Perhaps, if we had thought it through, we might have waited until they were old enough to see him by themselves.
Perhaps we should have been more willing to bide by the age guidance.
But we bought the tickets on a whim without much thinking through or checking for the adult nature of the content.
And anyway, it's been a long time since we have so successfully surprised our kids.
They are too canny these days, always sneakily working out what it is we plan to do.
" Just give us a clue.." said Joss when we told them.
" Will we like it?" asked Mia suspiciously.
Ninesh and I said nothing.
Even as we started walking into town on the night, Ninesh and I gave nothing away.
" We're going to the theatre aren't we?' said Joss as we got closer and started checking his phone to see what was on..
" Maybe," said Ninesh.
" It is the theatre isn't it," said Mia gloomily as we got closer
" You're right," I sighed, " you've guessed. We're going to see A MIdsummer Night's Dream.
" What," howled Mia and Joss in unison. " You said it was a surprise."
" It is a surprise," I said.
" Not a nice one," said Joss.
I smiled.
" It's a really good production. It's had amazing reviews."
This Summer, Chichester Festival Theatre has constructed a huge space-age tent in the park. At night it looks magical, illuminated and surrounded by trees and fairy lights.
But Mia and Joss weren't feeling very magical.
" We could have been watching telly," moaned Joss.
" We could have been doing anything," said Mia, " everything else would be better than this."
" Anyone with tickets for Jimmy Carr- this way," shouted out one of the black clad ushers.
Mia and Joss stopped and turned to look at us.
" Is that where we're going," asked Joss, trying to hide a grin.
" Really," said Mia " to see Jimmy Carr? That's so cool. Thank you guys."
But as we walked up the path they both suddenly stopped and turned to us worriedly.
" Do we have to sit together?" asked Joss
" He means, do Joss and I have to sit next to you two?" explained Mia, " that will be so cringey."
To their relief, we didn't have to sit together. We had booked 2 seats in one row and 2 in another. And as Jimmy Carr came on stage and started his stand-up, I have to say, I was relieved not to be sitting next to them.
Some things are just too embarrassing to watch with your children!
Because he was very rude.
Very funny but very rude.
When he wasn't talking openly about sex, he was alluding to it.
And if he wasn't talking about sex, he was swearing.
And if he wasn't swearing, he was talking about sex.
But he's very clever.
I've never been a particular Jimmy Carr fan. His high pitched laugh hurts my ears!
But standing up on stage all by yourself trying to make people laugh must be one of the scariest and hardest jobs in the world.
And Jimmy Carr managed it.
A lot of his act is based on responses to heckles.
But since,in Chichester, we are too polite to heckle, Jimmy asked us direct questions instead.
" What's the worst present you have ever been given?" ( "Tickets to this show." best answer).
" What's the weirdest sexual act you have ever been asked to perform?" ( best answer too rude for this blog! )
" Has anyone ever walked in on a couple having sex?
Embarrassed titters from the audience and the odd admission that yes, they had walked in on their parents, their friends and then one woman who said she had walked in on her son.
" On your son having sex," repeated Jimmy Carr, "what happened?"
" Well," said the mum," she was Asian."
And for just a moment Jimmy Carr was speechless.
All he could do was repeat what she had said.
" She was Asian. She was Asian.
What happened? She was Asian.
What the F......has that got to do with anything."
And that's the moment I started liking Jimmy Carr.
Because he was so genuinely shocked by the racism inherent in that answer, that for a moment he seemed to lose his stage persona.
For a moment it felt as though we were seeing the real him.
For just a moment.
But sometimes a moment is all you need.
Of course he kept coming back to that woman all through the show.
There's no escape from a stand-up comedian once you have made a comment like that, especially when it smacks of racism.
You make yourself into a target and have to accept everything that's thrown at you-
she probably wished she had never opened her mouth.
That's the power of comedy!
And did Mia and Joss enjoy it?
I think so.
Sometimes, when the comments were at their most sexually explicit, they would hide their head in their hands and glance surreptitiously at us.
Trying to gauge whether or not it was alright for us to know that they understood what he was talking about.
But the truth is, they are hovering on the edge of adulthood now.
And they probably know much muchabout most things than we think they do.
" Is anyone going out after this?" asked JImmy Carr at the end of the show.
This is Chichester, so only a few people said yes!
" You're crazy," said Jimmy, " it's Monday. All I want to do is go to bed. I love sleeping!"
So on the way home we didn't talk about the rudeness factor or the sexualcontent.
Mia and Joss were much more interested in knowing whether Jimmy Carr was going to stay the night in Chichester or drive back to London.
And if he did stay in Chichester, where would he have breakfast?
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all, was that a TV celebrity is actually a real person!
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