IT is often said comedians need to 'know their audience'.

With Jimmy Carr, it's the other way around.

It's quite clear what he's about, what his style of humour is and how he delivers his jokes, as we see him so often on TV panel shows and Netflix specials.

He also tours his stand-up acts with a near relentless frequency - he's a busy comedian.

Therefore if you buy a ticket to see his show, you really should know what you're getting.

He made the joke himself during his sell-out act - 'Terribly Funny' - at Colchester's Charter Hall on Thursday, drawing big laughs when questioning the parenting skills of a father who had brought his 16-year-old daughter along to the show.

It's during the moments of audience engagement where Carr truly shines, his ability to think on his feet and deliver quick put-downs is evident.

They also get the biggest laughs, perhaps because has quite clearly honed his method of making his act personal.

Audiences enjoy being involved, they enjoy interaction, and there was plenty of it during the show.

Carr's act made frequent references to cancel-culture. He cleverly used his recent spell in the headlines for controversial jokes to comment on the nature of comedy and whether anything should be off limits.

Within the first 15 minutes he was ticking off all the controversial topics he had covered so far.

It was rapid-fire. It was a whirlwind of short, sharp, jokes aimed at anything and everything - from relentlessly picking on a self-confessed Covid-sceptic to mocking a ginger-haired member of the audience.

He clearly wants to push at the boundaries of perceived "good taste" as often as possible, and there's no denying it largely works - just so long as you know what you're in for.