Carr gears up for US show

Comic Jimmy Carr has landed a deal to host his game show Distraction in the US.

The 31-year-old, who has been on the UK comedy circuit for only three years, is already a hit across the Atlantic.

He hosted the Aspen comedy festival in Colorado, has been a guest on Jay Leno's Tonight Show three times, and recently did a one-off stand up comedy special for American TV.

Distraction, which Carr hosted on Channel 4, sees contestants compete for prize money while performing a series of gruelling tasks.

TV bosses are making an American version of the show, which sees participants eat snails and maggots, undergo electrocution and wrestle naked, while answering general knowledge questions.

Carr will make 14 episodes of the show for Comedy Central, the US outfit that signed up Norton, to be aired in the autumn.

Today Carr said: "I literally can't believe my luck" and warned "torturing Americans should not only be easy, but a pleasure."

A spokesman for Comedy Central said: "We are huge fans of Jimmy's dry, cutting style and look forward to introducing him to an American audience.

"We could have spent months trying to cast someone else, but at the end of the day, they wouldn't have been as funny as the original. Jimmy was the obvious choice."