Jimmy Carr says he became ‘sick with grief’ after Sean Lock’s death

‘8 Out of 10 Cats’ comedian died of cancer in August

Jimmy Carr has said he “got sick” with grief after the death of Sean Lock.

Lock, who appeared alongside Carr on 8 Out of 10 Cats, died of cancer in August, aged 58.

Carr reflected on the death of his friend while speaking about his new memoir, Before & Laughter: A Life-Changing Book, to the PA news agency.

“I had a bereavement recently,” he said. “Sean Lock, my dear, beautiful, funny friend died, and I got sick, the grief really hits you physically.

“But to be able to laugh through that, to be able to watch old clips of him making me cry with laughter, the cathartic power of that.

He continued: “And I think in most families, most friendships, when someone dies, when something happens, when someone gets ill, if you can laugh through it, that’s when laughter has a real benefit because it releases endorphins and it makes it easier to cope.

In an interview with The Guardian, Carr said: “After he died I looked back and went: ‘Hang on – was I in a double act?’ We did 250 TV shows together and I sort of didn’t notice.”

“[The news] wiped me out,” he said adding: “It was the same thing when my mother died and I had to go to bed and sleep for 17 hours.”

Carr’s mother died when he was 17; her death is what inspired the comedian to write his new autobiography, which is out now.

Sean Lock and Jimmy Carr on ‘8 Out of 10 Cats' (Steve Meddle/Shutterstock)

The comedian also reflected on Lock’s brutal 8 Out of 10 Cats joke about his tax avoidance scandal, which resurfaced following his death.

Carr, speaking about the quip, recalled: “I took a tomato to the face from Sean Lock.”