Jasper Carrott

Robert Norman Davis (1945-) from Birmingham acquired the nickname ‘Jasper‘ as a boy, added ‘Carrott‘ in his teens and used this as his stage name when he started performing in folk clubs. His astute business acumen led to him co-founding ‘The Boggery’ in 1969, a very successful folk club in Solihull. There he honed his act and gradually the comic stories (‘raconteuring’) took over from the songs. Almost 40 years later he would receive a Lifetime Achievement accolade from the British Comedy Awards.

Through his lifelong friendship with Bev Bevan (1944-), drummer with The Move and E.L.O., Carrott made a hit single, ‘Funky Moped’ (1975) and the B-side, ‘Magic Roundabout’, a comedy spoof of the children’s programme, was the springboard for his career. He went on to make many TV shows, e.g. ‘Canned Carrott’ and ’24 Carrott Gold’, and at his peak was doing sell-out tours of up to 150 performances a year.

Perhaps his ‘tour de force’ was ‘The Detectives’ (1993-97), a 31-episode comedy police drama using otherwise serious actors such as Robert Powell (1944-), known for his lead role in ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ (1977). Carrott was awarded an OBE in 2003 for his charitable services and he continues to work to this day, citing his love of the business.

(Top image: screenshot – duckonawall at YouTube / Fair Use