"As a kid, no doubt trying to seize attention from the family, Jim Carrey became a serious extrovert. He loved Christmas when visiting relatives increased his audience. For years he obsessively studied TV shows, perfecting impressions of the stars (and also of his alcoholic grandfather) and putting on one-man shows in the basement. At Junior High School he insisted on performing for his classmates and the teachers soon realised that the only way to calm the boy was to allow him a 10-minute slot at the end of each school day."
[Carrey also performed for his bedridden mother, occasionally sending her crazy by creeping around in his underwear and pretending to be a praying mantis...]
Sources
tiscali.co.uk, Jim Carrey bio
