Renowned British-Irish stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr, known for his edgy and often controversial humor, recently stirred reactions across the Balkans with a social media post made during his world tour.
Carr visited North Macedonia as part of his mini-tour of the Balkans in late November, where his comments quickly garnered attention.
During his stop in Skopje, Carr posted about the “friendly Balkans,” a note many interpreted with a hint of irony. The post further sparked debates as he added, “I am in Skopje, Macedonia—the homeland of Alexander the Great, who—fun fact—has the same middle name as Winnie the Pooh (from Alexander the Great).” The post led to a flurry of heated comments, although Carr refrained from engaging with any.
Adding to the controversy, Carr replicated the same post when performing in Belgrade, Serbia, either in a bid to extend his controversial joke or to possibly address the historical inaccuracies.
The comedian’s posts, however, offered amusement to some, with fans responding in jest. A Serbian commenter remarked on the second post, “Alexander the Great, or as we call him in Serbia, ‘Pender’.”
Despite—or perhaps because of—the uproar, Carr’s post concerning North Macedonia has become his most engaged piece of social media content to date. The post attracted attention from individuals either seeking to assert Alexander the Great’s heritage or to critique Carr for his provocative stance.
Looking ahead, Jimmy Carr is set to perform in Cyprus on January 9th and in Athens, Greece, on March 25th at the Christmas Theater. Fans are curious to see if his upcoming shows will feature any references to such contentious topics.