Praise for comedian with cerebral palsy

A teenage comic with cerebral palsy has wowed the Britain’s Got Talent judges.

David Walliams hailed 14-year-old Jack Carroll ‘a comedy genius’ when he appeared on the show cracking gags about his condition.

The Little Britain star added: ‘I wasn’t as funny as you at 14, I’m not even as funny now as you are now at 14 years old. It was incredible. Every joke was a winner.’

Jack was making jokes even before he took to the stage, telling judges on tonight’s show: ‘I’m a professional gymnast.’

Even Simon Cowell was impressed, saying: ‘I’ve got to tell you Jack, you have got one of the most refreshing attitudes. You made fun of what you’ve gone through and you made it funny, which is really, really difficult.’

Amanda Holden added: ‘The thing that’s great is that nobody feels sorry for you. You’re self-deprecating, you’re hilarious and I think you’ve got a huge future.’

And Alesha Dixon said: ‘You made me laugh before the act even started.”

Last year, Jack won a Daily Mirror Pride Of Britain award, with Jimmy Carr surprising him at home in Halifax to tell him the news, saying: ‘I hear there’s a young man here who thinks that he’s funnier than me.’

At the time, Jack said: ‘If I can laugh at myself and make people laugh, maybe they will not be scared to talk about disability.’

He has previously been an internet sensation, thanks to a video of his first gig at his parents’ wedding anniversary, which got 10,000 YouTube hits.

However, another comic on tonight’s Britain’s Got Talent is panned by judges. Cowell told Paul Stark: ‘Those jokes were some of the worst I've ever heard.’

Stark is a deliberately bad comic, the creation of 21-year-old student Tom Pinks, who has previously upset punters at club gigs. ‘On one occasion I was chased out of a pub by angry punters and I had to stay in character throughout the whole ordeal,’ he told the Rugby Advertiser last year.

Here is Carroll's set:

And here is Stark:

Published: 13 Apr 2013