Concrete carpet with a British sense of humour 

Made of granite and high quality cast concrete, the carpet is a humorous display of jokes, songs and comedy catchphrases by over 1,000 of Britain’s most well-loved comedians and writers.  

Deemed as one of the largest pieces of public art ever commissioned in the United Kingdom, Blackpool’s Comedy Carpet unveiled on 10th October 2011 is set to stir a few giggles or perhaps loads of laughs from its visitors.  

Installed on the promenade at the foot of the world famous Blackpool Tower, the 2,200 m² typographical artwork which is made of granite and high quality cast concrete is a humorous display of jokes, songs and comedy catchphrases by over 1,000 of Britain’s most well-loved comedians and writers.   

Five sections at the centre of the carpet are devoted to Ken Dodd, Les Dawson, Morecambe and Wise, Frankie Howerd and Tommy Cooper.  

The size of the letters on the carpet varies from a few centimetres to almost a metre tall so that the laughs can be enjoyed from all sides and from both close up and from a height at the top of the tower. These 160,000 individually engraved letters spelling out the phrases on the carpet were cut with waterjet cutting machines by WJS UK using GMA ClassicCut™ 80 waterjet cutting abrasive prior to installation on site.   
 
“Our waterjet machines are manufactured to the highest standard and we have full confidence in GMA Garnet™ abrasive’s constant optimum performance.  We recommend GMA Garnet™ to all our customers,” said WJS UK Managing Director Chris Baker.  

The £4m project has taken five years from conception to installation and is integrated into the Tower Festival Headland– a brand new events space in the resort, which will host huge events with a capacity of 20,000 as well as a brand new low-carbon-emission wedding venue with breathtaking views across the beach and sea.