovered
his talent for comedy, and
his inability to sing, and
the rest, as they say, is
history.
In 1975 Jasper released his
first single. Funky Moped
/ Magic Roundabout, was a
massive chart hit, selling
almost a million copies and
narrowly missing a Gold Disc.
Jasper’s first television
appearance was in The Golden
Game for BBC Midlands, in
1975. His first television
series was aired in 1978,
'An Audience with Jasper Carrott'
for LWT, a series of six shows.
The show title was then purloined
for the hour-long celebrity
shows we are all familiar
with now.
In 1979 Jasper was named
as ITV Personality of the
Year and his live TV show
from the Theatre Royal, Drury
Lane 'The Unrecorded Jasper
Carrott'. This remains unique
as a live to air one hour
comedy show. Since then Jasper's
national and international
tours have taken him to many
corners of the world.
In 1982, Jasper conceived
and co-wrote the live series
"Carrott's Lib",
which won a BAFTA Award the
following year. In 1985 he
starred in the stage play
'The Nerd' and, in 1988, the
film 'Jane and the Lost City'.
In 1992, Jasper was named
BBC TV's Personality of the
Year and in this year teamed
up with actor Robert Powell
to record 'The Detectives',
a comedy series based on the
ridiculous antics of two bungling
detectives. Such was the success
of the initial series there
have been four further series
of 'The Detectives' to date,
with a Christmas Special for
Christmas 1997.
Jasper has regularly presented
a Christmas special for the
BBC, either in the form of
the hugely successful "Carrott's
Commercial Breakdown",
with over 14 million viewers,
which won the Best Independent
Prize at the prestigious Montreux
Festival and a Gold medal
at the New York TV & Film
Awards, or as a television
special such as "One
Jasper Carrott" recorded
live at the Theatre Royal
Drury Lane.
Jasper has regularly presented
a Christmas special for the
BBC, either in the form of
the hugely successful "Carrott's
Commercial Breakdown",
with over 14 million viewers,
which won the Best Independent
Prize at the prestigious Montreux
Festival and a Gold medal
at the New York TV & Film
Awards, or as a television
special such as "One
Jasper Carrott" recorded
live at the Theatre Royal
Drury Lane.
In 1995 Jasper celebrated
his 50th birthday and was
presented with the "Midlander
Of The Year" award, a
prestigious honour which he
now shares with such diverse
characters as Betty Boothroyd
and Ozzy Osbourne! In the
same year, Aston University
presented to him an achievement
award for services to the
Midlands.
1996 and 1997 saw Jasper
return to writing new material
in preparation for a new series
for the BBC and a major UK
tour in 1998. The tour embraced
over 150 sell out shows in
the major theatres of the
country including a sell out
fourteen night run in the
2000-seater Birmingham Hippodrome.
1998 culminated with the
filming of a brand new six
part BBC television series,
Back to the Front, which Bob
Monkhouse called “the
finest stand-up comedy on
television”. It was
transmitted three times on
BBC1 Television during 1999.
In 2002, Jasper starred in
All About Me – a new
sit-com for BBC 1 Television,
made by Celador Productions,
transmitted in March, which
has now completed three series.
In June of that year, Jasper
became a Savoyan, when D’Oyly
Carte invited him to appear
as Koko in their production
of The Mikado at the Savoy
Theatre, London.
In 2003 Jasper Carrott was
awarded an OBE in Her Majesty’s
New Years Honours List in
recognition of his outstanding
work for charity.
In January 2004, Jasper Carrott
returned to his Birmingham
roots with a record-breaking
season of shows at the National
Indoor Arena. Such was the
public response, the season
was extended to fourteen nights,
selling over 70,000 tickets
and breaking existing box
office records. It was also
the longest run for a comedian
performing on consecutive
nights in an arena. The show
featured sketches requested
by the members of the audience
who were there on the evening,
resulting in a different show
every night. 24 Carrott Gold
was filmed for the BBC and
broadcast in six parts on
BBC1 in spring 2004.
In July 2004, Birmingham
University presented Jasper
Carrott with a Doctorate for
Business Studies.
The third series of All About
Me is broadcast September
2004.
Notable achievements include
two gold albums, four silver
discs, 1.5 million books and
two T-shirts
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