Great comedy writer but his standup is so so scripted and he lacks that quick witted spontaneity of someone like Micky Flanagan or Lee Mack. Gervais also comes across as being quite smug.
The office is up there with the best of British. I loved his Oscar hosting speech, at that time it was unrivalled, but standing up on stage and regurgitating the same he/she/him/they and “woke” gags has been done IMO, all a bit end of last decade. Anything he does for TV though I’m usually all over, stand-up not so bothered.
Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse are two of my heroes. Ruddy Hell its Harry & Paul was excellent and criminally under appreciated. If not for Pik and Nelson Mandela, I nearly threw up laughing at them
Also at the start of that video, Harry could have easily slipped from a bang on Gervais impersonation onto doing Eddie Hearn
I love Ricky Gervais, the TV stuff I accept is an acquired taste and it needs paying attention to especially in Extras and Lifes too short as a whole episode could be set up to get one massive laugh and if you switch off the laugh can be missed.
I think what people don't like so much with him is the shock factor he goes for in his stand up, and I understand that. Frankie Boyle circa 2007/8 did it a lot more natrually. My criticism of Ricky is that maybe he oversells some of his observations, Afterlife he did that a bit but it only really applies if you have eaten a lot of his material.
I was pretty obsessed with The Office and Extras as a young man. Can't really get along with Derek or After Life, they just seem contrived. Loved the XFM shows. I think his stand-up gets a bit of leeway because of who he is. I doubt he would have made it just as a stand-up comic.
What annoys me about him these days is the lecturing about atheism, and how he gets his characters such as Tony in After Life to become the mouthpieces for his atheist rants.
If it works for him, great. No need to keep lecturing everyone else about it. It's just as annoying as religious people who keep trying to convert you.
I was pretty obsessed with The Office and Extras as a young man. Can't really get along with Derek or After Life, they just seem contrived. Loved the XFM shows. I think his stand-up gets a bit of leeway because of who he is. I doubt he would have made it just as a stand-up comic.
What annoys me about him these days is the lecturing about atheism, and how he gets his characters such as Tony in After Life to become the mouthpieces for his atheist rants.
If it works for him, great. No need to keep lecturing everyone else about it. It's just as annoying as religious people who keep trying to convert you.
Yeah agree, I dont know what came first Ricky being outwardly vocal about that or people asking him and then him becoming a spokesperson for Atheism in the way Jim Jeffries somehow became a mouthpiece for gun control
I think if your first experience of him presenting that is the character of Tony then yeah thats fine but like you say, its him channelling his own view through the character so anyone familiar with Rickys stance can then feel a bit saturated
Love most of his stand up, but his recent one had a Jeremy Clarkson-esque old man "gammon" meltdown vibe about it. IT wasn't very funny. I think everything is fair game and nothing wrong with offending people, quite frankly, but you at least have to be funny.
Love most of his stand up, but his recent one had a Jeremy Clarkson-esque old man "gammon" meltdown vibe about it. IT wasn't very funny. I think everything is fair game and nothing wrong with offending people, quite frankly, but you at least have to be funny.
Love most of his stand up, but his recent one had a Jeremy Clarkson-esque old man "gammon" meltdown vibe about it. IT wasn't very funny. I think everything is fair game and nothing wrong with offending people, quite frankly, but you at least have to be funny.
Yep. Proper lowest common denominator comedy.
Child wanking off a old man for sweet joke, which seemed to go on forever.... so edgy. I had the Xfm podcasts on repeat for years but that last special was the first time I've turned off the show out of boredom.
Saw Ricky do a Work in Progress show at a 200 seater venue (Kings Place) last night. I am not the biggest fan of his stand up, but he was genuinely hilarious away from the arena setting. Lucked out getting a ticket. He tends to 40/50 of these sorts of shows before starting an arena tour. If you can get a ticket I'd recommend it. Only £15 as well.
Out of genuine interest, where do tickets for WIP like these go on sale?
Gervais used to make me laugh a lot, but I tried his new Netflix special and thought it was bloody awful because it's just the same thing all over again, like he's on a crusade to justify outrage comedy. He just keeps repeating the same schtick.
He says that his on stage persona is a character, and the whole thing is one big, ironic joke. Yet I wonder how much of his audience get that. And sometimes it just feels like an excuse to say whatever he likes and not care about who it might hurt. Which is obviously allowed and we shouldn't dream of stopping that, although we should also be aware that it doesn't help the people he's 'picking on' if the audience don't really get it.
Saw Ricky do a Work in Progress show at a 200 seater venue (Kings Place) last night. I am not the biggest fan of his stand up, but he was genuinely hilarious away from the arena setting. Lucked out getting a ticket. He tends to 40/50 of these sorts of shows before starting an arena tour. If you can get a ticket I'd recommend it. Only £15 as well.
Out of genuine interest, where do tickets for WIP like these go on sale?
I have announcements set for a few tickets agencies. These were sold through Live Nation. They announced them at 9am last Friday and they went on sale at 10am. When you logged on you were assigned a random place in the queue. I got lucky and was position 55 of 9000. Basically pot luck. You needed photo ID to collect the ticket from the Box Office as well, assume to avoid touts.
Saw Ricky do a Work in Progress show at a 200 seater venue (Kings Place) last night. I am not the biggest fan of his stand up, but he was genuinely hilarious away from the arena setting. Lucked out getting a ticket. He tends to 40/50 of these sorts of shows before starting an arena tour. If you can get a ticket I'd recommend it. Only £15 as well.
Out of genuine interest, where do tickets for WIP like these go on sale?
I have announcements set for a few tickets agencies. These were sold through Live Nation. They announced them at 9am last Friday and they went on sale at 10am. When you logged on you were assigned a random place in the queue. I got lucky and was position 55 of 9000. Basically pot luck. You needed photo ID to collect the ticket from the Box Office as well, assume to avoid touts.
That’s how my tickets were obtained although it wasn’t Me that got them it was a mate. They can be passed on but you need to let the box office or ticket agent know.
Always wonder how an American audience get his live stand up, even his tv stuff is very British in its construct and delivery. Are they drawn by his Golden Globes hosting? After all they treat their stars as Gods, it must make them curious, seeing someone coat thier idols off so viciously.
I love RG but as he ages (and don't we all...) his standup does seem dated now.
Love most of his stand up, but his recent one had a Jeremy Clarkson-esque old man "gammon" meltdown vibe about it. IT wasn't very funny. I think everything is fair game and nothing wrong with offending people, quite frankly, but you at least have to be funny.
I liked most of his TV stuff and stand up, but I gave his latest Netflix stand up show 5 minutes before turning it off. The joke seems to be I can't believe he said that rather than anything actually funny. The war on the woke stuff has dated very quickly.
Saw Ricky do a Work in Progress show at a 200 seater venue (Kings Place) last night. I am not the biggest fan of his stand up, but he was genuinely hilarious away from the arena setting. Lucked out getting a ticket. He tends to 40/50 of these sorts of shows before starting an arena tour. If you can get a ticket I'd recommend it. Only £15 as well.
Out of genuine interest, where do tickets for WIP like these go on sale?
I keep an eye on the Leicester Square Theatre - various comedians there and sometimes the better known ones.
Saw Ricky do a Work in Progress show at a 200 seater venue (Kings Place) last night. I am not the biggest fan of his stand up, but he was genuinely hilarious away from the arena setting. Lucked out getting a ticket. He tends to 40/50 of these sorts of shows before starting an arena tour. If you can get a ticket I'd recommend it. Only £15 as well.
Out of genuine interest, where do tickets for WIP like these go on sale?
I keep an eye on the Leicester Square Theatre - various comedians there and sometimes the better known ones.
Saw Ricky do a Work in Progress show at a 200 seater venue (Kings Place) last night. I am not the biggest fan of his stand up, but he was genuinely hilarious away from the arena setting. Lucked out getting a ticket. He tends to 40/50 of these sorts of shows before starting an arena tour. If you can get a ticket I'd recommend it. Only £15 as well.
Out of genuine interest, where do tickets for WIP like these go on sale?
I keep an eye on the Leicester Square Theatre - various comedians there and sometimes the better known ones.
Love most of his stand up, but his recent one had a Jeremy Clarkson-esque old man "gammon" meltdown vibe about it. IT wasn't very funny. I think everything is fair game and nothing wrong with offending people, quite frankly, but you at least have to be funny.
I liked most of his TV stuff and stand up, but I gave his latest Netflix stand up show 5 minutes before turning it off. The joke seems to be I can't believe he said that rather than anything actually funny. The war on the woke stuff has dated very quickly.
The Netflix show was awful and I'm surprised they bought it
Love most of his stand up, but his recent one had a Jeremy Clarkson-esque old man "gammon" meltdown vibe about it. IT wasn't very funny. I think everything is fair game and nothing wrong with offending people, quite frankly, but you at least have to be funny.
I liked most of his TV stuff and stand up, but I gave his latest Netflix stand up show 5 minutes before turning it off. The joke seems to be I can't believe he said that rather than anything actually funny. The war on the woke stuff has dated very quickly.
The Netflix show was awful and I'm surprised they bought it
I believe he's got a deal with Netflix for a certain number of specials, so I'm sure you will be seeing that material out the again soon!
Love most of his stand up, but his recent one had a Jeremy Clarkson-esque old man "gammon" meltdown vibe about it. IT wasn't very funny. I think everything is fair game and nothing wrong with offending people, quite frankly, but you at least have to be funny.
I liked most of his TV stuff and stand up, but I gave his latest Netflix stand up show 5 minutes before turning it off. The joke seems to be I can't believe he said that rather than anything actually funny. The war on the woke stuff has dated very quickly.
The Netflix show was awful and I'm surprised they bought it
I believe he's got a deal with Netflix for a certain number of specials, so I'm sure you will be seeing that material out the again soon!
Is the joke, Netflix have paid for this already so I can produce shite content?
Saw Ricky do a Work in Progress show at a 200 seater venue (Kings Place) last night. I am not the biggest fan of his stand up, but he was genuinely hilarious away from the arena setting. Lucked out getting a ticket. He tends to 40/50 of these sorts of shows before starting an arena tour. If you can get a ticket I'd recommend it. Only £15 as well.
Out of genuine interest, where do tickets for WIP like these go on sale?
I keep an eye on the Leicester Square Theatre - various comedians there and sometimes the better known ones.
I think some of his stuff is genius level. However I think all this “I’m a character when I do standup” bollocks is, well, bollocks. He is being himself and using the free hit of being a stand up comedian to say stuff that the rest of us would get arrested for saying. Frankie Boyle made a career out of doing so. I don’t have a problem with that so long as it’s funny and you have the choice whether to be offended or not (his words not mine). Problem is this latest Netflix routine just isn’t funny. About 20 years ago when RG was at the height of his “the office” breakthrough fame, the organisation I worked for hired him to be guest after dinner speaker at a major conference. He wasn’t cheap!! He used the opportunity to try out what I think morphed eventually into his “Flanimals” standup. It was terrible, all the more so because we thought we were getting David Brent.
Thought Supernature was brilliant, new one was alright... tried a bit too hard at being offensive for the sake of being offensive
Don't know about you but his "offensive" Golden Globes performances are hilarious.
Calling out hypocrisy and virtue signalling by amoral Hollywood stars with humour is fun entertainment because there is a germ of truth in the jokes. Just because a joke causes discomfort to the listener doesn't mean it's offensive.
His joke about the kid and the wanking adult I found kept up the discomfort in my mind too long - but that's not being offended.
I think that's his style, causing discomfort, not offence, plus fighting against the tide of the chronically offended, the self appointed arbiters of what can be joked about.
Saw Ricky do a Work in Progress show at a 200 seater venue (Kings Place) last night. I am not the biggest fan of his stand up, but he was genuinely hilarious away from the arena setting. Lucked out getting a ticket. He tends to 40/50 of these sorts of shows before starting an arena tour. If you can get a ticket I'd recommend it. Only £15 as well.
Out of genuine interest, where do tickets for WIP like these go on sale?
I've loved pretty much everything he's ever done but as others have alluded to his latest Netflix stand up was a tired even lazy effort. Same old jokes about babies with aids and even a Schindlers List bit. That was like 3 or 4 stand up shows ago FFS
Thought Supernature was brilliant, new one was alright... tried a bit too hard at being offensive for the sake of being offensive
Don't know about you but his "offensive" Golden Globes performances are hilarious.
Calling out hypocrisy and virtue signalling by amoral Hollywood stars with humour is fun entertainment because there is a germ of truth in the jokes. Just because a joke causes discomfort to the listener doesn't mean it's offensive.
His joke about the kid and the wanking adult I found kept up the discomfort in my mind too long - but that's not being offended.
I think that's his style, causing discomfort, not offence, plus fighting against the tide of the chronically offended, the self appointed arbiters of what can be joked about.
The globes wasn't offensive, it was pretty much comedy at the sake of the famous ppl. The trying too hard to be offensive is pretty much his last 2 specials.. which is basically now a bigger platform for his podcasts. I grew up watching Roy Chubby Brown, who just told jokes without the anti woke bs to hide behind and owned it.
We get it, everything is funny and any joke can be told... now we (he) need to move on to another topic because I definitely can't watch another hour on that topic.
Comments
Also at the start of that video, Harry could have easily slipped from a bang on Gervais impersonation onto doing Eddie Hearn
I love Ricky Gervais, the TV stuff I accept is an acquired taste and it needs paying attention to especially in Extras and Lifes too short as a whole episode could be set up to get one massive laugh and if you switch off the laugh can be missed.
I think what people don't like so much with him is the shock factor he goes for in his stand up, and I understand that. Frankie Boyle circa 2007/8 did it a lot more natrually. My criticism of Ricky is that maybe he oversells some of his observations, Afterlife he did that a bit but it only really applies if you have eaten a lot of his material.
What annoys me about him these days is the lecturing about atheism, and how he gets his characters such as Tony in After Life to become the mouthpieces for his atheist rants.
If it works for him, great. No need to keep lecturing everyone else about it. It's just as annoying as religious people who keep trying to convert you.
I think if your first experience of him presenting that is the character of Tony then yeah thats fine but like you say, its him channelling his own view through the character so anyone familiar with Rickys stance can then feel a bit saturated
He says that his on stage persona is a character, and the whole thing is one big, ironic joke. Yet I wonder how much of his audience get that. And sometimes it just feels like an excuse to say whatever he likes and not care about who it might hurt. Which is obviously allowed and we shouldn't dream of stopping that, although we should also be aware that it doesn't help the people he's 'picking on' if the audience don't really get it.
I love RG but as he ages (and don't we all...) his standup does seem dated now.
https://www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/whats-on/
Have seen Stephen K Amos and Simon Brodkin both here.
Calling out hypocrisy and virtue signalling by amoral Hollywood stars with humour is fun entertainment because there is a germ of truth in the jokes. Just because a joke causes discomfort to the listener doesn't mean it's offensive.
His joke about the kid and the wanking adult I found kept up the discomfort in my mind too long - but that's not being offended.
I think that's his style, causing discomfort, not offence, plus fighting against the tide of the chronically offended, the self appointed arbiters of what can be joked about.
We get it, everything is funny and any joke can be told... now we (he) need to move on to another topic