Carey Marx

NOMINATED BEST CLUB COMIC CHORTLE AWARDS 2017

WINNER BEST INTERNATIONAL SHOW NZ COMEDY FESTIVAL 2009 & 2011

NOMINATED BEST SHOW LEICESTER COMEDY FESTIVAL 2009

Carey Marx has been a circuit favourite for years, mixing his own blend of dark humour with his mischievous and gleeful delivery.  His wilful disregard for the controversial and delicate is tempered beautifully by his ability to find joy in the most unexpected places. This  hilarious mix of edgy topics and playful gagsmithery can be seen at all the top clubs across the country with Marx regularly playing Jongleurs, Komedia and The Comedy Store and annually compering the largest festivals.

Carey has taken numerous critically acclaimed shows to Edinburgh Festival Fringe over the years. His 2013 show, Intensive Carey, was so successful that it was picked up by BBC Radio 4 in 2015 and developed into a R4 special.

Alongside his stand up, Carey has recorded a popular weekly topical podcast with comedian Barry Castagnola, called The Proper Gander. The hilarious show has received 5 star reviews from listeners and is available through iTunes.

Live

Carey regularly headlines the best clubs in the country and plays at the most prestigious festivals.  His first solo show to appear at the Leicester Comedy Festival won a nomination for Best Show, and he was nominated for 2017’s Best Club Comic (an award formerly titled best headliner) at the Chortle Awards.

In 2013, Carey took his show Intensive Carey to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The show was based on several heart attacks that Carey had suffered in August 2012 and received an unprecedented amount of four and five star reviews.

Carey has performed all over the world including a run in the Middle East. In 2010 he embarked on The New Zealand Comedy Festival for the first time where he quickly scooped the award for Best International Show.

In 2011 Carey returned to the New Zealand Comedy Festival to perform, where he was awarded the prize of Best International Show for the second time, making him the only act in the history of the festival to achieve such a feat.

Solo shows

Afterwife, Edinburgh Fringe 2017

Hero Of The People, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2016

Abominable, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014

Intensive Carey, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013

Laziness And Stuff, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011

Scoundrel, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2010

The Doom Gloom Boom, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2009

Careyness, New Zealand Comedy Festival 2009

Careyness, Leicester Comedy Festival 2009

Careyness, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2008

Sincerity Aside, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2007

Onomatopoeia Society III, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2007

White Night, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2006

Marry Me, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2005

Albino Hunter, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2003

Festivals

Ten Shows I Abandoned Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2008

Cowards Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2008

Cowards Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2006

Cowards Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2005

Latitude Festival

Reading Festival

Leeds Festival

New Zealand Comedy Festival

Brisbane Comedy Festival

Sydney Comedy Festival

Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Adelaide Fringe Festival

Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Glastonbury Festival

Bestival

Tallinn Comedy Festival

Bath Comedy Festival

Taking The Piste Festival

TV

The Outcast Comic, Sky Arts

Comedy Store Documentary, Sky

Slam, Channel 4

The Jack Docherty Show, Channel 5

Gas, Channel 4

The Stand Up Show, BBC One

Trick on Two, BBC Two

Loose Women, ITV

Faking It, Channel 4

Comedy Cuts, ITV2

Comedy Blue, Paramount

World Stands Up, Paramount

BBC Breakfast, BBC One

Writing credits

Dave Gorman: Modern Life Is Goodish, Dave, 2017

Newzoids, Citrus Television

Marry Me 2006 Publisher: Headline Review

Carey has written numerous sketches for the BBC and was the regular writer for Nick Doody’s radio show Bigipedia.

Press

Afterwife (Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2017)

★★★★
“This is great comedy from a comedy master.” The Scotsman

★★★★
“Oh so very funny. We had unusual pets, collapsing beds, babies, immigration and his travels to Glasgow, Birmingham and Australia, Marx, usually the fall guy in the stories, has the crowd in stitches.” One4Review

Hero Of The People (Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2016)

★★★★★
“He is witty, he is observational, and he paints verbal pictures with his writing that are almost tangible as he leads the packed audience through a master class of comedy that at times can be really dark, but are tempered by his cheeky grin.” One4Review

★★★★ “Another hilarious masterclass… Marx simply has a talent for telling fantastic stories, many of which display the reckless sense of a man half his age (the heart attack a few years ago slowing him only slightly), and he relates them all with sharp, cheeky jokes that tumble so briskly out you barely have time to catch your breath. No bells and whistles, just funny and plenty of it.” Chortle

“There’s a lot of experience and quality wrapped up in the show.” EdFest

Abominable (Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014)

“A gifted comic who appears to be able to write his way to a funny place regardless of the starting point. An hour of top stand-up, no frills and no narratives.” London is Funny

The Guardian’s Ten Free Comedy Shows Recommendation List

Carey Marx: Intensive Carey (Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013)

★★★★
“The blackly comic, deeply personal story about his brush with mortality had provided Marx with material which perfectly suits his line in smart, shocking humour.” The List

★★★★
“Sharp, sweet, cheeky, cynical, romantic and rude as he ever was. Rarely is cardiac failure this funny.” Chortle

★★★★
“Comedy at its best.” Fest

★★★★
“This is a brilliant, deeply personal performance. A brush with death really shouldn’t be this funny.” The Scotsman

Laziness And Stuff (Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011)

★★★★
“A genuinely funny and interesting hour of comedy.”  Fest

★★★★★
“It’s a real joy to see a comic at his gleeful best.” Edinburgh Evening News

★★★★
“A darkly comic Quentin Tarantino. [Carey Marx] guarantees a solid cascade of laughs.” Chortle

“His material is superbly crafted and honed to razor sharpness, his delivery style precise, occasionally slightly edgy, and he goes with stuff that some lesser comic may baulk at. Yet, like a naughty schoolboy, he has this disarmingly cheeky grin that somehow salves any excursions into the insalubrious.

“As a craftsman of his art, he despairs on others using hack material, the tried and tested route to laughs, but judging once again on the night he was never short of laughs himself with yet another quality performance”

★★★★★
“So do yourselves a favour, go and see him for yourself and see what you have been missing.” One4Review

★★★★
“Mischievous but smart.” Edinburgh Fest Magazine

★★★★
“Thoughtful, shocking and hilarious. Laziness and Stuff is a cleverly conceived, far from lazy hour of comedy.” The Skinny

★★★★
“Opium for the people. A clever man, the audience are in stitches.” Broadway Baby

“Devilish good humour and sharp wit. The man’s got charm in spades.” Spoonfed

Scoundrel (Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2010)

“Over 80 minutes, he brilliantly presents a smart, cerebral case of how people are being willingly manipulated – but at the same time, like a master magician he holds us entranced throughout. There are some brilliant lines scattered throughout as he subverts expectations and impresses throughout. The thing with Carey is that he is a master in looking at things from am off kilter viewpoint and presenting it with rapier wit and killer delivery. With equal dollops of sarcasm, cynicism and black humour, he’s just a joy to watch on stage as he delves into dark moments and some quite frankly shocking moments too. You’ll need your wits about you at times too – which is no bad thing. What you need to do is see this master at work as soon as you can. Recommended without a doubt.” TVNZ

★★★★
“Carey Marx expertly structures his show around a séance he conducted at Pontins as a teenage bluecoat, the ramifications of his practical joke rippling out across the lives of all those present, the full extent of his dastardly deed only emerging over the course of his hour. Marx’s demolition job is so thorough, though, and performed with such a devilish grin, that you can only admire him for being such a magnificent bastard.” The Scotsman

★★★★
“The mocking stance and unremitting march of cold logic will reduce you to howls of laughter. Shockingly hilarious [and] as funny as it is wrong.” Sunday Mail

★★★★
“Magnificent.” The Scotsman

★★★★
“Underpinned with strong storytelling, impressive skills. This is supremely-crafted comedy.” The List

★★★★
“Hilarious, mischievous, a must see show for any sceptic.” Chortle

★★★★
“Brilliant. A talented entertainer, wonderfully delivered. It is nothing short of heresy if you do not witness Marx’s show.” Scotsgay

★★★★
“Must see. He is engaging in his approach and at his very best when his humour heads down the dark route as it does often.” One4Review

★★★★
“A fantastic show. [There is] no shortage of engaging and hilarious tales. Marx is a stand-up in the old sense, keeping his audience enthralled with real-life stories and well-constructed routines.” Fest

“Intelligent wit [and] extremely funny.” STV: Shows We’re Loving

Careyness (Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2008)

The Guardian Pick Of The Day

The Guardian Pick Of The Week

“His love of language is evident throughout and an analytical gift which extends beyond mere observation. This is comedy of the most cerebral variety, material capable of provoking both thought and laughter, well-paced and decisively delivered.”  The Herald

“Marx is no empty-headed shock comic, causing offence for offence’s sake. Here he intelligently argues his case for every sick topic, every taboo word, that features in his set. He’s thought about this stuff – a lot. This is a show about the power and beauty of language, as much as anything, though it just happens to be illustrated with some corking yet hardcore gags, too.” Chortle

“His delivery is assured, and it has to be when dealing with this subject matter. His slick, twisted logic sees him take his own arguments and turn them on their head, making you question your own assumptions.”  Broadway Baby

“Few comedians put as much consideration into their routines as Marx. He has jokes which come at an astonishing rate, and rarely miss their mark: Essential viewing.” The Fest

“It’s a skill to make a whole room guffaw to stories about suicide, disability and mass death, and Marx pulls the task off effortlessly, aided by his cheeky grin and passion for words. There are some truly joyous moments in his set: both when he’s diving head-first in the darkest realms of comedy, and when he lightens the tone.”  Metro

“He is just “Evil” in a cute devilish way.” One4Review

“Marx has a way of deconstructing language’s absurdities which is brainy and funny at the same time. Marx tells us he cares about words, and he more than proves that you can make hilarious comedy that is thought provoking and conscious of both its freedoms and its responsibilities.” The Stage

Other comedy

“The guy is sharp. The star of the show was Marx. He’s up there telling funny stories about things like his beef with a Jehovah’s Witness, and why he hates being told off all the time. But it’s where he takes these simple situations and subjects that makes him a must-see.” NZ Herald

“If you’re into the darker side of comedy, Carey Marx is your beacon of pop-whimsy. He’s got the style down pat, a voice and swagger that creates the effect of a drunk child, albeit a devilish one that has no filter when it comes to speaking its mind. Marx is a cheeky intellectual, comedic gold. The master of black comedy [and] a voice that lets you laugh at the dark stuff.” Coup De Main Magazine

“He promises us his most depressing hour of comedy yet. I have never been happier during an hour of social anxiety in my life. Doom Gloom Boom is a perfect late-night show. Carey lures you into his world of observation and clever philosophising and by the end, although he hasn’t given you the key to solving the boom in doom and gloom, he does show you how much there is to laugh at, and that has to be a good start, right?” Theatre View

“He knows how to charm an audience. He is filthy, he is naughty and he is very funny.” Craccum

“Black comedy is a tough game to master. But Carey Marx has it down pat – and is seriously the master of his game.What I loved about Doom Gloom Boom is the fact that it’s highly intelligent comedy which worries about what’s on the horizon for life in the UK (and ultimately globally) – Marx is a fiercely clever comic whose ideas are wonderfully expounded upon during his time on stage.” TVNZ

★★★★
“Marx is clearly a top-drawer writer, combining intelligent comment with teasingly edgy wit. The hour moves with seamless ease from puerile to the political, from the whimsical to the sick, and always with cheeky charm and powerful punchlines.” Chortle

★★★★
“Carey Marx is a criminally overlooked comedian. He’s an extraordinarily talented stand-up who reaches into the genre’s darkest corners with a tickling stick. Delivering his black thoughts with a cheeky smile, he is an endearing host and only those who want to be offended by what he’s got to say will be offended by what he’s got to say. The rest of us will be in stitches. He makes the world a better place.” Metro

★★★★
“Utterly brilliant.” The Skinny

“Marx’s slick delivery lends itself to clever verbal comedy, while his flexible features can switch in an instant from cheeky schoolboy grin to menacing stare.” The Scotsman

 “Anecdotally debauched but if his lines are frequently sick, they’re elegantly written, too, and there’s a childlike glee to his naughtiness. Underrated and for the most part criminally overlooked.” The Herald

“Hilariously demented.” Edinburgh Evening News

“This may seem like a dangerous selection of topics for a midday slot at a middle-class festival but Marx is smart, with writing that is well structured, clever and slickly delivered. So rather than cause offensive, he is actually charming and very, very funny.” Chortle (Latitude Festival)

“Excellent.”  The Guardian

“Unbelievably Funny.”  Kate Copstick, The Scotsman

“The man has a wicked sense of humour. A star in waiting.” One4Review

“Highly engaging, devilish, menacing and totally mesmerizing show.” Edinburgh Guide

“He is a masterful stylist, gracefully switching from surrealism to sardonic irony.” Skinny Fest

“A truly winning hour of entertainment.” Metro