Comedian Jimmy Carr eyes up Art Deco ahead of Napier show

Jimmy Carr is looking forward to creating laughs as well as checking out Napier's Deco delights. Photo/File

Comedian Jimmy Carr is looking forward to delivering the laugh-inducing high points of his stage outings around the world over the past few years to his Hawke's Bay audiences this Saturday night at the Municipal Theatre in Napier.

But he is equally looking forward to getting to the seaside city "early" and having a good look around because it possesses a component he has long been an admirer of.

Art Deco.

"I'm quite into Art Deco and I've got some time there so I'm going to have a good look around," Carr said earlier this week as he prepared for the first of his nine New Zealand shows which was in Auckland.

And he's delighted to be on a tour which takes in Napier (where he has two almost sold-out shows), New Plymouth, Hamilton and Dunedin.

"When you first get to do New Zealand you do Wellington and Auckland and people would say 'oh you've done New Zealand'."

It's a place he has come to love and enjoys seeing more of it.

This is his third tour here and he loves the whole culture of the place.

"To me it's sort of 1950s-60s England and that is a good thing — it's kind of familiar and very friendly — feels like a nice happy village and everyone says 'hello' — it's great."

It was also a welcoming place far removed from the woes of the world.

"I spend my time worrying about things like Trump and North Korea but I know I'll be okay here."

When it comes to getting out on to the stage and delivering his verbal wares the 45-year-old entertainer takes no prisoners.

That's pretty well taken as read, and in the wake of his stage outings as people leave the venue and spill into the foyers and streets you'll likely hear the word "offensive" emerge from a few mouths.

Although the edges of those mouths will be curled by a smile.

And that's fine by Carr, who has built a comic career around touching on the usually untouchable as well as firing into the inevitable hecklers who (often at their peril) challenge him.

"I want to entertain people because they have paid good money to come and see me, and I will give them the best two hours of stuff I can do."

The poster-filling title of his current tour sums it up — Jimmy Carr: The Best of, Ultimate, Gold, Greatest Hits Tour.

It's material he didn't sit down and pick out himself.

"The audiences have decided what's in it because you know when you've dropped a bomb and you know what gets the big laughs."

And the greatest reward for him is hearing laughter, knowing he has entertained people and put a humorous spark into their lives.

"I know I have a big responsibility when I walk out on stage because this is their night out."

Does he localise some of the content?

"Oh yeah, of course, you always acknowledge where you are," he said, adding he enjoyed having a wander about the locations he arrived at and making "small talk" with some of the locals.

Get a feel for the place.

He recognises some of his material may strike hard, but also recognises that that is what many people come to see, but there is one "comedian" who does go overboard, he said.

"The whole Trump thing — he's already a clown and he's the one joke that's gone too far."

His comic course does lead to audience interaction of the heckling kind, but he didn't want to make too much of that.

Are Kiwi hecklers any different to Aussie hecklers?

"They're not too bad," he said with a laugh.

"They want to join in and if someone else gets a bit of a laugh then hey, it takes the pressure off me."

He describes himself as an "equal opportunities offender" when it come to his content targets.

And he is buoyant about the current state of comedy and those who deliver it.

"It's in a very good place."

So on that note, I asked him a question my son (who is a devoted Jimmy Carr fan and will be catching up with him on Saturday night) wanted to put to him.

If he could be stuck, forever, with no chance of rescue, on a desert island with three other comedians, who would he choose?

That drew a sharp intake of breath.

"Oh that's a tough question," he said.

"Too difficult ... there's David Mitchell and there's people like Catherine Ryan and there's Sean Lock and ... no, too tough ... there are so many ... you just pick your three best friends."