250–300 shows per year
Jimmy Carr performs up to 300 shows a year, often doing two shows per night, which he says reduces nerves rather than increasing them.
Snapshot · Modern Wisdom
You’re Not Depressed, You’re Living The Wrong Life - Jimmy Carr - #1135
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Aug 10, 2026
Where this was said
How Many Shoes Has Jimmy Done This Year?
At 0:02 · chapter starts 0:00
Chris Williamson opens by asking how many shows Jimmy did last year. The answer — roughly 250 to 300 — lands with no trace of fatigue. Jimmy explains that the innovation behind the high number is the two-shows-a-night format: one for HMRC, one for the soul. Far from inducing burnout, the sheer volume of stage time creates the opposite effect — it's like airline pilot hours, and the nerves simply don't have room to settle in. He distinguishes between jealousy (a dark desire for someone else to lose what they have) and envy (a useful signal of what you yourself want), and explains that watching Matt Rife and Andrew Schultz's viral video content on tour prompted him to hire a camera operator and do the same — a decision he credits with fundamentally changing how he performs.
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