CORNWALL, Ontario – A popular radio personality many in Cornwall listen to every morning is moving on.
Jamie Carr, who has enjoyed some sideline work as a voice-over performer for shows like Come Dine With Me Canada and Come Date With Me, announced Friday he is jumping into that side of the entertainment industry with both feet.
Carr signed off from his final CJSS radio broadcast Friday morning – surprising many of his listeners.
“It was time to make a decision,” Carr said in an interview. “I’ve started to get some advice from the bigger voice guys in the industry.”
Recently it became difficult for Carr to juggle his work in Cornwall with commitments for voice-over work.
In addition to the Come Dine/Date With Me work, Carr is also slated to do voice-over for two new shows coming up later this year: High Tech Rednecks and Landspeed Heroes.
In addition to that, he also does what is called “imaging” in the radio world – providing intros and segways on talk radio stations in Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton. When you hear an announcer say things like “You’re listening live to…” that’s the kind of work Carr is finding more of.
“I really began to hear that now is the time to make this decision,” he said, adding it became difficult to consider turning down offers, for fear of getting passed over in the future. “The beauty of all of this is I don’t have to leave.”
Carr is in the final phase of building a studio in his home, that will allow him to record material and ship it via the Internet to broadcasters.
It’s a big change for a Cornwall native who dreamed of one day becoming an actor. On a whim in 2006 he entered the studios at the local radio station and auditioned for a guest spot.
Carr, who is quick with a witty remark and is a funny man whether the microphone is on or off, has a vast array of on-air characters that eventually led station management to offer him a job.
“I never thought it would come to this,” he said of a career in radio. “I always thought of doing voices – and I could do a lot of impressions.”
He pointed to the support of his wife Jennifer, a local teacher, who encouraged him to make the leap.
“I kept on saying what if it doesn’t work out?” he said. “But she kept on telling me ‘What if it does?'”
The good news, for the local radio audience, is while Carr himself won’t be on the air anymore, he won’t be far from the microphone.
“All of my characters still have a job.”
