Netflix have commissioned another Gervais standup special:
https://m.facebook.com/rickygervais/posts/802570036534018
(http://i64.tinypic.com/6p874i.jpg)
Looks like it's one for the STEMlord techbro Atheism Plus Elon Musk-worshipping crowd then, but the most important thing is that Netflix are paying him the same undisclosed but apparently record-breaking number of million dollars for it:
https://mobile.twitter.com/rickygervais/status/1022818792005623809
Thanks for clarifying that, Ricky, we were getting worried for you... Ahead of filming the finished product he's doing a few work-in-progress shows in London in August- and in a great show of respect to his fans he has promised that they'll be "a fucking shambles". I wonder how many grieving parents will walk out this time:
https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2018/04/20/39738/ricky_gervais_announces_his_first_supernature_gigs
Looks like this will be hitting Netflix before too long, and that it will be even more smug and hateful than Humanity. I can't wait.
The most frustrating thing about Gervais as a stand-up is that he shows flashes of ability to write funny material. His stuff about having a baby and accidentally killing it in Humanity was pretty good, but he'd rather dominate the show shaming stoopid offended or religious folks on his twitter.
Yes, that "forget the Pampers" bit raised a guilty laugh from me, as did the "Hampstead cunt" stuff and "if God hates gays so much then why did He put the male G-spot up the arse?" The sad thing is that a certain crowd which is pretty big right now will lap up all the stuff about religion and superstition and it's just easier for him to be a crowd-pleaser and get those easy laughs.
That's what stuff like this is designed to do- make people feel smug and clever and superior, and that seems to be enough for Ricky these days, so who cares about raising a few laughs? As someone in the Humanity thread pointed out, that show felt more like an extended TED talk.
It's even lazier than going for shock value- he isn't actually that offensive, and he wouldn't dare go as far as Jerry Sadowitz, or even Frankie Boyle.
Quote from: Blue Jam on July 29, 2018, 02:21:47 PM
that show felt more like an extended TED talk.
With all the fuss Hannah Gadsby is getting expect more of these types of comedy shows resembling lectures (even though Gervais' and Gadsbys intentions for doing unfunny comedy shows are different, the end result is still the same - shit comedy), Chris Gethard was another set I saw that was going for the 'this is more than comedy' vibe, which is a similar vibe that Gervais is going for, again, for very different reasons.
It will be 'things I've ever said on Twitter 2'. Fuck that.
Celebrates the conclusion that nature is already super enough"
Yeah I remember reading that in The God Delusion and thinking "yes, obviously" (although I have to admit Dawkins came up with some great examples).
Minds will be blown.
Didnt he say something really earnest about how a religious person will never feel the same sense of wonder he feels when he looks at a tree? I really want to believe he was joking but its exactly the kind of twatty thing he'd say when hes thinking hes being insightful.
Quote from: Blue Jam on July 29, 2018, 02:21:47 PM
Yes, that "forget the Pampers" bit raised a guilty laugh from me, as did the "Hampstead cunt" stuff and "if God hates gays so much then why did He put the male G-spot up the arse?"
I haven't seen his original take, but that last one is the very definition of hack.
Sounds like a winner.
haha religious people are stupid
Quote from: jobotic on July 29, 2018, 09:46:48 PM
Celebrates the conclusion that nature is already super enough"
Yeah I remember reading that in The God Delusion and thinking "yes, obviously" (although I have to admit Dawkins came up with some great examples).
Minds will be blown.
I'm pretty sure Gervais has lifted the premise from Sagan in Cosmos, but i can't find the quote.
The man is utterly creatively barren. I'm sure if he just let someone else come up with some ideas and do some writing for him he could apply being a relatively funny guy and contribute something worthwhile. Unfortunately his ego wont allow it.
Christ, wait till he discovers Marilyn Manson.
Fewer jokes per minute as he wanks on about how brilliant an obscure sea creature is. And gets it wrong.
Quote from: phes on July 30, 2018, 02:04:59 PM
I'm pretty sure Gervais has lifted the premise from Sagan in Cosmos, but i can't find the quote.
The man is utterly creatively barren. I'm sure if he just let someone else come up with some ideas and do some writing for him he could apply being a relatively funny guy and contribute something worthwhile. Unfortunately his ego wont allow it.
There's also a bit in one of Feynman's books ('Surely you're joking...' maybe), about a time he went to an artist friend to learn how to draw, and the artist claimed Feynman's scientific knowledge of the stuff he was drawing detracted from its beauty, whereas Feynman thought that
because he knew about cells and photosynthesis and physics and shit the beauty was enhanced, and greater knowledge of the world could
only enhance its beauty. Something in that I suppose.
He's just rehashing the premise of Richard Dawkins Unweaving The Rainbow...
He's also doing more work-in-progress shows, and being very humble about them so far:
https://mobile.twitter.com/rickygervais/status/1035194602247147521
Just when I'd started believing in God again, this guy comes back to put a spanner in the works.
Whatever happened to the Derek Flanimals crossover?
At some point Ricky Gervais' stand-up should surely start to improve? On a number-of-performances basis he's beginning to reach the point where he's actually had a bit of experience.
Quote from: Blue Jam on August 30, 2018, 11:55:36 PM
He's just rehashing the premise of Richard Dawkins Unweaving The Rainbow...
He's also doing more work-in-progress shows, and being very humble about them so far:
https://mobile.twitter.com/rickygervais/status/1035194602247147521
Why does he accompany every tweet with a monochrome publicity shot of himself?
To strengthen the message.
I get the feeling Ricky Gervais really really wants to do a TedTalk.
Quote from: Replies From View on September 02, 2018, 11:08:04 AM
At some point Ricky Gervais' stand-up should surely start to improve? On a number-of-performances basis he's beginning to reach the point where he's actually had a bit of experience.
He doesn't do stand-up consistently and only performs in front of theatre crowds that already adore him. If anything, he's just going to get worse.
Quote from: bgmnts on September 03, 2018, 09:36:16 AM
I get the feeling Ricky Gervais really really wants to do a TedTalk.
KevTalk
He's exactly like a guy I know who reads New Scientist every week in order to parrot a mangled version of the articles to his cretinous friends in order to be "the professor". Just superficial, water-cooler level bollocks with no substance.
In the kingdom of the blind the one-eyed man is king.
Quote from: bgmnts on September 03, 2018, 09:36:16 AM
I get the feeling Ricky Gervais really really wants to do a TedTalk.
He's already doing them, but charging punters 50 quid a seat and selling the film to Netflix.
This evening I saw the play Rain Man with Matthew Horne doing the autistic character. As terrible as that sounds (and was) it still wasn't as bad as Derek.
Why doesn't the cunt just do an art installation that's a slideshow of his favourite Sick Twitter Burns with free Buck's Fizz and soft piano music playing over it? He'd make a packet and not have to leave bed. Cunt.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Clark1995Clark/status/1115372048711335943
https://mobile.twitter.com/davescr64/status/1115403042084589571
https://mobile.twitter.com/OllieKendrick/status/1097254536056619009
Gervais does an impersonation of AIDS.
Sounds well good!!!
Although to be fair, only twenty quid. Not a bad price for a colossal megasuperstar hollywood a-lister.
Ricky GervAIDS
Imagine someone doing AIDS jokes in 2019
It's amazing to consider that Gervais is childfree when so much of his material seems to have come from school playgrounds.
Ricky Gervais doing AIDS jokes is probably an indication of the last time he was sexually active when his wife wanted to fuck him
Quote from: phes on April 09, 2019, 03:20:47 PM
Ricky Gervais doing AIDS jokes is probably an indication of the last time he was sexually active when his wife wanted to fuck him
He isn't married. Gervais doesn't go in for social conformities, yeah. Get with the programme, guy.
His Caitlyn Jenner material was about two years out of date so perhaps it's not surprising that he's now doing AIDS material that's 30 years out of date.
Netflix special #3 will probably feature Sweden's high suicide rate and white dog poo. He could be the edgelord Peter Kay.
Quote from: Blue Jam on April 09, 2019, 12:51:57 PM
Gervais does an impersonation of AIDS.
The natural endpoint of his shtick
AIDS LOL
"There's been an AIDS up there."
I've not read the thread yet but there's a review up on the Guardian site: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/may/30/ricky-gervais-review-liam-neeson-louis-ck-netflix-supernature
The comments are astonishing. My favourite so far:
QuoteMore necessary than ever. Great comic mind.
Quote from: Konki on May 30, 2019, 07:13:12 PM
I've not read the thread yet but there's a review up on the Guardian site: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/may/30/ricky-gervais-review-liam-neeson-louis-ck-netflix-supernature
The comments are astonishing. My favourite so far:
From the review:
QuoteOne routine after another is designed to flout PC propriety and startle us with rudeness. There's the one about the "Chinaman" who mixes his L's and R's. (Yes, really).
I believe the only logical response is "Fucking hell".
Come on, a "flied lice" gag is needed now more than ever.
Quote from: jobotic on May 30, 2019, 07:52:48 PM
Come on, a "flied lice" gag is needed now more than ever.
Hmmm, I'm not so sure but I'll test it out when I'm teaching my Chinese kids tomorrow and get back to you.
A few days ago a co-worker was saying how much she loved Ricky Gervais, especially his newer stuff. The same colleague was getting nostalgic for Little Britain a few days earlier, and in particular she was doing a gleeful impression of Ting-Tong, their Thai bride character, and saying how you're not even allowed to have fun anymore without the PC brigade coming along, etc. So I suppose she'll be happy.
Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on May 30, 2019, 07:48:29 PM
From the review:
I believe the only logical response is "Fucking hell".
I'm getting
Afterlife deja vu, the content of that review seems to add up to less than the 3 stars given.
Remember in the David Brent film when David Brent and Del Boy were standing up in the office going HERRO I'M HO LEE FUK at the top of their voices, and the Finchy bully-type character, the one we're meant to think is the unreasonable prick, the alpha-male lad type, told them to shut the fuck up and get on with their work? What an incisive comment on office life.
Quote from: bigfatheart on May 30, 2019, 08:18:26 PM
A few days ago a co-worker was saying how much she loved Ricky Gervais, especially his newer stuff. The same colleague was getting nostalgic for Little Britain a few days earlier, and in particular she was doing a gleeful impression of Ting-Tong, their Thai bride character, and saying how you're not even allowed to have fun anymore without the PC brigade coming along, etc. So I suppose she'll be happy.
Straight in the desolation thread - cheers!
The Guardian review suggests he's still nicking things from what Karl Pilkington said nearly 20 years ago.
Yeah I seem to recall the 2 episodes of After Life I watched had numerous little bits he'd ripped from Pilkers.
I still listen to the old radio stuff and Gervais could be so funny sometimes. At least Merchant isn't a wanker.
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 30, 2019, 11:30:19 PM
The Guardian review suggests he's still nicking things from what Karl Pilkington said nearly 20 years ago.
Unless it was material written by Gervais in the first place anyway ahhh.
Seriously though, I think every stand-up show Gervais has done has had large chunks of material directly lifted from things Karl Pilkington has said on the xfm radio shows.
He's on Sam Harris' podcast this week. This ought to be good, I wonder what profundity he will drop for us. Let me guess...wokeness, the right to be offensive, how thoughtful, layered, and deep his work is, how it's not his fault if people don't get irony, etc., etc.
two turds in a pod
Gervais 'religion is shit isn't it?'
Harris 'Yes especially the muslims'
Quote from: Mr Faineant on July 13, 2019, 04:03:42 PM
He's on Sam Harris' podcast this week. This ought to be good, I wonder what profundity he will drop for us. Let me guess...wokeness, the right to be offensive, how thoughtful, layered, and deep his work is, how it's not his fault if people don't get irony, etc., etc.
17 minutes in, he's already done all that.
I am going to have to hate-listen to this aren't I? I won't be able to resist.
Has Gervais asked Ham Sarris if he'd let him replace Christopher Hitchens as The Fourth Horseman Of Atheism?
Quote from: Dr Rock on July 13, 2019, 07:35:21 PM
17 minutes in, he's already done all that.
Ha! Has he told Sam about some tweets he's done?
Quote from: Blue Jam on July 13, 2019, 09:07:49 PM
I am going to have to hate-listen to this aren't I? I won't be able to resist.
Has Gervais asked Ham Sarris if he'd let him replace Christopher Hitchens as The Fourth Horseman Of Atheism?
It sounds like the perfect vehicle for a hate listen. I assume he is a big Sam Harris fan, so listening to him snivel sounds delightful.
American atheism is so fucking annoying and smug. Big fucking conferences and stuff. I mean I know that that's needed in America because of the sheer inertia of ignorance they have to deal with over there but when they start coming over here with lectures and other assorted AIDS I just think, yeah mate. We've known all this for ages over here. It ceased being edgy in the mid to late 20th century.
Which is also coincidentally when Gervais' playground jokes are from.
It's almost as annoying and smug as American Christians like Mike Pence...a grown man who calls his wife "mother." I hate that cunt, with his fucking face and his refusal to answer questions. I moved to America from England in 2003...it was very strange when I realized how religious they are. You are right, it hasn't been relevant in England for any of my life, but it's still a powerful and damaging force over here. As smug and cunty as these things indeed are, I think constant public criticism of toxic Christianity is needed. I don't think it does much good in the short term, it just adds to division and defensiveness, but over time the constant drum beat shifts the consensus.
A lot of the debates they have with creationists etc. are just pointless. In a formal setting it only serves to legitimise nonsense by responding to it.
Quote from: Cold Meat Platter on July 13, 2019, 11:41:23 PM
A lot of the debates they have with creationists etc. are just pointless. In a formal setting it only serves to legitimise nonsense by responding to it.
I agree. Do they still do those? I've not seen one for years.
I don't think so, was always embarrassing stuff from both sides though. Folk like Harris now prefer to have a podcast as their little supposed fact pump with no dissenting voices.
Tried to listen to this on the way into work as I'm genuinely intrigued as to whatever that maniac Gervais gets up to these days, but got fifteen minutes in and fuck me it's boring.
The creator of Derek and After Life whinging about how there's no room for subtlety and nuance anymore did give me a chuckle though.
Finally got around to listening. No surprises, same old twoddle. Awkward every time he tells Sam something funny he once said.
People, in general, seem to really like him don't they? They think he is funny highly intelligent, and a legitimate comedian. Unusual.
OH FUCK OFF (https://centerforinquiry.org/press_releases/ricky-gervais-to-win-the-2019-richard-dawkins-award-in-london/)
(https://i.redd.it/txgzh4gx5qa31.jpg)
Get your tickets here- only £38.50:
https://troxy.co.uk/event/richard-dawkins-and-ricky-gervais-in-conversation/
QuotePrepare for an unforgettable evening of irreverence and inspiration as one of the most influential and controversial comedians of our time, Ricky Gervais, joins one of the world's foremost scientists, Richard Dawkins, for an unscripted conversation in which everything is on the table and nothing is sacred. Both proud and outspoken atheists, renowned for their sharp wits and keen intellects, Gervais and Dawkins will cover a wide range of topics as only they can, all with the help of the evening's host, psychologist and author Richard Wiseman.
I'm an atheist and I would honestly rather go to church than go to this.
Quote from: Blue Jam on July 16, 2019, 11:39:03 PM
OH FUCK OFF (https://centerforinquiry.org/press_releases/ricky-gervais-to-win-the-2019-richard-dawkins-award-in-london/)
(https://i.redd.it/txgzh4gx5qa31.jpg)
I'm an atheist and I would honestly rather go to church than go to this.
If I cringed any louder, I'd wake up Ferris Jr upstairs.
Embarrassing. State of it.
If it hadn't been for the fact that I saw that the other day, I'd have thought it was a fake.
I had to check out the Centre for Inquiry site just to convince myself it was a real ad for a real event...
It's incredible that the novelty of being an atheist has never worn off for Ricky. He's the 17 year old philosophy student he used to take the piss out of in his standup.
So unbelievably tedious. To this day I cannot believe how some seemingly normal people with a brain have praised After Life / Derek as anything other than absolute shite.
I wonder if he still bullies all his mates or if that's only his non-famous mates.
I was a militant atheist once, and then I grew up... I also drifted away from the whole Skeptic movement, but to be fair that started out as a great bunch of lads doing good work before the obnoxious Reddit arseholes and I Fucking Love Science twats got on board.
That event has almost sold out, and everyone who bought a ticket wants graving, and then for Hell to actually exist so they can end up there being tortured for all of eternity by the feeling of their own deflated smugness.
even the most ignorant religious person would be more interesting to listen to than those two cunts.
Secular values
Love animals, hate fat people, love tolerance, hate gross disgusting people, oppose bigotry, EURGH LOOK AT THAT DISGUSTING WOBBLY MESS
Quote from: Blue Jam on July 16, 2019, 11:39:03 PM
OH FUCK OFF (https://centerforinquiry.org/press_releases/ricky-gervais-to-win-the-2019-richard-dawkins-award-in-london/)
(https://i.redd.it/txgzh4gx5qa31.jpg)
Get your tickets here- only £38.50:
https://troxy.co.uk/event/richard-dawkins-and-ricky-gervais-in-conversation/
I'm an atheist and I would honestly rather go to church than go to this.
Hopefully see this in wimblewrong
Quote from: Blue Jam on July 16, 2019, 11:47:45 PM
I had to check out the Centre for Inquiry site just to convince myself it was a real ad for a real event...
I would have had to do the same were it not for your post.
Looking at the list of recipients for the award, it basically seems like the reified, atheist version of a Twitter blue tick as I'm pretty sure few on there have actually done much to advance any rationalist causes, atheism-related or otherwise.
After watching Louis Theroux's latest documentary I had a look at Meghan Phelps-Roper's Twitter feed. I don't think she's an atheist, but she does actually challenge other people on some of the finer points of religious apologia. I reckon that's more likely to advanced secular causes than Gervais's hackneyed one-liners. It's certainly more interesting to read.
Quote from: Blue Jam on July 16, 2019, 11:39:03 PM
OH FUCK OFF (https://centerforinquiry.org/press_releases/ricky-gervais-to-win-the-2019-richard-dawkins-award-in-london/)
(https://i.redd.it/txgzh4gx5qa31.jpg)
Borderline Up the Arse corner. Not that there's much room left since they're both intent on disappearing up their own.
Ricky Gervais retweeted... oh of course he fucking did:
(https://i.ibb.co/ckryYph/Screenshot-20190718-175155-Samsung-Internet.jpg)
Can't wait for Dawkins and Gervais to really hash it out about Venn diagrams.
I now hope that there's an afterlife purely so God can tear a strip off these two prawns.
If I don't think his hackneyed teenage punching down shit is clever and funny does that mean I don't get irony or know that jokes are reality?
I wish I was a clever man like Ricky. I can't be though, I'm not rich.
Quote from: shiftwork2 on July 18, 2019, 06:39:52 PM
I now hope that there's an afterlife purely so God can tear a strip off these two prawns.
Genuine lol
How many different ways can one post say the same thing? He should have thrown 'SJWs' and 'trigger warnings' and 'offended millenials' as well, not sure the point is quite clear enough.
Quote from: Old Gold Tooth on July 15, 2019, 01:45:58 PM
Tried to listen to this on the way into work as I'm genuinely intrigued as to whatever that maniac Gervais gets up to these days, but got fifteen minutes in and fuck me it's boring.
The creator of Derek and After Life whinging about how there's no room for subtlety and nuance anymore did give me a chuckle though.
You managed longer than I did. The only interesting thing was the way he was avoiding (and I'm positive it was active avoidance) mentioning Stephen Merchant's name, particularly when he was describing the genesis of David Brent.
Always funny listening to modern comedians whining about social impositions on what they can say, when their predecessors had actual obscenity laws to navigate.
At least one of the images on this page has to be a parody, right? Either the Dawkins tweet or the event poster has to be a massive pisstake.
Quote from: Jumblegraws on July 19, 2019, 08:46:21 AM
You managed longer than I did. The only interesting thing was the way he was avoiding (and I'm positive it was active avoidance) mentioning Stephen Merchant's name, particularly when he was describing the genesis of David Brent.
Yeah, I noticed the same. Similarly I can remember Merchant being interviewed when Life on the Road was released and the interviewer calling it "an Office film". Merch corrected them immediately and said it wasn't an Office film, it was a David Brent film.
Seems like the fallout of their partnership ending is that they created The Office together, but Gervais created/owns Brent. Which I suppose makes sense since the "character" is just Gervais taking off his black t-shirt and putting on a shirt and tie.
What i don't understand is why the creator of the kindest fictional character since Jesus and the author of the Selfish Gene would want to hang out together.
That poster genuinely just looks like a wimblewrong entry
I would absolutely rather listen to a priest for twice as long than to this smugfest.
I've disliked Gervais for a long time, but since hearing his shitty transphobic jokes I have nothing but contempt for him. One of the prime examples of undeserved success.
I'd rather listen to my infant son being tortured.
Oh, he really is avoiding any mention of Merchant there.
[dawkins dies & meets God]
"oh. you're real. so this is heaven?"
"no."
Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on July 19, 2019, 10:31:55 PM
Oh, he really is avoiding any mention of Merchant there.
Oh yes, he totally is.
I liked Gervais' description of
The 11 o'Clock Show as "sort of like a cutting-edge no-holds-barred sort of
Saturday Night Live". Ha.
Quote from: Blue Jam on July 18, 2019, 05:54:16 PM
Ricky Gervais retweeted... oh of course he fucking did:
(https://i.ibb.co/ckryYph/Screenshot-20190718-175155-Samsung-Internet.jpg)
"Failure to get irony". Fffffffuck off!
Christ I see he's started RTing "Titania McGrath" now, new personal nadir.
Does he retweeted that same tweet from "Ricky Gervais Trivia" every few days?
https://mobile.twitter.com/rickygervais/status/1159020086939791362
Why? It's weird.
Quote from: Blue Jam on July 18, 2019, 05:54:16 PM
Ricky Gervais retweeted... oh of course he fucking did:
(https://i.ibb.co/ckryYph/Screenshot-20190718-175155-Samsung-Internet.jpg)
Oh good, always thought Sam Harris was a good debater with some shite opinions, now I realise he is completely morally bankrupt. It's hard to decide who comes off worse here, Harris for being so aggressive about "good faith arguments" and then allowing a cynical sell-out comedian on his show, or Gervais for trying to gain credibility by appearing on this wank fest.
Quote from: McFlymo on August 07, 2019, 09:48:44 PM
Oh good, always thought Sam Harris was a good debater with some shite opinions, now I realise he is completely morally bankrupt. It's hard to decide who comes off worse here, Harris for being so aggressive about "good faith arguments" and then allowing a cynical sell-out comedian on his show, or Gervais for trying to gain credibility by appearing on this wank fest.
It's Harris that comes across worse.
I'd say there's a decent chance that Gervais will be declared Hitchens's replacement as one of the so-called Four Horsemen of New Atheism (that "so-called" modifier is there as my personal cringe buffer). For sure if Jane Fallon helps him shit out a book on the subject.
Quote from: Jumblegraws on August 07, 2019, 11:56:00 PM
For sure if Jane Fallon helps him shit out a book on the subject.
I keep forgetting his partner is a bestselling novellist- ie, someone who presumably understands a thing or two about writing believable plots and relatable characters. Does she ever help him out, I wonder? I suspect not...
I've also just realised that whole thing about how Ricky has never finished reading a book must mean he has also never finished one of Jane Fallon's...
Ash Atalla has made this not remotely surprising revelation about Gervais: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/news/ricky-gervais-wheelchair-jokes-disabled-people-ash-atalla-the-office-a9084841.html
Quote from: olliebean on August 31, 2019, 08:39:27 AM
Ash Atalla has made this not remotely surprising revelation about Gervais: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/news/ricky-gervais-wheelchair-jokes-disabled-people-ash-atalla-the-office-a9084841.html
Blimey!
It definitely feels like the disabled people he works with are thought of by him as validating his own obsession with people who are different to him. I vividly remember at the height of MongGate, Gervais tweeting that of course he couldn't be prejudiced, because they'd had Francesca Martinez on Extras - blissfully unaware that she was being openly critical of him on Twitter for his pissweak defence of the word.
It's why I went off him in the first place. Up until Life's Too Short came out, I was a full Gervais fanboy, and I really loved Warwick Davis, too. I was really excited to get to see him do a comedy about his experiences. And then production started and it was all HA HA WARWICK IN A BIN and HA HA WARWICK IN A TOILET and advert after advert where Gervais did that 'yeah we've got a dwarfism one' shtick, and I saw nothing of Warwick getting to be funny off his own back.
Quote from: olliebean on August 31, 2019, 08:39:27 AM
Ash Atalla has made this not remotely surprising revelation about Gervais: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/news/ricky-gervais-wheelchair-jokes-disabled-people-ash-atalla-the-office-a9084841.html
Interesting view in a comment on that article:
QuoteGervais is lucky in that having never pandered to the woke purge, he doesn't need to be afraid of the vultures. None of his fans care about his thought crimes, your show-trial by social media has no currency and he is immune.
imagine if ricky gervais had a son and he made them dress the same as him, fold their arms all the time and smirk knowingly about how there is no god.
QuoteAsh Atalla said looking back on the jokes Gervais made about his wheelchair use makes him 'uncomfortable'
...makes Atalla sound a bit like a wheelchair addict.
Quote from: idunnosomename on August 31, 2019, 01:17:24 PM
imagine if ricky gervais had a son
Pic of Ricky and baby.
Baby is doing an innocently gormless expression and Ricky is copying it, mongface to the max.
Caption: "Jane, one of us needs our nappy changing."
Pinned tweet.
Quote from: Blue Jam on July 18, 2019, 05:54:16 PM
Ricky Gervais retweeted... oh of course he fucking did:
(https://i.ibb.co/ckryYph/Screenshot-20190718-175155-Samsung-Internet.jpg)
Is that look Gervais's attempt to convey gravitas?
Gervitas
Quote from: olliebean on August 31, 2019, 08:39:27 AM
Ash Atalla has made this not remotely surprising revelation about Gervais: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/news/ricky-gervais-wheelchair-jokes-disabled-people-ash-atalla-the-office-a9084841.html
The original Times article mentioned in that link also included this particularly mirthless photo.
(https://i.imgur.com/GRJ8C0q.jpg)
Looking at that, you can really see where the brilliance of "Jesus on cross with ATHEIST written on his chest" and "Churchill doing the V-sign behind Hitler's head" came from.
Fucking hell, Gervais pointing. DO YOU GET IT?!?
Quote from: olliebean on August 31, 2019, 08:39:27 AM
Ash Atalla has made this not remotely surprising revelation about Gervais: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/news/ricky-gervais-wheelchair-jokes-disabled-people-ash-atalla-the-office-a9084841.html
QuoteAccording to The Times, Astra told the Edinburgh Television Festival last week: "I was complicit in him making fun of the wheelchair
Who's Astra?
Quote from: Jockice on September 03, 2019, 10:15:43 AM
That bloke with the dreadlocks from UB40.
Strange the way they just seamlessly slipped a quote by him into an article about Ash Atalla.
wonder how often ricky reads this thread. twice a day?
Ricky's released a bit of his new standup
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovSe80zSptE
Hot fresh material
If Stewart Lee sued a ludicrously balding man (for merely stealing material that was several decades old), his CaB rep would be in tatters.
Step carefully, Lee.
God, that really is all he's got, isn't it? The fact that his trailer is just him explaining the "irony" excuse really shows how thin his material is.
The fact he wears the same clothes for every stand-up makes these feel vastly more interchangeable than most specials.
The fact his material is identical doesn't help either.
Seeing stealing from Stewart Lee as a great opportunity for plausible deniability.
He gets to say things most of his audience will think, and pretend that he's playing with the form or whatever. God he's shit.
Even he sounds tired of it all
A braver joke from Ricky Gervais would be one about what it's like to be a female comedian who's treated as a crazy bitch liar because they told the truth about his mate Louis CK sexually harassing them. Doubted and ridiculed for years online, with fuck-all done to make it up to them when CK belatedly admitted they'd been right all along. But despite what the fucking idiots he's now cultivated as his audience say, Gervais doesn't have even 0.01% of the bravery of them. Ooh, you go on stage as a rich celebrity and say celebrities are too rich and Tom Cruise is gay and Caitlyn Jenner is weird do you? Oh, give him a medal for bravery.
Ugh the weasel really does know his audience, doesn't he.
I remember early in his stand-up he made a crack about "sending gypsies back" or something like that, and in a later interview Gervais said he was mortified that someone in the audience cheered him. He said he shouldn't have to come out on stage calling himself "Billy Bigot" in order to tell what were clearly ironic jokes.
Looking back it seems clear that he wasn't mortified about perpetuating dangerous attitudes, but was actually annoyed that he wasn't "allowed" to do jokes that chimed well with racist scum.
Well, he seems to have gotten over that now anyway so good for him.
One thing that surprises me is that his audience don't find it patronising having the irony gimmick explained to them over and over. Or, in fact, having the jokes explained to them immediately after.
They must be very thick.
I bet there's a lot of them thinking "oh he's just saying that bit about irony to cover himself, we all know he means it - bloody unfunny women comedians".
As with the Jimmy Carr gypsy joke, there are audible cheers in amongst the laughs for that.
Interesting comment from fajer, as I'd always just assumed Gervais has too much of an ego to consider that a cheer may not be for the quality of joke, but if he's aware what a cheer to an ironically bigoted comment means then he doesn't really have that excuse.
Some comments under the video:
Quote from: A user who has a 'politics' playlist of Fox news anti-BLM contentRicky Gervais is the lifeboat on a sinking ship that is Netflix. As long as NF turns it self around from the all the woke trash, they may have a chance.
QuoteHe didn't make any jokes. He made a series of factual statements that happened to funny!!
QuoteMen try to be funny to impress women. Women don't need to be funny because men are already impress by a woman who shows any interest in them.
QuoteIf you have not seen, "Derek" yet....do so. xo
QuoteIt's sad that in today's culture, he has to walk people through how a joke works 🤦�♀️
QuotePeople are going to try to cancel this so hard. What a legend
QuoteRicky Gervais is a comedy genius 🤣
Before he can even make his argument about irony, I love that his audience completely undermine it by cheering the joke about female comedians.
QuoteB.B_is_here
5 hours ago
I'm excited to see him on Netflix with his new stuff. Breath of fresh air compared to all that Netflix have been trying to push on to stay relevant and quiet the cancel mob.
There's just not enough main stream stuff on global streaming platforms.
Quote from: Ferris on May 03, 2022, 01:50:32 AMIf Stewart Lee sued a ludicrously balding man (for merely stealing material that was several decades old), his CaB rep would be in tatters.
Step carefully, Lee.
My apologies to mr gervais, the purloined material is ~17 years old, not several decades. I regret the error. (https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/comedy/stewart-lee-standup-comedian-full-transcript/)
I've been hearing that a lot recently. What is all the "woke" stuff that Netflix are supposed to make?
Is this all because of Nanette? And Nanette wasn't even that "woke", just saying don't beat up lesbians.
Now. What I said about female comics isn't true. But what your reaction tells us about what I said about female comics...
I know all the funny genders
men
all the funny genders
Quote from: BritishHobo on May 03, 2022, 08:14:59 AMGod, that really is all he's got, isn't it? The fact that his trailer is just him explaining the "irony" excuse really shows how thin his material is.
I think he was ironically explaining it. He knew everyone knew, but he was making fun of the idea that they didn't.
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on May 03, 2022, 03:02:22 PMI think he was ironically explaining it. He knew everyone knew, but he was making fun of the idea that they didn't.
I think he was making sure all the safety equipment was in place for him to say it for the part of his audience that genuinely think you can't say anything these days, and also using that to bolster the thicko part of his audience that
hate thinking for themselves and love the party line to be repeated ad nauseam.
That covers all his audience.
Quote from: Ron Superior on May 03, 2022, 01:36:28 PMI've been hearing that a lot recently. What is all the "woke" stuff that Netflix are supposed to make?
Is this all because of Nanette? And Nanette wasn't even that "woke", just saying don't beat up lesbians.
I think "woke" = "anything with women in it who aren't wives/girlfriends/secretaries/prostitutes."
The joy of being a Woke-Finder General is that "wokeness" doesn't actually need to be present in the material itself for it to be condemned; it's just the way they are, you know, the ones who commission it.
You know what I mean, can't say anything reprehensible these days. Disgusting.
Supernature thread here:
https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=68296.0
Perhaps we need to split this off into a new one,
@Barry Admin?
Quote from: Video Game Fan 2000 on May 03, 2022, 02:50:33 PMI know all the funny genders
men
all the funny genders
underrated post
Quote from: Ron Superior on May 03, 2022, 01:36:28 PMI've been hearing that a lot recently. What is all the "woke" stuff that Netflix are supposed to make?
Is this all because of Nanette? And Nanette wasn't even that "woke", just saying don't beat up lesbians.
I suspect it has more to do with their deal with Prince Harry and EVIL MEGHAN. Stuff like the Invictus Games documentary- is that woke or not? It's got disabled people, but also Are Brave Boys. And EVIL MEGHAN- so on balance it probably is woke, yeah. It could feature a competitive fox hunting event and it'd still be woke.
Quote from: Cuellar on May 03, 2022, 09:13:53 AMEven he sounds tired of it all
It's also basically a reprise of the scene in Extras where his character is asked to name 'one funny black British comedian'.
So Netflix paid $45 million for two of his shows. If those shows attract four million subscribers for one month, they'll have just about made a profit. Seems realistic.
24th of May for this:
https://deadline.com/2022/05/ricky-gervais-supernature-stand-up-special-netflix-premiere-date-1235014372/
Hatewatch-along anyone?
Quote from: phes on April 09, 2019, 03:20:47 PMRicky Gervais doing AIDS jokes is probably an indication of the last time he was sexually active when his wife wanted to fuck him
If we're going to be devastatingly self-aware here, CaB isn't impartial to a spot of the old AIDS jokery itself.
Quote from: Konki on May 30, 2019, 07:13:12 PMI've not read the thread yet but there's a review up on the Guardian site: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/may/30/ricky-gervais-review-liam-neeson-louis-ck-netflix-supernature
The comments are astonishing. My favourite so far:
QuoteMore necessary than ever. Great comic mind.
Needs a comma.
"Adequate comedian, mind you."
Quote from: Mobius on May 30, 2019, 11:39:25 PMAt least Merchant isn't a wanker.
In the Pilkington context Merchant was the Richard Hammond to Gervais' Jeremy Clarkson. The lickspittle bully facilitator who leapt up and down with joy as someone else was bullied, grateful that it wasn't him.
Quote from: Blue Jam on July 16, 2019, 11:39:03 PMOH FUCK OFF (https://centerforinquiry.org/press_releases/ricky-gervais-to-win-the-2019-richard-dawkins-award-in-london/)
(https://i.redd.it/txgzh4gx5qa31.jpg)
Get your tickets here- only £38.50:
https://troxy.co.uk/event/richard-dawkins-and-ricky-gervais-in-conversation/
I'm an atheist and I would honestly rather go to church than go to this.
It would be an inexplicably funny image simply by overlaying Dawkins' shoulder over Gervais' shoulder without adjusting the scale of their respective heads.
Just realised I'm replying to posts 3 years old - sorry!
Fuck me, imagine thinking that anything new from Gervais was even remotely "necessary."
Quote from: Blue Jam on May 06, 2022, 12:00:03 PM24th of May for this:
https://deadline.com/2022/05/ricky-gervais-supernature-stand-up-special-netflix-premiere-date-1235014372/
Hatewatch-along anyone?
I hope he makes a crass joke and imitates someone using a typewriter to say how offended they are https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnle98
Presumably he's old enough to have used a typewriter when he was young but he can't even mime one properly. Unless someone's complaining in Arabic.
Imagine doing a routine about irony in 2022. People have either moved on to grim post-irony or they're still just bigots who find jokes about hating women funny. Pathetic understanding of where the wider world's sense of humour is at right now.
He's honestly not developed as an artist since 2001. If anything he's gone backwards.
Quote from: BritishHobo on May 07, 2022, 09:18:40 PMHe's honestly not developed as an artist since 2001. If anything he's gone backwards.
He's stood still, but stripped away every active collaborator and influence from around him. It reminds me of a friend who started a band I absolutely loved going back 25 years ago. As the years passed the band segued into other projects that centered them more and more. They were all fuckawful hackneyed shite auteur wankdreams.
There's a new clip from this up on Netflix where he makes the strikingly original and very valid and not at all disingenuous point that political correctness is actually just very patronising to minorities, and then goes on to make - for the first time ever, I believe - the joke that he's actually a minority because he's a multimillionaire, and there's only 1% of them. And the audience actually cheers the fact that he's a multimillionaire! What the fuck is that?!
That joke is so old it's in an episode of Frasier*
*actually true
Quote from: phes on May 08, 2022, 11:03:04 AMHe's stood still, but stripped away every active collaborator and influence from around him.
Yes. And it's really good to see his previous close collaborators are all doing well on their own, progressing and attempting different things.
He's really becoming the UK Joe Rogan in a way.
Quote from: Cuellar on May 11, 2022, 10:31:04 AMThat joke is so old it's in an episode of Frasier*
*actually true
I remember in an interview with him, it might have been in that talking funny show - where he says he only wants to do a joke if it's one that no one else could have come up with.
Cut to him making almost entirely hackneyed, route one jokes, or ones that literally already exist. I remember watching one of his later specials and he literally told a joke I knew at primary school.
Quote from: Cuellar on May 11, 2022, 10:31:04 AMThat joke is so old it's in an episode of Frasier*
*actually true
There's also a variant of it in
Fresh Meat, where JP accuses his housemates of being "money racists" because "being rich is a race too". Except instead of cheering they all treat this remark with the contempt it deserves.
Quote from: Blue Jam on May 11, 2022, 02:36:29 PMThere's also a variant of it in Fresh Meat, where JP accuses his housemates of being "money racists" because "being rich is a race too". Except instead of cheering they all treat this remark with the contempt it deserves.
Reminds me that I need to re-watch Fresh Meat at some point.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ER1v46aUwAMo6JY.jpg)
Ricky Gervais stealing jokes from gentle PBS cartoons for young children
those two characters show more depth and genuine emotion than three series of after life too
Quote from: Rich Uncle Skeleton on May 12, 2022, 11:35:01 AMthose two characters show more depth and genuine emotion than three series of after life too
If only one of them called the other one a cunt, then we're talking.
Arthur punches D.W. but the only consequence is everyone telling him what a kind aardvark he is
In fairness Arthur's wife had died, I don't know how you don't call everyone you meet a fat cunt after something like that.
Quote from: Blue Jam on May 11, 2022, 02:36:29 PMThere's also a variant of it in Fresh Meat, where JP accuses his housemates of being "money racists" because "being rich is a race too". Except instead of cheering they all treat this remark with the contempt it deserves.
Just listened to a clip of Nick Ferrari arguing with a person of colour that he, too, is a person of colour because white is a colour. I'll be looking out for that in Gervais' next special. (I won't, because I won't be watching it.)
I hovered over this when browsing Netflix so the trailer played, and it was him droning on about atheism again. Fuck off you melt, nobody cares.
Quote from: Elderly Sumo Prophecy on May 12, 2022, 02:14:41 PMI hovered over this when browsing Netflix so the trailer played, and it was him droning on about atheism again. Fuck off you melt, nobody cares.
Great excuse to post this again though:
(https://i.imgur.com/ljiQC9K.png)
Aargh!
Photoshop, crash diet or sucking his belly in?
This one is quite funny too
(https://i.pinimg.com/236x/52/e5/66/52e5666199798a8993f14c4fa9f1aff3--male-portraits-studio-portraits.jpg)
These were done for Rolling Stone in 2011 by renowned portrait photographer Nadav Kander. The magazine rejected his images and it was used on New Humanist magazine in September instead
He also sent (or at least he claims he did) Rolling Stone a photo of himself dressed as a clown with a gun in his mouth. 100% he came up with these concepts all by himself and he thought they were massively profound, and still does, because he is the cleverest funniest kindest man ever
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRREw93DvfxIaJV9vXgdSSz7BhGWx1b0kUBRw&usqp=CAU)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ddw2qu5VQAEAnWC.jpg)
(https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/shot_02_041_a_l.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cr03JdPWcAQMD27.jpg)
(https://blog.gretschguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Ricky-Gervais-24-Guitar-Aficionado-Mar-Apr-2017-Credit-Eleanor-Jane.jpeg)
(https://www.ladbible.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=70,format=jpeg,fit=contain,dpr=1/https%3A%2F%2Fs3-images.ladbible.com%2Fs3%2Fcontent%2F91546f965d5a8b2031ab8e47860e8b49.png)
(https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/%2Fmethode%2Fsundaytimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2Fa769afaa-b25e-11e6-8b50-484b486f046d.jpg?crop=2667%2C1500%2C0%2C0)
(https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5e69bffd2300002b1ade2e85.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
I have one of those Gretsch parlour guitars, they're quite good. Will have to go straight in the bin now, unfortunately.
Thanks for those
@checkoutgirl - they are either terrible or ridiculous. He really does see himself as iconic which is a bit awkward.
What's the point of the last one? He doesn't have a thing about being a Pagliacci or Hancock figure does he? I thought his thing was being a Socratic clown teaching us all the correct way to think.
Hope the flash on the camera caused that dog to attack him.
He'd hate being called a clown, wouldn't he?
don't think he'd give a toss, he's a dog
He should have done one with him in full SS uniform.
Quote from: Des Wigwam on May 12, 2022, 04:54:37 PMHe'd hate being called a clown, wouldn't he?
He did a bit about hating clowns and clowns being anti comedy when Stephen Mitchell said he went to school dressed as a clown for charity.
He's blowing his brains out with a gun because he doesn't want to be a clown.
Or just dressing up for attention and a photo shoot. His fifteenth that year probably.
Quote from: Replies From View on May 06, 2022, 12:51:53 PMIn the Pilkington context Merchant was the Richard Hammond to Gervais' Jeremy Clarkson. The lickspittle bully facilitator who leapt up and down with joy as someone else was bullied, grateful that it wasn't him.
This certainly wasn't true in the XFM podcasts. Merchant routinely pointed out that Gervais was trying to engineer that with Pilkington as the Hammond figure.
Quote from: mr. logic on May 12, 2022, 06:23:50 PMThis certainly wasn't true in the XFM podcasts. Merchant routinely pointed out that Gervais was trying to engineer that with Pilkington as the Hammond figure.
The dynamic was always Gervais + Merchant calling Pilkington an idiot. Occasionally Gervais would wind up Merchant by getting Pilkington to say what he thought of him (Pilkington would say Merchant looked odd or was miserly), but it wasn't even remotely on the same level.
I remember those photos from when I was quite a big Gervais fan and used to read his blog. Even back then I found them cringe-inducing.
Quote from: Replies From View on May 12, 2022, 06:30:31 PMThe dynamic was always Gervais + Merchant calling Pilkington an idiot.
I don't think it was simple as that. I seem to remember that Merchant would frequently castigate Gervais for interrupting Pilkington and not letting him finish a thought. And I think he did get genuinely annoyed by Karl's pathological reluctance to expand his horizons - rather than just overegging how 'thick' he was the way Gervais did.
Quote from: checkoutgirl on May 12, 2022, 04:11:52 PM(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cr03JdPWcAQMD27.jpg)
Wow, if people didn't like his envelope-pushing maverick style before, this photo will surely convince any doubters. How much more subversive could you get? The answer is none. None more subversive.
I spotted the below magazine cover on the shelves a few months ago. As you can see from the photo, he is clearly a genius because you see he's a
comedian, but he's not even smiling. In fact, he is promoting a show about death, which is sad, and you can see he's sad there because of the facial expression and the shadows, so it really must be an astonishing work of crymedy and not the load of mawkish bollocks I assumed it was after seeing a few clips.
(https://i.imgur.com/Lx6F1Ko.jpg)
(^ For a split second I thought the magazine was called DEREK, but alas not)
Stewart Lee has noticed the theft...
https://www.stewartlee.co.uk/plagiarists-corner/
QuoteNearly twenty years on and Gervais' act is still made out of bits of my old stuff, either verbatim, or re-jigged and retooled for his own evil alt-right-light purposes. I didn't realise asking if I could quote his praise of me on a poster seventeen years ago meant I had entered a Faustian pact.
I don't agree
Quote from: mr. logic on May 12, 2022, 06:23:50 PMThis certainly wasn't true in the XFM podcasts. Merchant routinely pointed out that Gervais was trying to engineer that with Pilkington as the Hammond figure.
Yeah, I would say that Merchant was generally more than capable of standing his ground against Gervais whether or not Karl was involved. He would frequently call out/undermine/take the piss out of Gervais over all sorts of things on those XFM shows. He was far from a spineless, obseqious yes-man.
Quote from: DJ Bob Hoskins on May 12, 2022, 10:06:02 PM(https://i.imgur.com/Lx6F1Ko.jpg)
(^ For a split second I thought the magazine was called DEREK, but alas not)
DREK
Dohn F Kennedy
Coincidentally I was just thinking yesterday that any singer that wears a pair of wings for any reason (Justin Bieber, Pink etc) is almost certainly not going to be worthy of any kind of serious consideration. So Gervais wearing wings is actually quite appropriate.
Imagine being a Gervais fan and having to come up with excuses for why these innumerable photo sessions in embarrassing poses and get ups are somehow acceptable.
The chubby funster just can't seem to resist the urge to play dress up and smolder into the lens. A hangover from his new romantic days in the early eighties when doing that was most of the job, perhaps.
Those photos remind me of stuff I posted in the old Phwoargh thread, things like this:
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/52/d7/84/52d784f2644e5c5e1d668fdd214670db.jpg)
and this:
(https://media.vanityfair.com/photos/537a3fe440cf0873750002ee/master/w_1300,h_1083,c_limit/jon-hamm-vanity-fair-ss05.jpg)
Never posted these, but these too:
(https://media.vanityfair.com/photos/55d3736b8fbf768838dce5f0/master/w_320%2Cc_limit/david-cross-bob-odenkirk-mr-show-vf-ss03.jpg)
(https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2096/4023/products/24_57_0f66dc6c-f07d-4650-bc68-998a000825ef.jpg?v=1571719264)
...except all these other comedy peeps look cool as fuck, like they're not taking themselves seriously and not even trying to look cool, or sexy, or make a profound statement, or whatever. They're sure as hell not smouldering into the lens either. Gervais really never could get away with this. Why is that?
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CYiuNvAWYAQjXe0.jpg)
Quote from: Blue Jam on May 13, 2022, 07:33:11 PM...except all these other comedy peeps look cool as fuck, like they're not taking themselves seriously and not even trying to look cool, or sexy, or make a profound statement, or whatever. They're sure as hell not smouldering into the lens either. Gervais really never could get away with this. Why is that?
I think it's because those comedians all look basically high-self-esteem and/or attractive, and they're deprecating themselves but you can see that they have confidence to spare and the self-deprecation isn't really touching their self image. Wheras you don't have to look very hard into Gervais' interviews/routines to find that he feels bad about his weight struggles, he feels bad about being a failed pop star, his Dad was possibly mean to him growing up. He doesn't have the self-esteem to spare to comfortably mock himself, he needs to be a cool rock star comedian - preferably with a victim like Ince or Karl to project his self hate onto.
Funny thing is I can imagine him mocking himself
as a character - as Brent or Andy for example - but not as himself.
And as Talking Funny showed, he's so hung-up on maintaining a justification for his bigoted humour. All other edgy comedians are carefree because they need no further excuse for making horrible jokes about minority groups beyond "it's funny". Gervais has to eternally convince himself that his jokes are actually clever brilliant ironies that show up that the attitudes he revels in aren't okay. Even though he does it anyway. He's incapable of admitting he just finds disabled people inherently funny because they're different. Whereas someone like Dave Chapelle has no issue hammering trans people with obsessively horrible jokes without needing to self-justify why he does it.
Gervais is essentially a man trapped by his own sense of humour.
Quote from: Blue Jam(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CYiuNvAWYAQjXe0.jpg)
Collar turned up but shirt tucked in. I've had edgier geography teachers.
jeans are the proper shade of from the market blue as well
Quote from: Blue Jam on May 13, 2022, 07:33:11 PM(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CYiuNvAWYAQjXe0.jpg)
WTF! hes giving me the middle finger! thats outrageous! hardly angelic behaviour.
actually the wings kinda look like sanitary towels
Quote from: Blue Jam on May 13, 2022, 07:33:11 PM...except all these other comedy peeps look cool as fuck, like they're not taking themselves seriously and not even trying to look cool, or sexy, or make a profound statement, or whatever. They're sure as hell not smouldering into the lens either. Gervais really never could get away with this. Why is that?
Willbo touched on it pretty well, but it's worth repeating: Gervais is incredibly thin skinned so in all of his photos he's cosplaying as a dictator or giving the finger to the camera.
He's playing dress up as "the coolest guy on earth (TM)" because he's desperate to not be seen as anything less. So in none of the photos is he self deprecating or self mocking, because then he'd have to depict himself as not the coolest guy on earth.
Whereas Jon Hamm, Hugh Laurie, Vic and Bob have no qualms taking self deprecating photos because A.) it's a bit of fun B.) they ARE the coolest guys on earth, and are confident enough where taking mocking photos doesn't contradict that.
Quote from: idunnosomename on May 22, 2022, 06:00:38 PMactually the wings kinda look like sanitary towels
Woah, your vagina must be huge.
The middle finger, how edgy! And American.
With those jeans the digits you'd expect to be stuck somewhere is both thumbs down the waist when Rockin All Over the World comes on
I will never cease to be amazed that he doesn't seem to realise how tonally similar his latter-day publicity photos are to this:
(https://i.pinimg.com/736x/c0/ff/31/c0ff313e781fabbaeb7e760022e5fb37--original-version-wallpaper-for.jpg)
Quote from: willbo on May 22, 2022, 07:00:44 AMI think it's because those comedians all look basically high-self-esteem and/or attractive, and they're deprecating themselves but you can see that they have confidence to spare and the self-deprecation isn't really touching their self image. Wheras you don't have to look very hard into Gervais' interviews/routines to find that he feels bad about his weight struggles
Maybe comparing him to
HAMM! Jon Hamm was a bit unfair, sorry. Still, there are comedians like Stewart Lee, Jo Brand, Jack Black etc who joke about their weight and seem a lot less arsed about it. Could it be that Are Ricky just isn't comfortable in his own skin?
QuoteHe doesn't have the self-esteem to spare to comfortably mock himself, he needs to be a cool rock star comedian - preferably with a victim like Ince or Karl to project his self hate onto.
Quote from: dead-ced-dead on May 22, 2022, 06:21:20 PMWillbo touched on it pretty well, but it's worth repeating: Gervais is incredibly thin skinned so in all of his photos he's cosplaying as a dictator or giving the finger to the camera.
He's playing dress up as "the coolest guy on earth (TM)" because he's desperate to not be seen as anything less. So in none of the photos is he self deprecating or self mocking, because then he'd have to depict himself as not the coolest guy on earth.
I think you've both hit the nail on the head here. When Gervais poses for photos like this he's smoking a big cigar, or spraying champagne, or wearing a crown, or actually playing at being Jesus. I couldn't imagine him letting Karl Pilkington spray him with silly string, or letting Stephen Merchant use him as a golf tee- no, they'd have to be medieval peasants bowing to King Ricky:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/AyVGIkYCAAA3vg5.jpg)
I guess it's the same with his character in
After Life- he can't write himself as a loser, he has to be the smartest and coolest guy in the room.
Quote from: BritishHobo on May 22, 2022, 10:56:17 AMAnd as Talking Funny showed, he's so hung-up on maintaining a justification for his bigoted humour. All other edgy comedians are carefree because they need no further excuse for making horrible jokes about minority groups beyond "it's funny". Gervais has to eternally convince himself that his jokes are actually clever brilliant ironies that show up that the attitudes he revels in aren't okay. Even though he does it anyway. He's incapable of admitting he just finds disabled people inherently funny because they're different. Whereas someone like Dave Chapelle has no issue hammering trans people with obsessively horrible jokes without needing to self-justify why he does it.
Dave Chapelle is too relaxed and comfortable to give a fuck, aye.
I suspect being self-consciously cool is just incompatible with being a comedian.
Seriously, five separate photoshoots- a bit much, no?
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/AyVGIkYCAAA3vg5.jpg)
(https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/01/28/article-1246718-07DC03B9000005DC-824_306x423.jpg)
(https://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/01/15/magazine/15gervais1_span/15gervais1_span-articleLarge-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)
(https://www.slantmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/rickygervaisoutofengland-1000x600.jpg)
(https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54e5caf7e4b0be6e6650b6aa/1433928448707-I66ABU0UUPDARARHCFQL/Ellis+Parrinder+Ricky+Gervais.jpg?format=2500w)
I saw this clip from one his live shows where he was doing some sort of fake African accent. He reassured the audience that he had a point and quipped "one false move and I'm Jim Davidson". But I didn't watch it long enough to get the point.
Quote from: Blue Jam on May 22, 2022, 08:08:06 PMSeriously, five separate photoshoots- a bit much, no?
You can't polish a turd.
This bollocks was mentioned but we need to see it again:
(https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/12/23/article-2077757-0F41DA2400000578-750_468x602.jpg)
(http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/images/story/ricky-gervais-discusses-golden-globes-the-office-and-atheism-20110330/1000x306/main.jpg)
Quote from: willbo on May 22, 2022, 08:23:30 PMI saw this clip from one his live shows where he was doing some sort of fake African accent. He reassured the audience that he had a point and quipped "one false move and I'm Jim Davidson". But I didn't watch it long enough to get the point.
That bit is really contrived, like he can't finish the joke because he's laughin at himself doing a stupid voice but it feels...rehearsed? Also it's part of the routine that goes in on chronic fatigue syndrome, which isn't a strong bit in the first place. Yeah Ricky, that'll show 'em.
I wonder if he's thought of any more hilarious things to identify as.
He's already on thin ice with 'comedian'.
Quote from: Barry Admin on May 22, 2022, 08:54:57 PMThis bollocks was mentioned but we need to see it again:
(https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/12/23/article-2077757-0F41DA2400000578-750_468x602.jpg)
(http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/images/story/ricky-gervais-discusses-golden-globes-the-office-and-atheism-20110330/1000x306/main.jpg)
The double whammy of these photos and Lifes too Short was when I started to realise oh dear, what the fuck is he doing?
I think they were around the same time, a real wake up call.
Looks like a Cenobite.
And his belly button sounds like a pub bore.
Quote from: DigForVictory on May 23, 2022, 01:08:07 AMThe double whammy of these photos and Lifes too Short was when I started to realise oh dear, what the fuck is he doing?
I think they were around the same time, a real wake up call.
yes, LOL A MIDGET MAN!!! aired Nov 2011, the date of that magazine is obvious from the 9/11 story
Quote from: DJ Bob Hoskins on May 12, 2022, 10:06:02 PMWow, if people didn't like his envelope-pushing maverick style before, this photo will surely convince any doubters. How much more subversive could you get? The answer is none. None more subversive.
I spotted the below magazine cover on the shelves a few months ago. As you can see from the photo, he is clearly a genius because you see he's a comedian, but he's not even smiling. In fact, he is promoting a show about death, which is sad, and you can see he's sad there because of the facial expression and the shadows, so it really must be an astonishing work of crymedy and not the load of mawkish bollocks I assumed it was after seeing a few clips.
(https://i.imgur.com/Lx6F1Ko.jpg)
(^ For a split second I thought the magazine was called DEREK, but alas not)
The Wombats?? Is it 2007 again?
Talk about the comeback no-one asked for.
I used to read the New Humanist when work got rid of the back issues. Was quite a good read back then (predating that cover). Don't remember it being full of teenage edgelord athiest wank.
I dont think it is... it's been going for over a century. I think they could hardly turn down that cover(unlike the much higher circulation Rolling Stone did) because they knew it would shift copies
It's quite a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't situation for them. Gervais' name will sell copies and print media could hardly turn that kind of thing down, but you just know their editors took a look at those photos and died a little inside.
Quote from: Barry Admin on May 22, 2022, 08:54:57 PMThis bollocks was mentioned but we need to see it again:
(https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/12/23/article-2077757-0F41DA2400000578-750_468x602.jpg)
(http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/images/story/ricky-gervais-discusses-golden-globes-the-office-and-atheism-20110330/1000x306/main.jpg)
God i mean he's just so
brave.. he just doesn't care what we think? and so
ICONIC.and a cigar?!
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DyKMJg0X0AEYkT5.jpg)
Quote from: idunnosomename on May 12, 2022, 03:51:44 PMHe also sent (or at least he claims he did) Rolling Stone a photo of himself dressed as a clown with a gun in his mouth. 100% he came up with these concepts all by himself and he thought they were massively profound, and still does, because he is the cleverest funniest kindest man ever
keep thinking about this post because that's exactly the case. he's absolutely the one coming up with these really forced "iconic" photos, all this "can't even tell
jokes anymore"/tears of a clown bollocks. wonder if he gets to a stage where he realises it's a stupid idea but the make up's already done and they're ready to shoot so he just has to go through with it with the consolation he can play it off as ironic or "my bank manager loves this one". honestly the atheist one is not much better than Katie Hopkins putting that target on her forehead.
The Christ on a Mic one confuses me (not in a feelings way) because he seems to be going for a sexy/sultry/coquettish look more than an ironic and iconic look. I can imagine someone like Stephen Fry's character in It's a Sin clapping and saying "oh bravo. yes that's very good" and then fucking him.
Quote from: Rich Uncle Skeleton on May 23, 2022, 02:57:35 PMGod i mean he's just so brave.. he just doesn't care what we think? and so ICONIC.
and a cigar?!
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DyKMJg0X0AEYkT5.jpg)
Fucking hell, nearly missed this baffling bit of iconography.
Imagine putting on his little costume and thinking "yes, this is a good idea" the whole time.
Yes... Ha ha ha... Yes!!
https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/anger-netflix-after-life-bench-7113128.amp
No manners but what a critic.
(https://i.imgur.com/ivrIbyD.jpg)
police are on the look out for a fat ginger paedo
Quote from: Nottingham PostA golden plaque inscribed on the benches reads: "This bench is donated by Netflix to commemorate Ricky Gervais."
Reading that would get anyone reaching for the axe.
Quote from: Ferris on May 23, 2022, 03:09:49 PMImagine putting on his little costume and thinking "yes, this is a good idea" the whole time.
He was a new romantic in the early eighties. Have you seen the shit he wore then?
(https://i.pinimg.com/236x/d4/f8/85/d4f8851124d21a7781c81fc104ccdcf4.jpg)
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/i0w0nIDVLYg/maxresdefault.jpg)
(https://bit.ly/3LEeqAA)
I'd like to think it went something like this.
Some old guy caught some youths kicking fuck out of a bus shelter and led them to the park wielding a big hammer.
Quote from: checkoutgirl on May 23, 2022, 03:46:33 PMHe was a new romantic in the early eighties. Have you seen the shit he wore then?
Yeah but that's part of the job description if you join a new romantic pop band in the 1980s. Not my cup of tea but fair enough.
Dressing in a pound shop Winston churchill costume and getting photos taken
for no reason is why I'm stumped by it all. It's not like there was an impending Winston churchill sitcom.
Quote from: Ferris on May 23, 2022, 03:54:53 PMYeah but that's part of the job description if you join a new romantic pop band in the 1980s. Not my cup of tea but fair enough.
I know but it shows he has form for going into the box of costumes for photoshoots and it goes back decades. He even made his own costumes out of curtains and that. It's just in his nature to find a dress up photoshoot irresistible.
Quote from: idunnosomename on May 23, 2022, 03:14:19 PMYes... Ha ha ha... Yes!!
https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/anger-netflix-after-life-bench-7113128.amp
That picture just makes me think it's a shit bench. I've seen a lot of vandalism - planks snapped off and so on. But how often do you see all the parts of a bench laid out like somebody's in the middle of assembling some Ikea furniture?
Im guessing it's been cleared up but it is funny how it looks like it's comically collapsed.
Funnier than After Life anyway
I don't trust this story. Look how clean the breakage of the bench is. I reckon that bench committed suicided, probably out of shame.
Ikea Grief Bench
Ricky Gervais gets sexually aroused thinking about grieving people sitting on uncomfortable ricketty benches. He gets a chubby over the thought that a bad bench would rob them of a pleasant moment of sentiment.
This is so sad for the homeless people who at the time of writing have not yet been murdered by Ricky Gervais
Maybe the bench just collapsed because a tubby ginger c*** sat on it LOL fat people amirite
Quote from: phes on May 23, 2022, 05:15:02 PMThis is so sad for the homeless people who at the time of writing have not yet been murdered by Ricky Gervais
Just wait until another bench gets burnt down by someone who was a bit careless with their heroin bifta
QuoteRicky Gervais said after donating the benches: "We hope the benches will create a lasting legacy for After Life, as well as become a place for people to visit, and we are thrilled to be associated with CALM and the great work they do."
A golden plaque inscribed on the benches reads: "This bench is donated by Netflix to commemorate Ricky Gervais."
Lol, fuck off with your mawkish self-promotion you silly twat. Viral marketing via fucking death benches, what coke-addled Netflix wanker thought that up ffs.
maybe the perpetrator had a bad thing happen to them, so it's okay for them to do that. we should be extra kind to them and enable them
just because you're offended that your bench has been obliterated, doesn't mean you're right
That bench's husband is now going to call everyone that sits on him a paedophile, unless it's a dog of course. It's such a kind bench.
Maybe the benches are collapsible because they're supposed to be able to turn into boxing rings so Ricky can beat the homeless to death in the middle of the night.
(https://i.imgur.com/Cqpf1qX.png)
It's on tomorrow, how about a god old CAB watchalong?
Quote from: frajer on May 23, 2022, 04:56:13 PMIkea Grief Bench
Incidentally, anyone seen the trailer for Brian and Charles, screenplay by David Earl
https://youtu.be/G9c59MAYYZM
Earl surely responsible for CaB favourite Robot Grief Dog
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 23, 2022, 09:07:10 PMIt's on tomorrow, how about a god old CAB watchalong?
We all have plans that day
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 23, 2022, 09:07:10 PMIt's on tomorrow, how about a god old CAB watchalong?
Oooooh Are Ricky wouldn't like that
Quote from: Chollis on May 23, 2022, 07:44:02 PM(https://i.imgur.com/Cqpf1qX.png)
He's got you there
I put a party hat on my local Afterlife bench with the words "cum guzzler" on it in felt tip pen. It's what Gervais would have wanted. #kindnessismagic
Quote from: Des Wigwam on May 23, 2022, 03:06:04 PMThe Christ on a Mic one confuses me (not in a feelings way) because he seems to be going for a sexy/sultry/coquettish look more than an ironic and iconic look. I can imagine someone like Stephen Fry's character in It's a Sin clapping and saying "oh bravo. yes that's very good" and then fucking him.
Is it not ripping off this
(https://andscape.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/download-11.jpg)
But that's st Sebastian/Boromir from those films, not Muhammad Ali.
None of this makes sense.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cr03JdPWcAQMD27.jpg)
Dark Web Snooker Player ready to take O'Sullivan's crown.
ngl will be fairly upset if they've paid for Cerrone
(https://i.imgur.com/YVtNY11.jpg)
Quote from: manychemicals on May 24, 2022, 07:25:04 AM(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cr03JdPWcAQMD27.jpg)
Dark Web Snooker Player ready to take O'Sullivan's crown.
Derke Web
When he's not wearing black t-shirt, supermarket jeans, black trainers his clothes sense seems to head straight into Jay Rayner/Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen territory.
Ste221
30 May 2019 16:58
10
I went to the show last night and the paying audience thoroughly enjoyed it. I would give it a solid 4 stars. If you like Ricky Gervais you would be happy with the content. Multiple announcements were given that latecomers would be held for at least 10 minutes before being allowed entry. The warnings about photography were enforced and the bars were closed when the main act was on stage. The relative lack of audience movement and the lack of camera phones improved the experience.
Lol at the comment on that article sincerely saying it's time that people like this who dismantle benches are deported.
Quote from: mippy on May 24, 2022, 08:46:55 AMSte221
30 May 2019 16:58
10
I went to the show last night and the paying audience thoroughly enjoyed it. I would give it a solid 4 stars. If you like Ricky Gervais you would be happy with the content. Multiple announcements were given that latecomers would be held for at least 10 minutes before being allowed entry. The warnings about photography were enforced and the bars were closed when the main act was on stage. The relative lack of audience movement and the lack of camera phones improved the experience.
That is the most bleak and sterile review/experience ever.
Quote from: mippy on May 24, 2022, 08:46:55 AMIf you like Ricky Gervais you would be happy with the content.
Potential new poster quote for Stewart Lee.
Quote from: The Mollusk on May 24, 2022, 08:58:24 AMLol at the comment on that article sincerely saying it's time that people like this who dismantle benches are deported.
This is what gets me about Ricky. I wouldn't doubt that he's pro-immigration and would think that sentiment is stupid; but he seems completely blind to the fact that he's cultivated an audience of people who would think exactly that.
Quote from: BritishHobo on May 24, 2022, 09:11:08 AMThis is what gets me about Ricky. I wouldn't doubt that he's pro-immigration and would think that sentiment is stupid; but he seems completely blind to the fact that he's cultivated an audience of people who would think exactly that.
Yeh it's deffo been said before in these threads (most likely by yourself, really rate your posts highly btw) but it is worth noting/repeating that Gervais has never actively made any effort to set himself apart from these sorts of people. He might be a shit hack comedian but he's not stupid, he obviously knows he's gone too far peddling this "ahh I'm being ironic! Or am I?!" bollocks and cashing in on it
hard that he can't bring himself to break away from it.
He could well have used promo spots for After Life as a vehicle for endorsing some serious good in the world - yes, the show itself would still be a dog egg but imagine if he'd gone into interviews saying "the overall message is to be kind, because there's so much hate in the world, so many bigoted racist Brexiteering prejudiced people, and so many marginalised groups, non-white people, non-cisgendered people, non-males even, and if my [unmitigated waves of banal turd] show After Life helps spread just a bit of the message to take time and understand and empathise our fellow humans, well then that's a good thing isn't it?"
But he won't do that. Why would he? He's getting paid a shitload to wheel out the most mawkish, blinkered sentiments, so why rock the boat? Just fucking rake it in Ricky lad, you don't need to try.
I'm not saying After Life is telly for idiots - my mum and my dad are both lovely intelligent sane-minded people and they love it - but a lot of idiots watch it. And then when Ricky gets on stage for another comedy special and starts going off on women with a cheeky wink that's as much saying "Only joking!" as it is saying "But I might as well not be!", it's just chucking logs on what should be a dying fire of idiots cultivating ignorant and hateful opinions.
So thanks for that Ricky.
Quote from: BritishHobo on May 24, 2022, 09:11:08 AMThis is what gets me about Ricky. I wouldn't doubt that he's pro-immigration and would think that sentiment is stupid; but he seems completely blind to the fact that he's cultivated an audience of people who would think exactly that.
You're mistaking Ricky Gervais for someone who cares about anything apart from spunkin' on dogs
Quote"I knew about the bench - I think it's disgusting, totally disgusting. I wonder what goes through people's heads, honestly. What is the need to do that?"
I quite agree.
Bench had one day left till retirement
Quote from: mippy on May 24, 2022, 08:46:55 AMSte221
30 May 2019 16:58
10
I went to the show last night and the paying audience thoroughly enjoyed it. I would give it a solid 4 stars. If you like Ricky Gervais you would be happy with the content. Multiple announcements were given that latecomers would be held for at least 10 minutes before being allowed entry. The warnings about photography were enforced and the bars were closed when the main act was on stage. The relative lack of audience movement and the lack of camera phones improved the experience.
There were 700 people in attendance. Fire exits were at the sides and rear or the building. A 15 minute intermission was observed 45 minutes into the performance. No pets were allowed.
7/10
Quote from: Better Midlands on May 24, 2022, 10:25:13 AMRicky Gervais - Supernature trans joke
controversy and offense aside, this is fucking piss poor. Its just the sort of thing any alt-right cunt on twitter would say. Hahaha pronouns!!! Hahaha RAPE
Stomach churning stuff, genuinely. What a horrible, ignorant person.
Quote from: idunnosomename on May 24, 2022, 10:55:52 AMcontroversy and offense aside, this is fucking piss poor. Its just the sort of thing any alt-right cunt on twitter would say. Hahaha pronouns!!! Hahaha RAPE
Yeah, comedically it's pretty lazy.
Perhaps your Netflix bench can IDENTIFY as a bench that isnt fuckin broken!!!!! Haha loser
Quote from: g0m on May 23, 2022, 10:51:42 PMWe all have plans that day
Yeah, I'm actually very busy today. Made time for BCS but this can fuck right off.
Poor old Louis CK, couldn't just say sorry and then be allowed to move on.
Except he's touring again isn't he, so I'm not sure what Gervais is on about.
And where is this "woke comedy"?
Whinging carries a lot less weight when you're literally being paid tens of millions of pounds to do it.
Holy SHIT ricjy gerbail is an ATHEIST?!?!
https://twitter.com/NetflixUK/status/1529009304656744449
Outrageous. What an independent mind
Quote from: Barry Admin on May 24, 2022, 11:36:27 AMAnd where is this "woke comedy"?
Bo Burnham's Inside was the best comedy show I've watched in years, and that was arguably "woke comedy", stuff about being problematic, privileged etc. Sets the bar far higher than these outdated pub bores.
EDIT: Actually, Bazza, I can't remember from the "Inside" thread whether you said you had watched it, but you will
love that show if you haven't. It's like a comedy special tailor-made for you.
Quote from: Kelvin on May 24, 2022, 11:42:17 AMBo Burnham's Inside was the best comedy show I've watched in years, and that was arguably "woke comedy", stuff about being problematic, privileged etc. Sets the bar far higher than these outdated pub bores.
EDIT: Actually, Bazza, I can't remember from the Inside thread whether you said you had watched it, but you will love that show if you haven't. It's like a ticklist of Barry Admin comedy favourites.
Thanks Kelvin, I'll try and watch that. I hadn't seen the first couple of minutes of this James Acaster bit, I really like what I've seen of him :-)
Oh wow just seen your edit. I'll get to it, thank you.
Quote from: Barry Admin on May 24, 2022, 11:36:27 AMAnd where is this "woke comedy"?
Hannah Gadsby? Although calling it comedy is probably pushing it a bit. After the Michael Richards incident the comedy club banned certain words.
One man's "comedy has moved on" is another man's "woke comedy".
I used to really like funny comedy.
Quote from: BritishHobo on May 24, 2022, 09:11:08 AMThis is what gets me about Ricky. I wouldn't doubt that he's pro-immigration and would think that sentiment is stupid; but he seems completely blind to the fact that he's cultivated an audience of people who would think exactly that.
I saw him live in about 2017, when he led with the Caitlyn Jenner stuff. Immediately regretted it, the most boorish crowd I've ever been a part of. People behind me were chucking pints around before the show even started, there was a river of beer underneath the seats throughout, and that was at the Hammersmith Apollo.
He probably tells himself the jokes are all ironic but when you talk about cancel culture and saying the unsayable that's playing pretty hard to a right wing audience that might well watch his stuff and nothing else because it's all lefty liberal snowflakes and you can't say anything these days.
He's currently trending on Twitter, so have a look if you dare and see the kind of opinions his audience express.
Honestly think Chubby Brown has more variety craft in his delivery than this. Maybe even Jim Davidson(!). This isnt even shocking, as its so fucking predictable. He's only saying it because he knows conservatives will force themselves to laugh at it
Quote from: Barry Admin on May 24, 2022, 11:47:18 AMThanks Kelvin, I'll try and watch that. I hadn't seen the first couple of minutes of this James Acaster bit, I really like what I've seen of him :-)
Rather pointedly, Robin Ince tweeted out this very clip earlier.
Quote from: Robin InceJust watching James Acaster again - this is such a great opening to a show - a blasted genius who should make us all up our game
Feels like a lot of comics these days are desperate to have an Eddie Murphy "girls kiss gay friends and come home with AIDS on their lips!" style clunkers they'll be shifting uncomfortably in their seats over during future interviews.
Quote from: franticplanet on May 24, 2022, 12:36:55 PMRather pointedly, Robin Ince tweeted out this very clip earlier.
Feels like a lot of comics these days are desperate to have an Eddie Murphy "girls kiss gay friends and come home with AIDS on their lips!" style clunkers they'll be shifting uncomfortably in their seats over during future interviews.
Gervais's 'I identify as a chimp' has got to be up there, although there are so many lazy 'I identify as X/Y/Z' jokes that it might get lost in the mire.
Watched with the sound off. The last two subs summed it all up: *minute of no-joke hack shit* [Ricky laughing] [audience cheering and applauding]
This was retweeted this morning and Nish Kumar is enjoyably and rightfully angry
https://twitter.com/cowboyacaster/status/1386980286211166215?s=20&t=CgjHj0MD5wQu63HnIDALvg
Hadn't seen this Frankie Boyle clip before, fabulous stuff
https://twitter.com/Saedraverse/status/1528040319056588800
Always stunned by those Seona Dancing pics. A warning from history about the dangers of a largely cheese based diet.
Quote from: damien on May 24, 2022, 01:00:16 PMHadn't seen this Frankie Boyle clip before, fabulous stuff
https://twitter.com/Saedraverse/status/1528040319056588800
The Fred Astaire line got me - too true.
Quote from: idunnosomename on May 24, 2022, 10:55:52 AMcontroversy and offense aside, this is fucking piss poor. Its just the sort of thing any alt-right cunt on twitter would say. Hahaha pronouns!!! Hahaha RAPE
Really heavy on the Stewart Lee mannerisms there. I would go so far as to say that he thinks he's doing a Stewart Lee bit except he's just doing a Jim Davidson / Chubby Brown routine. I liked his emphatic "...what if
she ..." bit except for it being cruel, unintelligent, and shallow. Would have been worth it put some thought into the target. I saw Kiri Pritchard-Maclean do about 15 minutes on a similar subject (obvs the mirror of the position that Gervais takes) but with intelligence and compassion - it still had swearing in it and was unflinching - but it was funny and made you think.
Quote from: Barry Admin on May 24, 2022, 11:36:27 AMPoor old Louis CK, couldn't just say sorry and then be allowed to move on.
Except he's touring again isn't he, so I'm not sure what Gervais is on about.
And where is this "woke comedy"?
That whole thing about him just putting his tweets out there again and again to double down just shows how deluded he is. Has he ever had a hard target? Religion doesn't count - his target is too diffuse.
I do think though that he might be in danger of making his audience solely full of people who he despises - or professed to despise back in the Extras days. I would be surprised if any of his now-respected former colleagues will want anything to do with him. It's a lot more now than just defending a supposed back-lash over a carefully thought out traveller joke (cf. Jimmy Carr).
Also as Barry says - where are these woke comedy clubs? Seriously, is there a precedent of having to sign a contract
not to do material that will offend? That does sound like utter bullshit and if it is then shame on him for peddling blatant lies.
Quote from: damien on May 24, 2022, 01:00:16 PMHadn't seen this Frankie Boyle clip before, fabulous stuff
https://twitter.com/Saedraverse/status/1528040319056588800
That routine is almost as weak as Ricky's, though. I've seen dozens of variations of "identify as a comedian". And pretending slagging off Gervais can harm his career? Ugh. Brave little Frankie!
And most importantly Boyle has a long history of transphobia too* but he saw how contentious it was becoming and did a volte face.
*literally dozens of mentions on this forum over several years
https://forum.transgenderzone.com/viewtopic.php?t=2802#.YozMI1nTXqs
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on May 24, 2022, 01:17:54 PMAnd pretending slagging off Gervais can harm his career? Ugh. Brave little Frankie!
That's not quite what happened in that clip. He made a self-deprecating joke about his own best days being behind him.
Quote from: The Mollusk on May 24, 2022, 09:44:11 AMYeh it's deffo been said before in these threads (most likely by yourself, really rate your posts highly btw) but it is worth noting/repeating that Gervais has never actively made any effort to set himself apart from these sorts of people. He might be a shit hack comedian but he's not stupid, he obviously knows he's gone too far peddling this "ahh I'm being ironic! Or am I?!" bollocks and cashing in on it hard that he can't bring himself to break away from it.
He could well have used promo spots for After Life as a vehicle for endorsing some serious good in the world - yes, the show itself would still be a dog egg but imagine if he'd gone into interviews saying "the overall message is to be kind, because there's so much hate in the world, so many bigoted racist Brexiteering prejudiced people, and so many marginalised groups, non-white people, non-cisgendered people, non-males even, and if my [unmitigated waves of banal turd] show After Life helps spread just a bit of the message to take time and understand and empathise our fellow humans, well then that's a good thing isn't it?"
But he won't do that. Why would he? He's getting paid a shitload to wheel out the most mawkish, blinkered sentiments, so why rock the boat? Just fucking rake it in Ricky lad, you don't need to try.
I'm not saying After Life is telly for idiots - my mum and my dad are both lovely intelligent sane-minded people and they love it - but a lot of idiots watch it. And then when Ricky gets on stage for another comedy special and starts going off on women with a cheeky wink that's as much saying "Only joking!" as it is saying "But I might as well not be!", it's just chucking logs on what should be a dying fire of idiots cultivating ignorant and hateful opinions.
So thanks for that Ricky.
Absolutely bang on.
Quote from: Barry Admin on May 24, 2022, 11:36:27 AMPoor old Louis CK, couldn't just say sorry and then be allowed to move on.
Except he's touring again isn't he, so I'm not sure what Gervais is on about.
And where is this "woke comedy"?
Genuine question, is this actually true? Are there clubs where the acts have to sign something saying they won't say anything?
And I'm wondering what "woke" comedy Ricky actually tried watching.
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on May 24, 2022, 01:17:54 PMThat routine is almost as weak as Ricky's, though. I've seen dozens of variations of "identify as a comedian". And pretending slagging off Gervais can harm his career? Ugh. Brave little Frankie!
And most importantly Boyle has a long history of transphobia too* but he saw how contentious it was becoming and did a volte face.
Or, he realized what he was doing was harmful and used it as an opportunity to mature. I don't know too much about Frankie Boyle, but it seems that being contentious is what he built his career on, so I'm not sure why he wouldn't keep going with the transphobia if that's what he wanted to do.
Ricky's use of swearing really resembles a sad little weakling trying to be 'hard'. It's honestly pathetic.
The distance what he thinks he is and what he actually is, is vast.
Quote from: Barry Admin on May 24, 2022, 11:47:18 AMThanks Kelvin, I'll try and watch that. I hadn't seen the first couple of minutes of this James Acaster bit, I really like what I've seen of him :-)
Oh wow just seen your edit. I'll get to it, thank you.
James Acaster's Cold Lasange Hate Myself 1999 has quickly become one of my all-time favourite stand-up specials, can't recommend this whole show enough.
Agreed about Inside as well, it's pretty incredible but very different, as you'd expect.
Mr. Gervais, I do not find you offensive. I find you to be nothing short of lazy, dire, repetitive and boorish. To call you offensive would be a compliment as it would mean the ramblings and fake laughter had some sort of register. Pure pish.
Quote from: up_the_hampipe on May 24, 2022, 03:41:21 PMJames Acaster's Cold Lasange Hate Myself 1999 has quickly become one of my all-time favourite stand-up specials, can't recommend this whole show enough.
Agreed about Inside as well, it's pretty incredible but very different, as you'd expect.
Came here to enjoy some Gervais bashing, but watched this last night and yeah: Absolutely loved it! Was quite pleased with Acaster defending trans people and bashing Gervais too. Along with that Nish Kumar bit!
The whole "woke comedy" and "cancel culture" ranting, popular with the right at the moment, is such a bunch of empty bullshit. "Accountability and culturally shifting ideas around ethics, equality and morals, are like, so unfair... WAAH WAAAH WAAAAHHH..."
It's not political correctness going mad, you're just a fucking outdated cunt: Instead of complaining (like a little snowflake), be better!
(this is also why I express anger and sadness at Adam Buxton being a centrist dad...)
Being an ally for minority genders / races etc... It's the absolute bare minimum you can do, for fuck sake. Stop whinging about how it's not like it was in your day. Are y'all paying attention to what is happening in the US regarding abortion rights? How trans rights are being removed in the UK?
... Gervais is a useless fart.
This anti trans stuff reminds me of the hack shit people would come out with on 'Grumpy Old Men'. Rick Wakeman wanking on about mobile phones, Bill Nighy wanking on about mobile phones, or the stand up of late 90s Jasper Carrot where he wanks on about mobile phones.
Quote from: Cold Meat Platter on May 24, 2022, 05:05:48 PMThis anti trans stuff reminds me of the hack shit people would come out with on 'Grumpy Old Men'. Rick Wakeman wanking on about mobile phones, Bill Nighy wanking on about mobile phones, or the stand up of late 90s Jasper Carrot where he wanks on about mobile phones.
Bill Maher says "We will all be gay in 2054" (https://www.indiatvnews.com/trending/news/bill-maher-homophobic-comment-on-lgbtq-being-trendy-all-be-gay-in-2054-makes-netizens-furious-2022-05-23-778709)
Quote from: McFlymo on May 24, 2022, 04:46:27 PMThe whole "woke comedy" and "cancel culture" ranting, popular with the right at the moment, is such a bunch of empty bullshit. "Accountability and culturally shifting ideas around ethics, equality and morals, are like, so unfair... WAAH WAAAH WAAAAHHH..."
It's not political correctness going mad, you're just a fucking outdated cunt: Instead of complaining (like a little snowflake), be better!
It is literally just "I can't be arsed to change what I'm doing so I will inject another layer of self awareness on the top to make it look intelligent."
That Louis CK shoutout in the video linked a couple pages back is extremely telling. The way he says in a disgruntled offhand way "He's cancelled now isn't he? It's not enough that he apologised" is lacking the veil of faux-but-actually-real outrage he normally plasters over his work that makes him sound like he's exaggerating for comedic effect but obviously really thinks. It's just an old man saying "you can't say anything nowadays". One dinosaur trying to shelter another one from the asteroid.
I wonder how his standup comedy will evolve, even in the short space of the next 3-5 years? How can he invent new ways to say the same old thing? He is quite clearly driving himself to extinction.
I can't believe that "I'm sorry" isn't enough to get everyone to forget about those sex crimes you did. Poor Louis CK, what with some people still remembering the sex crimes.
Quote from: JaDanketies on May 24, 2022, 05:15:16 PMI can't believe that "I'm sorry" isn't enough to get everyone to forget about those sex crimes you did. Poor Louis CK, what with some people still remembering the sex crimes.
Yeah, thanks for saying this, because I am pretty gobsmacked that a millionaire massively famous guy, can casually excuse a sex offender on stage and no one bats an eyelid. What in the fuck?
Quote from: somersetchris on May 24, 2022, 12:41:00 PMGervais's 'I identify as a chimp' has got to be up there
There's a bit in Afterlife where that bloke off Phoenix Nights says he identifies as a 6 year old girl in a gingham dress with ponytails. Same shit premise recycled over and over again.
He is a fascinating little man. The little glimpses of his younger years on XFM and the podcasts, brought up poor, his parents sleeping in separate rooms and both dying before he got famous, him being on the dole and attempting to make his own trousers from curtains ('because I always thought I could do anything'), all that business.
Quote from: JaDanketies on May 24, 2022, 05:15:16 PMI can't believe that "I'm sorry" isn't enough to get everyone to forget about those sex crimes you did. Poor Louis CK, what with some people still remembering the sex crimes.
I was thinking about it for ages earlier on, replacing "Louis CK" in my head with "Harvey Weinstein." He's apologised, but I guess that isn't enough for the woke left!
Quote from: Barry Admin on May 24, 2022, 06:05:15 PMI was thinking about it for ages earlier on, replacing "Louis CK" in my head with "Harvey Weinstein." He's apologised, but I guess that isn't enough for the woke left!
You can't even masturbate in front of professional acquaintances these days without getting cancelled by the woke stasi!
Tim Heidecker on Twitter: (https://twitter.com/timheidecker/status/1529148127906713601)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FTigDHFUAAIogev?format=jpg&name=medium)
From the replies:
QuoteI never saw this image before today, and now I've seen it twice in two unrelated incidents. As a result my vagina has fallen off
Going through the tweets that he's liked and it's full of the worst sacks of shit like Steven Crowder, Claire Fox and Matt Walsh (the alt right cunt, not the UCB guy). Tells you all you need to know.
Can't believe he's dead.
Picked 5 random people whose praise tweets Ricky has liked and done an audit of who else they like.
1. Follows Ben Shapiro
2. Follows GB News and The Free Speech Union
3. Follows Guido Fawkes and a load of TERFs
4. Follows Rand Paul and Paul Joseph Watson
5. Follows Count Dankula, Defund the BBC and a bananas amount of TERF and alllivesmatter accounts
Almost none of them follow comedians (well, sometimes Joe Rogan, Andrew Lawrence and Andrew Doyle if they count).
He doesn't have a comedy fanbase any more, just an alt-right one.
I guess it's possible that Ricky Gervais trivia is a biased source but
QuoteRicky has taken over $30 million in ticket sales so far for his #SuperNature tour.
I'd barely thought of Gervais for years but he's still as bafflingly successful as ever. I think after life was the most watched British show on Netflix ever.
https://mobile.twitter.com/gervaistrivia/status/1437825145775734792
Ten minutes I lasted.
Just saw 30 seconds of a clip Gary Lineker retweeted (deso) and he was going on about how "people quiz him on twitter when they find out (!) he's an atheist"
Do they, Ricky? Do they still quiz you about the outrageous philosophy of atheism?
I genuinely thought he would have stopped going on about being an atheist. Staggering.
YOU!?? dont believe in GOD?!?! not even a bit??? your balls. they must be GIGANTIC!!!
Quote from: JaDanketies on May 24, 2022, 06:33:54 PMYou can't even masturbate in front of professional acquaintances these days without getting cancelled by the woke stasi!
I love the way Gervais mentions CK who did terrible things and segues to a Kevin Hart tweet from 10 years ago which is total bullshit and should be left in the past. As if there is some equivalence there. Cheeky boy. Sure it's all the same, gettin' your knob out and a tweet from 10 years ago, same thing. Political correctness gone mad.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FTjQHf7X0AAxy2_?format=jpg&name=medium)
Quote from: checkoutgirl on May 24, 2022, 09:25:34 PMI love the way Gervais mentions CK who did terrible things and segues to a Kevin Hart tweet from 10 years ago which is total bullshit and should be left in the past. As if there is some equivalence there. Cheeky boy. Sure it's all the same, gettin' your knob out and a tweet from 10 years ago, same thing. Political correctness gone mad.
Kevin Hart is still very homophobic though, isn't he? He never took any of that back. He hasn't been cancelled (still in the Jumanji films), he just lost one job - if you're the Oscars and you don't want a homophobe presenting your awards then fair enough.
The bit that baffles me about old tweets being dug up, e.g. James Gunn getting fired from Guardians of the Galaxy is that a) Disney didn't do their due diligence *before* hiring him (his past was not a secret!), and b) people don't delete their edgelord tweets from 10 years ago when going for an interview at fucking Disney.
Quote from: The Mollusk on May 24, 2022, 05:14:09 PMThat Louis CK shoutout in the video linked a couple pages back is extremely telling. The way he says in a disgruntled offhand way "He's cancelled now isn't he? It's not enough that he apologised" is lacking the veil of faux-but-actually-real outrage he normally plasters over his work that makes him sound like he's exaggerating for comedic effect but obviously really thinks.
Did he even apologise though? All I remember is that he admitted it was him, then when quiet for about six months in the hope it would blow over. Has he tried to make amends or address his victims in any way at all? As far as I recall in his comeback shows he made a joke about it and didn't address it at all.
And you know what, if you commit sexual assault then no, it isn't necessarily enough if you apologise. Taking responsibility in some way would be a start but he hasn't even done that.
Can't bear to read about this shit anymore.
They want suicides and murders.
If no one has posted Albini's excellent tweets on the matter here they are
https://mobile.twitter.com/electricalWSOP/status/1529165810811428865
By the way, Fox talking about "there is still hope".
Hope for what? That someone dies because of you and you get to do a cry laugh emoji?
I won't say what I hope happens to Fox as we don't glorify violence on here
Quote from: jobotic on May 24, 2022, 11:14:26 PMI won't say what I hope happens to Fox as we don't glorify violence on here
Just start off with "now obviously in real life nobody should be the victim of this elaborate, detailed and frighteningly plausible scenario, but imagine if"
just like Ricky Gervais does
and then Netflix pays him money for saying it
Quote from: jobotic on May 24, 2022, 10:57:30 PMIf no one has posted Albini's excellent tweets on the matter here they are
https://mobile.twitter.com/electricalWSOP/status/1529165810811428865
I came here to post those. Really great stuff from Albini. Wish I'd been able to read them when I was younger.
No, I'm not going to watch his special before I say it is fucked up and sucks. I have seen fucked up things that suck before and I already know the joke. They only have the one joke. Anti-woke trans-bash comedians are cultivating an audience I want very much not to be a part of.
I used to like Ricky Gervais. His comedy hinted that he disliked the part of himself he indulged so flagrantly, the boorish, selfish unaware part. Him playing an oblivious creep was a necessary element of comedy critical of being oblivious. But as Kurt Vonnegut observed...
we are what we pretend to be. Indulging the pretense eventually becomes so comfortable that it fuses with the person underneath. I've seen it happen up close, with people I called friends, and it demands the self-reflection people of my generation have failed at.
I've seen bands adopt preening rockstar personae, "ironically" changing their names, manner of speech, false biographies, expecting indulgences --all as a kind of comedy-- until they are so comfortable in the persona they forget that they actually suck and nobody likes them.
In the post-punk underground, there developed a modest class of professionals, managers, booking agents, label people... all cut from the same cloth as their peers in bands. Some of them made money and didn't change. Guys like Corey Rusk and Ian MacKaye are the same people now...
that they were in their 20s, they're just not broke. They still harbor the same disdain for the artifice, the pomp, the bourgeois materialism, and showbusiness modes of speech and behavior. They have not become the industry they hated and that hated them.
In contrast, I recall seeing a Rolling Stone spread about a newly-successful grunge label head, formerly a burnout record store guy who now resided in a paneled office, and insisted on being interviewed while getting a massage.
Another officiary once disdained money so thoroughly he only wore sweatpants. They had no pockets, so he couldn't be beholden to a wallet. The floor of his car was a jumble of coins, so when he hit a toll booth he would grab an indistinct handful and throw them in the bucket.
At the beginning of his path to professionalism, he was nicknamed "Nickels," for then-obvious reasons. In time, he fell victim to irony, was renamed "Billions," and started smoking cigars. The way a cartoonish music mogul named "Billions" would.
The premise to all this is, "it's funny 'cause it's *me*. I'm not really like that, so *me* doing it is actually a critique of it, and you reacting to it is part of *me* being the funny part because you wouldn't react to *me* that way otherwise. Get it?
The problem, of course, is that eventually you're not *you* anymore, you're that prick who thinks he's a rockstar, who acquires a drug habit as a bit and yells at an intern about a fucking deli tray. Eventually you're literally a cigar-smoking music business guy.
Lots of these adopted personae came home to roost in other, uglier ways. Bands that played with fascist imagery and language because it was shocking, now have to grapple with a literal fascist element in society taking inspiration from that capricious decision.
Ricky Gervais got comfortable inducing groans, learned to do it like a trick, got famous and wealthy from it. Eventually he saw the groans as the point, and in enlightened circles, the way to induce groans is to disdain enlightenment and be a bigoted piece of shit.
So this time it's not funny because it's *you*. It's fucking awful because *you* are saying the same things people hear when they're being abused, when their humanity is being denied, when they're targeted. The things they hear right before they're murdered.
Thanks hzj
Quote from: somersetchris on May 24, 2022, 09:54:20 PMKevin Hart is still very homophobic though, isn't he?
Dunno, don't follow his machinations. In the context of the Gervais clip I actually agree that digging up a decade old tweet is bullcrap. And the inconsistency of firing him for the Oscars but him being hired for loads of films afterwards makes no sense. It's like a mini cancellation.
Also tweeting something a decade ago and whipping your knob out unexpectedly in front of colleagues are not comparable so shouldn't be lumped together in the same breath by the chubby funster. Call me old fashioned.
2/5 review in the Independent. (Apols if already posted.)
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/ricky-gervais-supernature-netflix-review-b2085304.html
Chortle not impressed either, 2.5/5 but reads worse, echoing many criticisms found here:
https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2022/05/24/50845/ricky_gervais%3A_supernature
Someone who's enjoyed Gervais' previous stand-up shows here, despite their quality-variable nature and lack of craft or structure (there'll be a few laughs, who cares). Well, the first half hour of this is woeful, morally indefensible, comedically weak, absolute self-satisfied hack bilge shite. And the rest isn't much better.
hope James Corden falls on this cunt
"Here's the deal, If I say anything that's over the line offensive, like off the charts offensive, don't make a scene, go to the box office, fill in a form I'll take those away and I'll shit on them!"
8 minutes later
"....this sums up the difference between cats and dogs once and for all, yeah?"
HE SAID WHAT???!
Quote from: QDRPHNC on May 24, 2022, 03:17:10 PMThe distance what he thinks he is and what he actually is, is vast.
The idea that anyone could find this insipid, joyless, toss, offensive is truly laughable.
The only offensive thing is the brazen laziness of it all.
Quote from: neveragain on May 24, 2022, 11:53:30 PMthe first half hour of this is woeful, morally indefensible, comedically weak, absolute self-satisfied hack bilge shite. And the rest isn't much better.
Remember in Talking Funny when Gervais opined to a room of much better comedians how he feels the need to give his audience that something extra in his stand up shows? Hmmm. The fucking balls on him.
It was bullshit then but even moreso now it seems. Maybe he thinks this is fantastic stuff, honed and perfected over months of work in progress shows and ruthless editing.
(https://i.imgur.com/zx98i9X.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/3pQQheO.jpg)
If you have one (I did for BCS) may I recommend cancelling your Netflix account - and telling them why.
Quote from: RicoMNKN on May 24, 2022, 09:50:22 PM(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FTjQHf7X0AAxy2_?format=jpg&name=small)
Is this real? A friend just posted in a group chat, "The new Ricky Gervais is hilarious", so I replied with that pic and said, "Is it, aye?"
I sincerely hope my friend is being ironic, but sadly, it is unlikely.
You know how some people are the 'comedian's comedian'? He's the comedian for people who don't really usually like comedy.
He's the Call of Duty of stand up.
The FIFA of sitcom.
He is to comedy what 'The Darkness' is to rock music.
The Darkness are a bit of a laugh and don't take themselves too seriously.
He's the Toploader of comedy.
The Darkness are awful cynical bullshit just like Gervais.
It's rock music for people who would only otherwise have Partridge-style compilation albums
Sort of like saying "Yeah I LOVE spicy food, obviously. Bombay Bad Boy Pot Noodle, classic!"
Sold his soul
For a shard of Fame
Ba ba
Ba ba
Quote from: idunnosomename on May 24, 2022, 09:07:21 PMYOU!?? dont believe in GOD?!?! not even a bit??? your balls. they must be GIGANTIC!!!
Buster Godless Gonad.
I don't understand why Gervais, a David Bowie disciple, is being such a wretched route one rotter over this issue. Utterly baffling.
I've got to watch this with a mate on Friday. Dreading it.
My sister just text me to ask why the crowd all cheer like maniacs when Ricky says he's a millionaire.
Quote from: Cold Meat Platter on May 24, 2022, 11:51:40 PMChortle not impressed either, 2.5/5 but reads worse, echoing many criticisms found here:
https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2022/05/24/50845/ricky_gervais%3A_supernature
I don't think I've ever seen a comment on a Chortle article before, except for the "I make money working at home!" spam, but there's 2 people defending Ricky there. Probably the first time they've ever visited Chortle...
It was nice to see David O'Doherty sharing that Acaster clip today because he has in the past had a good few interactions with Gervais on twitter.
Cos, despite the lack of comedians actually sharing any praise for Gervais' new special, it's nice to actually see some who are in his orbit actually calling out the lazy shit.
Are there any other examples of people doing that?
Quote from: Brundle-Fly on May 25, 2022, 03:15:39 AMI don't understand why Gervais, a David Bowie disciple, is being such a wretched route one rotter over this issue. Utterly baffling.
Because it's safe to do so now.
The point I was trying to make in this post (https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=94173.msg4927309#msg4927309) is that Gervais has been really cynical and waited until trabsphobia has become more culturally acceptable.
Also, transphobic jokes are all hacky shit, and Gervais is a lazy shitter.
Quote from: Mobius on May 25, 2022, 03:18:01 AMI've got to watch this with a mate on Friday. Dreading it.
My sister just text me to ask why the crowd all cheer like maniacs when Ricky says he's a millionaire.
I don't think I've ever seen a comment on a Chortle article before, except for the "I make money working at home!" spam, but there's 2 people defending Ricky there. Probably the first time they've ever visited Chortle...
Lol, the Gervais fans who can't take him being mocked is a particularly good and accurate part of that James Acaster bit. What's the matter guys, too challenging for ya.
Sad news:
https://hard-drive.net/ricky-gervais-starves-to-death-after-massive-fire-destroys-all-low-hanging-fruit/
Quote from: Ron Superior on May 25, 2022, 07:50:28 AMIt was nice to see David O'Doherty sharing that Acaster clip today because he has in the past had a good few interactions with Gervais on twitter.
Cos, despite the lack of comedians actually sharing any praise for Gervais' new special, it's nice to actually see some who are in his orbit actually calling out the lazy shit.
Are there any other examples of people doing that?
Robin Ince also shared the same video.
Quote from: Cuellar on May 24, 2022, 08:57:08 PMJust saw 30 seconds of a clip Gary Lineker retweeted (deso) and he was going on about how "people quiz him on twitter when they find out (!) he's an atheist"
Do they, Ricky? Do they still quiz you about the outrageous philosophy of atheism?
I genuinely thought he would have stopped going on about being an atheist. Staggering.
"Still, a lot more people would have survived the flood if they were woke back in Noah's day, wouldn't they? 'I identify as a giraffe.'" [Ricky kicks the air]. "Fuck off you long necked fucker, I'm getting on first."
There you go, Rick. You can have that for a small fee.
Quote from: Ron Superior on May 25, 2022, 07:50:28 AMIt was nice to see David O'Doherty sharing that Acaster clip today because he has in the past had a good few interactions with Gervais on twitter.
Cos, despite the lack of comedians actually sharing any praise for Gervais' new special, it's nice to actually see some who are in his orbit actually calling out the lazy shit.
Are there any other examples of people doing that?
Maybe not his orbit but Richard Herring & Lou Sanders also shared the Acaster bit.
If Gervais hates woke comedy so much why is he still nicking loads of TV's 'Mr Woke' Stewart Lee for his act?
Also if you stripped the strawmen from Ricky's act he'd have about five minutes.
Quote from: Brundle-Fly on May 25, 2022, 03:15:39 AMI don't understand why Gervais, a David Bowie disciple, is being such a wretched route one rotter over this issue. Utterly baffling.
Good point. Gervais looked like a woman in 1982. Maybe he changed his tune when that police man said "You look like a couple of prats", because he said the copper was right.
Gervais-bashing is of course one of the things that this forum does fantastically well, with the Derek and Afterlife threads being many orders of magnitude funnier, better-written and more insightful than their subjects. I have to say though that his standup just doesn't really bear the same analysis. It's simple stuff, unpretentious by the standards of his sitcoms, and competent in the sense that if you share his views you'll likely laugh out of recognition. Conversely, as it's not that skilled or complex, if you don't agree with him it just feels wearisome. This also rebounds on criticism of his standup, which ends up just being a litmus test of how the viewer feels about the issues, not the comedy.
No small coincidence that someone whose opinions align with the viewpoint implicit in his jokes about trans issues would say something wooly like that
Quote from: Kermit the Frog on May 25, 2022, 09:36:49 AMNo small coincidence that someone whose opinions align with the viewpoint implicit in his jokes about trans issues would say something wooly like that
Sorry, do you mean me? Silly question; you clearly do. Not sure where you have got that idea though...
Recycled Joke #1
Reincarnation: 'I saw a show where people came as who they were in a past live. Two Napoleons'
He's done that before. XFM? Also I doubt he saw any such show.
I wonder if Mumsnet would be so quick to cheer Gervais on if he made jokes about rape, or domestic violence. Actually, who am I kidding, some of them would.
(Why does Fox have a cross in his header? Has he converted to Catholicism or something?)
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 25, 2022, 10:15:49 AMRecycled Joke #1
Reincarnation: 'I saw a show where people came as who they were in a past live. Two Napoleons'
He's done that before. XFM? Also I doubt he saw any such show.
I remember as far back as his second show (Politics?) that Smerch was ribbing Gervais over his stand-up by saying you'll have heard all the jokes before already on their show, better performed.
Obviously he's my favourite comedian so i'm biased, but comparing Stewart Lee to Ricky Gervais is surely like comparing Albert Einstein to a dog wearing a novelty Einstein wig?
Weak observations, poorly performed.
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 25, 2022, 10:15:49 AMRecycled Joke #1
Reincarnation: 'I saw a show where people came as who they were in a past live. Two Napoleons'
He's done that before. XFM? Also I doubt he saw any such show.
Recycled joke #2
He's done the 'become more working class when talking to a builder' bit numerous times before
I love Jen Ives
https://twitter.com/jenivescomedian/status/1529177302097088518
(sorry, no idea how to embed the video)
not liking the slagging off of The Darkness. their first album is a banger.
Standard Gervais fare innit really. AIDS, Hitler, being a multimillionaire. Unnecessarily explaining EVERY fucking punchline. Jesus wept.
For someone who apparently brings all these non-comedy fans into the fold, I just wish he was funnier with it. It's like Standup for Dummies.
Quote from: madhair60 on May 25, 2022, 10:51:58 AMnot liking the slagging off of The Darkness. their first album is a banger.
Fairly indifferent to The Darkness but thought the comparisons were especially apt cos Gervais called them "the best band in Britain" when they were at their peak.
Absolute shit for cunts and not worth the analysis at this stage, but I think what bothers me more than the material is Gervais's pathological insistence that he's operating on some superior level of irony, that he doesn't really mean it, the 'target' of the joke, etc.
Legitimately funny 'edgy' comedians don't feel the need, either because they're confident enough that their audience get it, or better/worse, they simply believe what they say, or at least happy to play with the idea that their audience believe that to be the case. Even Jimmy fucking Carr barely wastes his time laying out this sort of shit.
Quote from: Cold Meat Platter on May 25, 2022, 01:06:40 AMYou know how some people are the 'comedian's comedian'? He's the comedian for people who don't really usually like comedy.
He's the Call of Duty of stand up.
The FIFA of sitcom.
thank you for finding the words i couldn't
Quote from: Jumblegraws on May 25, 2022, 11:16:06 AMFairly indifferent to The Darkness but thought the comparisons were especially apt cos Gervais called them "the best band in Britain" when they were at their peak.
Wallpaper music: the part of the Venn diagram where top 40 listeners and Kerrang viewers meet. If they wore normal clothes instead of pretending to be glam, no one would give a shit.
Quote from: Pdine on May 25, 2022, 09:30:31 AMI have to say though that his standup just doesn't really bear the same analysis. It's simple stuff, unpretentious by the standards of his sitcoms, and competent in the sense that if you share his views you'll likely laugh out of recognition. Conversely, as it's not that skilled or complex, if you don't agree with him it just feels wearisome. This also rebounds on criticism of his standup, which ends up just being a litmus test of how the viewer feels about the issues, not the comedy.
That's the thing about deliberately contentious material unless you put the work in - unless the cruelty is the point (which can work if it's not just used to hateful ends), it's just signalling which side of the culture war the performer is on.
I still maintain that Animals and Politics are good standup shows - regardless of borrowing heavily from other standups - when he was doing silly sketches about overanalysing the fable of the ant and the grasshopper or playing out the idea of elephants being 'caught' swimming.
But then when Fame rolled around he has his 'here's why it's alright to call a disabled woman this particular slur' and obviously that got him more attention than diminishing returns with his other stuff which is about on the level of any other competent standup on the circuit; then he continued to double down on the contentious material rather than work on anything interesting, and get rather too invested in the idea of reading out his twitter feed off his phone on stage (for fuck's sake), and now here we are.
That's the thing with contentious material. Whether or not it's hateful, it *is* predictable. It's not surprising, or inventive, or witty, unless you're willing to take risks and put the work in, which Ricky clearly isn't prepared to do; and why would he? Netflix are throwing millions of dollars at his warmed over shite regardless.
I quite like Darkness :(
Nothing wrong with the Darkness you pretentious cunts
Quote from: Schnapple on May 25, 2022, 11:19:38 AMAbsolute shit for cunts and not worth the analysis at this stage, but I think what bothers me more than the material is Gervais's pathological insistence that he's operating on some superior level of irony, that he doesn't really mean it, the 'target' of the joke, etc.
Legitimately funny 'edgy' comedians don't feel the need, either because they're confident enough that their audience get it, or better/worse, they simply believe what they say, or at least happy to play with the idea that their audience believe that to be the case. Even Jimmy fucking Carr barely wastes his time laying out this sort of shit.
Also you'd think if he really did feel strongly about being pro-trans etc and only doing irony to mock ignorant attitudes, he'd be horrified that trans people all think his special is horrible and transphobic people are cheering it on. Instead he delights in it.
Recycled joke #3
Men in changing rooms swan about completely naked for too long.
Recycled joke #4
Having a colonoscopy
Quote from: Pink Gregory on May 25, 2022, 11:27:04 AMBut then when Fame rolled around he has his 'here's why it's alright to call a disabled woman this particular slur'
Wait, hang on. Was it Animals or Politics where he wheeled out Ash Atalla and called him "leg mental"? It's weird because on XFM he'd pull up Karl for calling certain people "little wheelchair fellas" and a few years later he's saying "the sex is shit but you've always got a parking space at Tesco".
Quote from: checkoutgirl on May 25, 2022, 11:47:05 AMWait, hang on. Was it Animals or Politics where he wheeled out Ash Atalla and called him "leg mental"? It's weird because on XFM he'd pull up Karl for calling certain people "little wheelchair fellas" and a few years later he's saying "the sex is shit but you've always got a parking space at Tesco".
Politics
Quote from: Pink Gregory on May 25, 2022, 11:27:04 AMBut then when Fame rolled around he has his 'here's why it's alright to call a disabled woman this particular slur' and obviously that got him more attention than diminishing returns with his other stuff which is about on the level of any other competent standup on the circuit
Pedantic point here but if this is a reference to the Susan Boyle bit, that was in
Science, not
Fame
Quote from: BritishHobo on May 25, 2022, 11:34:43 AMAlso you'd think if he really did feel strongly about being pro-trans etc and only doing irony to mock ignorant attitudes, he'd be horrified that trans people all think his special is horrible and transphobic people are cheering it on. Instead he delights in it.
Stewart Lee did it far better in Carpet Remnant World anyway. "Did you know that 1 in 2 kids in Britain today is called Muhammed, and that's just the girls, I haven't got the exact figures, I've done no research"
The Darkness are fucking great, eat a shit
Quote from: JaDanketies on May 25, 2022, 11:32:06 AMNothing wrong with the Darkness you pretentious cunts
lol. rofl.
Quote from: Jumblegraws on May 25, 2022, 11:50:13 AMPedantic point here but if this is a reference to the Susan Boyle bit, that was in Science, not Fame
Ah you're right, I was thinking of the Ken Dodd fan bit. Was it Fame when he was going on about chronic fatigue?
Quote from: checkoutgirl on May 25, 2022, 11:47:05 AMWait, hang on. Was it Animals or Politics where he wheeled out Ash Atalla and called him "leg mental"? It's weird because on XFM he'd pull up Karl for calling certain people "little wheelchair fellas" and a few years later he's saying "the sex is shit but you've always got a parking space at Tesco".
True, but I think he was less interested in desperately justifying it. Doesn't make it alright but the deniability of contentious material was there, which it really isn't now.
Quote from: Schnapple on May 25, 2022, 11:19:38 AMAbsolute shit for cunts and not worth the analysis at this stage, but I think what bothers me more than the material is Gervais's pathological insistence that he's operating on some superior level of irony, that he doesn't really mean it, the 'target' of the joke, etc.
Exactly. The insistence on pointing out how ironic and not serious it is is pathetic enough when you see him lapping up the genuine cheers from the crowd at him saying how women aren't funny etc, but when he's actually retweeting praise for him for saying stuff that everyone else is thinking but afraid to say, then the whole irony argument completely falls apart. He's a fucking bland, unoriginal, hacky, lazy coward.
Edit: No point getting into a barney over the fucking Darkness
lolled at this shitpost
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FTiHlHSXoAAJRIZ?format=jpg&name=small)
https://twitter.com/wariotifo/status/1529121149061308416
hahaha didnt know about that. though barely anyone watched it in the first place it seems.
from the wiki, unsourced but lol.
QuoteAlso, the show did not have a theme tune so at the end of each show, Gervais asked viewers to record and send in their own mixes. Few were received. Two of the episodes used a theme tune co-written and performed by Stewart Ferris and Emma Burgess.
(https://i.imgur.com/VlIokHh.jpg)
Quote from: WikipediaGervais is a fervent supporter of gay rights and has praised the introduction of same-sex marriage in England and Wales as "a victory for all of us", saying "anything that promotes equality, promotes progress ... You can't take equality 'too far'."[166]
Ain't that right, Ricky?
At least we know he'll burn in Hell alongside Dorkins when he dies
Justin Hawkins is a big cardiacs fan, so lay off the lad!
This popped up on my youtube feed one day.
Unfortunately, even though it's really short, I could only get through a couple of minutes. I found him to be deathly boring and a little bit annoying in the way that some posh people can be.
I watched supernature and it was bobbins. Some of his other specials haven't been entirely awful, as Pink Gregory says, but this was just a total flatline all the way through. Not even a chuckle, and yeah, as Barry says, the cunt has been taking little pot shots from the wings for a while now, and he's only now nailing his colours to the mast because he feels that it's safe to do so.
All this "You can't cancel me! I'd just tweet it again, that's what I'd do!"
When "mong-gate" happened, when he was still using the word long after even this place had ditched it, didn't he apologise and promise never to do it again?
As others have pointed out, lots of Stewart Lee aping, and I kept getting flashes of James Corden as well. They're quite alike in a lot of ways.
Quote from: ImmaculateClump on May 25, 2022, 02:14:45 PM.
All this "You can't cancel me! I'd just tweet it again, that's what I'd do!"
When "mong-gate" happened, when he was still using the word long after even this place had ditched it, didn't he apologise and promise never to do it again?
This is something people don't mention enough, of all the Craig Ovens stand-ups, he's one of the few who actually did apologise for a controversial bit.
Quote from: Schnapple on May 25, 2022, 11:19:38 AMAbsolute shit for cunts and not worth the analysis at this stage, but I think what bothers me more than the material is Gervais's pathological insistence that he's operating on some superior level of irony, that he doesn't really mean it, the 'target' of the joke, etc.
Legitimately funny 'edgy' comedians don't feel the need, either because they're confident enough that their audience get it, or better/worse, they simply believe what they say, or at least happy to play with the idea that their audience believe that to be the case. Even Jimmy fucking Carr barely wastes his time laying out this sort of shit.
It would almost be excusable if he wasn't constantly manufacturing this image of an uncompromising voice of reason existing on a higher plain than your average stand up. He can do all the offstage philosophising he wants about his "craft" but however desperate he is to be seen as some angry,
daring stand up speaking truth to power, he has neither the material nor the balls to back it up.
Like you said, anyone doing this sort of 'edgy' stuff well doesn't need to spend half the time explaining it all. He can't just tell the (really poor) jokes because he knows the audience he's accidentally lumbered himself with are probably taking most of it at face value. But he also needs to couch it all in some bollocks about irony for the world at large, flattering the audience that they're in on the joke in the process. When really they just want to hear a millionaire tell them it's alright to dump on trans people etc. or want to hear the word cunt crowbarred in to a routine/tommy wiseau tier series about being a kind arsehole.
He's painted himself into a corner. Trying to be everything to everyone whether its a really shit George Carlin to an audience he used to imply he really didn't want, or curling out hollow rubbish like After Life for sycophantic Live Laugh Lovers who huff every last guff and dutifully call him a genius. I refuse to believe he writes a programme like that and thinks yeah that's really great work and not just cynical rubbish for morons.
Maybe his next sitcom will be When The Whistle Blows
Quote from: Pink Gregory on May 25, 2022, 12:18:53 PMAh you're right, I was thinking of the Ken Dodd fan bit. Was it Fame when he was going on about chronic fatigue?
Yeah, a bit which also features him play-acting an African man in a voice he based on Nelson Mandela. "One false move and I'm Jim Davidson" he says, which at time I thought was a lazy attempt to cover his arse but now seems downright creative when compared to just flat-out lecturing his audience on what irony is.
What is ultra bizarre about Gervais is that he is a vegan, and so should have a basic respect and compassion for all benign life really, trans-people included. I just don't get the blindspot.
Quote from: bgmnts on May 25, 2022, 04:27:48 PMWhat is ultra bizarre about Gervais is that he is a vegan, and so should have a basic respect and compassion for all benign life really, trans-people included. I just don't get the blindspot.
An excessive love of animals can apparently be a sign of sociopathy
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on May 25, 2022, 04:35:35 PMAn excessive love of animals can apparently be a sign of sociopathy
I don't think he's a sociopath. He's a narcissist who's too thick to write clever material, so he goes for the low hanging fruit and convinces himself that his words have no real effect on people. He tells himself it's all irony to cleanse himself of guilt.
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on May 25, 2022, 04:35:35 PMAn excessive love of animals can apparently be a sign of sociopathy
Unsure what excessive means but I wouldn't be classed as a sociopath.
I assumed it would be the other way around tbh.
Quote from: bgmnts on May 25, 2022, 05:48:50 PMUnsure what excessive means but I wouldn't be classed as a sociopath.
I assumed it would be the other way around tbh.
An excessive love of sociopaths is a sure sign of being an animal
Quote from: bgmnts on May 25, 2022, 05:48:50 PMUnsure what excessive means but I wouldn't be classed as a sociopath.
I assumed it would be the other way around tbh.
Yeah of course it could go either way. And it's just one trait. Not like all animal lovers are psychos. Or that Ricky Gervais is.
There are plenty of animal-loving bigots. Animals are pure innocent souls who need protection, not like humans who do stupid things like being religious or transgender, and deserve everything they get.
Quote from: ImmaculateClump on May 25, 2022, 02:14:45 PMWhen "mong-gate" happened, when he was still using the word long after even this place had ditched it, didn't he apologise and promise never to do it again?
No he didn't, actually. It just got widely reported like that.
I find on Twitter that having "love animals" or similar in the bio usually leads to a timeline banging on about Muslims and halal meat. Not saying that this is the case here, but always struck me as incongruous.
Tony Soprano famously loved animals
Is he vegan these days? For a long time he was an outspoken animal lover in an an angry misanthropic way that seemed to mostly be a way to justify hating other people, yet he also admitted he had the palette of a child and eat things like fish fingers fairly regularly.
Apparently the big fat hypocrite announced he was vegan in Jan 2022
Mentions it 3:50 into this boring exchange with Jimmy Fallon
Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on May 25, 2022, 06:21:26 PMIs he vegan these days? For a long time he was an outspoken animal lover in an an angry misanthropic way that seemed to mostly be a way to justify hating other people, yet he also admitted he had the palette of a child and eat things like fish fingers fairly regularly.
Yeah I remember reading an interview where he said he only eats free range meat lol
He used to say that he ate meat as long is wasn't recognisable parts like bones and it was hidden in sauce.
Quote from: mippy on May 25, 2022, 06:14:41 PMI find on Twitter that having "love animals" or similar in the bio usually leads to a timeline banging on about Muslims and halal meat. Not saying that this is the case here, but always struck me as incongruous.
I'm sure it'll have been discussed on these boards before but they're doing sterling work at twitter.com/racistpets
what animal is it you recognise from the bones? a stegosaurus?
i don't think this Gervais man has as much empathy as he claims
Quote from: The Guppy on May 25, 2022, 05:55:54 PMThere are plenty of animal-loving bigots. Animals are pure innocent souls who need protection, not like humans who do stupid things like being religious or transgender, and deserve everything they get.
I'd argue there are VERY few actual vegan bigots. People whose idea of being animal lover is owning a doggo and liking some Dodo videos on facebook, there probably are lots of bigots amongst those.
bridgitte bardot
morrissey
adolf hitler
...join us, ricky
There's probably a far few bigot vegans among the conspirituality crowd. Not that I'm using this as a stick to beat veganism with, mind.
Anyone actually watched this then? I'm not even tempted by a hatewatch this time, it sounds like it'd be a real chore.
Quote from: mippy on May 25, 2022, 06:14:41 PMI find on Twitter that having "love animals" or similar in the bio usually leads to a timeline banging on about Muslims and halal meat. Not saying that this is the case here, but always struck me as incongruous.
The one time I did like Gervais in the last few years was when he tweeted to say that if you only care about cruelty to animals when it's halal, you don't care about animals, you're just a racist. His new audience didn't like that.
EDIT: https://mobile.twitter.com/rickygervais/status/1161923154673115136
Quote from: Cold Meat Platter on May 25, 2022, 01:06:40 AMYou know how some people are the 'comedian's comedian'? He's the comedian for people who don't really usually like comedy.
He's the Call of Duty of stand up.
The FIFA of sitcom.
He is to comedy what 'The Darkness' is to rock music.
He's Michael McIntyre with paedo jokes.
Adolf Hitler loved dogs
Veganism hints towards an empathetic mindset, surely, but nowadays there's some crossover with the Quartz-loving vegans and Qanon bullshit, that Qanon Shaman was a hippie dippie vegan. Not to say Gervais is a Quartz-loving Quanoner but it ain't so simple, especially nowadays. Very easy to be in one vegan rabbithole and another fash rabbithole and to merely suffer some occasional downvotes. You'll just think, "I am a fresh mindset in this group."
Quote from: idunnosomename on May 25, 2022, 07:39:29 PMAdolf Hitler loved dogs
(https://i.imgur.com/xwrhzao.jpg)
Quote from: JamesTC on May 25, 2022, 07:56:23 PM(https://i.imgur.com/xwrhzao.jpg)
I see that twitter.com/hitler is now suspended; must've been for posting that. Gervais and Glinner were right after all.
Quote from: Juan K Perros on May 25, 2022, 08:15:51 PMI see that twitter.com/hitler is now suspended; must've been for posting that. Gervais and Glinner were right after all.
Yet another feminist silenced.
He's issued a DCMA takedown against an image on an article critical of him by the looks of it.
QuoteY'all, I can't. Ricky Gervais is such a thin skinned hack, he issued a DMCA takedown for the image used by the Mary Sue in their article so that it won't be shown when the article is shared on Twitter.
So here's the image.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FToCg_nUcAAhQHC?format=png&name=small)
https://twitter.com/Esqueer_/status/1529537856561041408
https://twitter.com/OvensComedy/status/1529551368389857282
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FToOUKPX0AEJfah?format=png&name=small)
Ovens' crap photoshops never fail to amuse me. There was this one as well:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FThzoK1XwAAPh98?format=jpg&name=360x360)(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FThzrAoX0AQRJ9t?format=png&name=360x360)
Ricky has got a wild imagination in that very narrow brain of his
An absolute Irony Lord
Quote from: Pimhole on May 25, 2022, 06:13:28 PMNo he didn't, actually. It just got widely reported like that.
Didn't he apologize over Monggate on Alan Carr?
Sure I saw some amusing posts on here about him being Asexual. He could join the LGBTQIA alliance. Go on all the marches and such. Be the poster boy for the cause. His way in. Redemption.
Quote from: bgmnts on May 25, 2022, 06:57:12 PMliking some Dodo videos on facebook
Whereupon she posted: "IIIII-II, wan-na tha-ank you - being as I've not had a hit in twenty years!"
The Darkness are better than the Cardiacs and the Fall
Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on May 25, 2022, 09:09:19 PMOvens' crap photoshops never fail to amuse me. There was this one as well:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FThzoK1XwAAPh98?format=jpg&name=360x360)(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FThzrAoX0AQRJ9t?format=png&name=360x360)
I've often wondered:where do the TBEU people get their characters' photos from? Are they just some random stock images they've found of the same models doing various poses/faces?
it's easy to make a fake face with machine learning these days, like Titania McGrath. Craig's face there is comped in with this Matt Forde poster for his Brexit Through the Gift Shop show
(https://leicestercollege.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Matt-Forde-illustration-banner.jpg)
Quote from: Cuellar on May 25, 2022, 09:38:44 PMI've often wondered:where do the TBEU people get their characters' photos from? Are they just some random stock images they've found of the same models doing various poses/faces?
I've wondered that myself but I have absolutely no idea, if it was just a single photo I'd assume it was one of those ai-generated ones (I believe that's what non-comedian Andrew Doyle used for his 'characters') but they seem to have a few in the pile of each character.
Quote from: Goldentony on May 25, 2022, 09:32:10 PMThe Darkness are better than the Cardiacs and the Fall
Yet nowhere near as good as Slade, which is all that matters really.
Always found it weird how Ricky, former musician and massive David Bowie obsessive became a huge fan of Coldplay and raved about them endlessly on the XFM show and also had Chris Martin appear and perform with him on Extras. Bit basic isn't it? Coldplay?
Quote from: Mobius on May 25, 2022, 10:07:02 PMAlways found it weird how Ricky, former musician and massive David Bowie obsessive became a huge fan of Coldplay and raved about them endlessly on the XFM show and also had Chris Martin appear and perform with him on Extras. Bit basic isn't it? Coldplay?
That pretty much sums him up.
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 25, 2022, 10:15:49 AMRecycled Joke #1
Reincarnation: 'I saw a show where people came as who they were in a past live. Two Napoleons'
He's done that before. XFM? Also I doubt he saw any such show.
Wow, the 'why does everyone who believes in incarnation believe they were Napoleon' is so hacky it could almost get used in a parody of Seinfeld-style stand up. 'Hey what's the deal with people who believe in reincarnation? They can't all have been Napoleon!'
[slap bass interlude]
Quote from: Bobloblawslawbomb on May 25, 2022, 10:47:03 AMRecycled joke #2
He's done the 'become more working class when talking to a builder' bit numerous times before
Saw that on the Mary Whitehouse Experience, c. 1991
Looking forward to his blistering Dalek takedown in the next one.
Just watched it and I agreed with him so hard that my eyes bled. Bravo.
Quote from: Cold Meat Platter on May 25, 2022, 06:46:27 PMHe used to say that he ate meat as long is wasn't recognisable parts like bones and it was hidden in sauce.
who the fuck eats
bones
Quote from: Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse on May 25, 2022, 11:01:44 PMwho the fuck eats bones
I mean the way I worded that wasn't great but he meant things like chicken legs, roasts, chops and that kind of thing. He was ok with curries and bolognese and things where its origin was less identifiable. Which seems odd to me, like it's ok if he can kid himself that he doesn't know what it is.
so obviously i dont have netflix and also would never watch this unfunny cunt just like I used to ignore his ad bumpers on the 11 o'clock show when I was staying up to watch the Ali G bits, but this is from the end of it
"In real life, I support trans rights. I support all human rights. Trans rights are human rights. Live your best life. Use your preferred pronouns. Be the gender that you feel you are. But meet me halfway, ladies. Lose the cock"
bottom surgery doesn't stop trans women getting shit and you know it, you blackshirted bastard
Quote from: Cold Meat Platter on May 25, 2022, 11:07:33 PMlike it's ok if he can kid himself that he doesn't know what it is.
Actually it's not that odd is it.
Quote from: JaDanketies on May 25, 2022, 07:44:49 PMVeganism hints towards an empathetic mindset, surely, but nowadays there's some crossover with the Quartz-loving vegans and Qanon bullshit, that Qanon Shaman was a hippie dippie vegan. Not to say Gervais is a Quartz-loving Quanoner but it ain't so simple, especially nowadays. Very easy to be in one vegan rabbithole and another fash rabbithole and to merely suffer some occasional downvotes. You'll just think, "I am a fresh mindset in this group."
Veganism is very compatible with capitalism - while that means we have quite a lot more consumer choice, it also means stuff like this continues to happen.
From Twitter -
QuoteWas just reminded of this vegan, socialist, Latin American branded meat company, See No Evil, backed by private equity & founded by these guys. Their products were all named after Latin American revolutionaries, and when their employees tried to unionize they fired them.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Lefty_Jew/status/1529503731670081537?cxt=HHwWgoCjjcri8bkqAAAA
Quote from: idunnosomename on May 26, 2022, 01:17:26 AM"I support all human rights. Trans rights are human rights. Live your best life. Use your preferred pronouns. Be the gender that you feel you are. But meet me halfway, ladies. Lose the cock"
(https://i.imgur.com/FW0AY9P.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/SEatqoW.jpg)
First Linehan with The Golden Cleric speech and now Gervais
Quote from: Pink Gregory on May 26, 2022, 07:25:11 AMVeganism is very compatible with capitalism - while that means we have quite a lot more consumer choice, it also means stuff like this continues to happen.
From Twitter -
https://mobile.twitter.com/Lefty_Jew/status/1529503731670081537?cxt=HHwWgoCjjcri8bkqAAAA
Yeah that Brian lad makes all the arguments I feel a typical vegan would make, it is confusing to be vegan but also not care about humans. Vegans should by definition care more about sentient life, not less.
As for shitty businesses being shitty, yeah that's just capitalism innit. Any ideology you hold is going to be at the mercy of human greed and profit.
I guess he comes close to saying trans women are women, possibly too close for some terfs. Would it have killed him to have an equal go at terfs, surely there's some actually original jokes to be made there... wait maybe that was the problem. (He'd mentioned if it's part of nature, it's natural, so could have spun it off from there).
The worst bit though was when he wisely explained that if you say a band is shit NO! - they are only shit to you. Because things are subjective. Mindblown etc.
It's similar in tone to what Rowling said - live your best life, sleep with anybody who'll have you etc. I think what they try to do is come up with a form of words which sort of says "I support everybody!" without having to say that trans women are women.
Quote from: somersetchris on May 25, 2022, 10:10:19 PMWow, the 'why does everyone who believes in incarnation believe they were Napoleon' is so hacky it could almost get used in a parody of Seinfeld-style stand up. 'Hey what's the deal with people who believe in reincarnation? They can't all have been Napoleon!'
[slap bass interlude]
Quote from: Bobloblawslawbomb on May 25, 2022, 10:47:03 AMRecycled joke #2
He's done the 'become more working class when talking to a builder' bit numerous times before
Those jokes are
both in
Peep Show.
The 'funny as a fart at a baby's funeral' text was no doubt made up also.
Quote from: Mr. Ssmsslth on May 25, 2022, 09:25:08 PMDidn't he apologize over Monggate on Alan Carr?
Fucked if I'm going to search for that.
Quote from: Blue Jam on May 26, 2022, 09:35:20 AMThose jokes are both in Peep Show.
Ain't it funny how they're all Cleopatra
When you gaze into their past
Quote from: idunnosomename on May 26, 2022, 01:17:26 AMso obviously i dont have netflix and also would never watch this unfunny cunt just like I used to ignore his ad bumpers on the 11 o'clock show when I was staying up to watch the Ali G bits, but this is from the end of it
"In real life, I support trans rights. I support all human rights. Trans rights are human rights. Live your best life. Use your preferred pronouns. Be the gender that you feel you are. But meet me halfway, ladies. Lose the cock"
bottom surgery doesn't stop trans women getting shit and you know it, you blackshirted bastard
I enjoyed the group watch we did of Nature (?) - honestly can't remember and lost interest googling it 10 seconds in - but like
@bluejam says - not going to bother with this as it's just too tiresome and a chore (hope I got the gist of your posts right).
Apart from this winding me up throughout - but not for the reasons that truth-telling philosopher and prophet Ricky Gervais might think (those reasons being it's a pastiche of delivery of people I actually respect and enjoy plus the audience's horrible attitude to the world if they think this is progressive and constructive - that ending would be the icing on the cake. He
has to row back from being "brave" - i.e. horrible in a hackneyed way to minority groups - by explaining (as ever) that
it's a joke. I'm being ironic. Kindness if magic. Even tubby Ricky Gervais isn't thick enough to think his audience lean back at that point and say "
yeeees. We've also been enjoying this take on how the manufactured culture wars are detracting from trans rights". He has spent 90 minutes (is it?) reinforcing a whole load of stuff to make the world actively worse.
Plus - the punchline probably gets a massive laugh from the fuckwits who enjoy this edgy comedy from about 1998. I would have more respect if he just came on and did the "black man's cock" joke over and over punctuated by that dance.
I know he hates one particular clip of that being posted. Is it Live 8? Where he thinks that's what people have come to see. Can someone help me write a bot that just follows him round the internet and posts that? (it's clear I don't really know what a bot is).
I'm quite new to this website, so I was expecting loads of people saying how funny the stand up show was, with perhaps one or two people calling it rubbish. I was very surprised to see it's the other way around! I don't think I've ever seen a discussion that's just 99% of people saying how much they didn't enjoy it, or how much they dislike Ricky Gervais.
Is there another discussion thread on here for people who actually did find it funny? Because I did.
Thanks.
No
Just do what Ricky would do, and block everyone with an opinion you don't like.
I found it so funny that my willy turned hard and I just felt compelled to send Netflix more money for the immense value.
Unfortunately it turned out I wasn't sending money to Netflix but I was actually buying anthrax and now I am dying.
Bravo Richard.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 26, 2022, 11:18:02 AMI'm quite new to this website, so I was expecting loads of people saying how funny the stand up show was, with perhaps one or two people calling it rubbish. I was very surprised to see it's the other way around! I don't think I've ever seen a discussion that's just 99% of people saying how much they didn't enjoy it, or how much they dislike Ricky Gervais.
Is there another discussion thread on here for people who actually did find it funny? Because I did.
Thanks.
I think you've come somewhere with a lot of people who would very much love to enjoy his new material but are somewhat unified in grief at his depressing successive new lows
Supernature is a feature length 'ooh i've never come over a little queer' just nastier
Ricky did The Dance at Live 8 but this is the worst one where he is genuinely shitting himself about filling up 5 minutes
I was going to say the Diana Concert but thought "nah, that'd be mad".
A true master of his craft (I started to get cringing stomach cramps watching that so left at 06:58).
OK next - what's a bot ....
Quote from: bgmnts on May 26, 2022, 08:20:27 AMYeah that Brian lad makes all the arguments I feel a typical vegan would make, it is confusing to be vegan but also not care about humans. Vegans should by definition care more about sentient life, not less.
I'm a vegan and I live in London therefore every day on at least 10 occasions I have the burning thought direct in the front of my brain that humans are vermin.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 26, 2022, 11:18:02 AMI'm quite new to this website, so I was expecting loads of people saying how funny the stand up show was, with perhaps one or two people calling it rubbish. I was very surprised to see it's the other way around! I don't think I've ever seen a discussion that's just 99% of people saying how much they didn't enjoy it, or how much they dislike Ricky Gervais.
Is there another discussion thread on here for people who actually did find it funny? Because I did.
Thanks.
Would be genuinely interested to hear what you found funny about this special?
Rocky Gervais, I call him. Because he knocks out all the competition. And he likes chocolate biscuits.
Quote from: Bobloblawslawbomb on May 26, 2022, 11:47:24 AMWould be genuinely interested to hear what you found funny about this special?
The jokes, of course! Watched it with my wife, and she was laughing too. :)
Quote from: JamesTC on May 26, 2022, 11:52:59 AMRocky Gervais, I call him. Because he knocks out all the competition. And he likes chocolate biscuits.
Also he's limited and never knows when to stop.
Quote from: JamesTC on May 26, 2022, 11:52:59 AMRocky Gervais, I call him. Because he knocks out all the competition. And he likes chocolate biscuits.
Shitty Cuntface, I call him.
You have to pronounce the face like it would be ger-faise.
Give it a go, you might like it.
I used to work with a guy who thought Gervais had a silent S.
I used to work with some people who were fans and referred to him as The Big Guy
We very quickly agreed to just never talk about The Big Guy as it put a confusing strain on our otherwise harmonious relationships
Quote from: Stigdu on May 26, 2022, 12:08:52 PMThe jokes, of course! Watched it with my wife, and she was laughing too. :)
What other comedians or comedy shows do you like, out of interest?
Any Ricky Gervais fansite circa 2009 would probably be the best place to look - you'll see me there, raving about him. I've never known anybody so thoroughly alienate all the people who are actually dedicated to his work.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 26, 2022, 11:18:02 AMIs there another discussion thread on here for people who actually did find it funny? Because I did.
I'm not sure we could keep up with this sort of in-depth analysis.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 26, 2022, 12:08:52 PMThe jokes, of course! Watched it with my wife, and she was laughing too. :)
Yeah I'll put my hand up and say I loved office and extras and I liked the first standups because I wasnt aware of XFM radio stuff at that time.
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 26, 2022, 12:34:13 PMWhat other comedians or comedy shows do you like, out of interest?
At the risk of setting myself up for a fall.... (as I feel, especially given that sarcastic comment by Famous Mortimer, that I am being judged and will be shot down whatever answer I give)
Jimmy Carr, Stewart Francis, Anthony Jeselnik for stand up.
Extras, Bottom, The Inbetweeners for comedy shows.
It's difficult when you do encounter a modern Ricky Gervais fan in the wild. I went to see a band last month and then stopped for a beer on the way home and got talking to an Irish guy who was visiting the city. We started talking about comedy and then he said "You know who I really rate at the moment, Ricky Gervais". I didn't know what to say, I didn't know whether to be polite or be real about his current output. It kind of ended the conversation.
For what it's worth, I chuckled several times, but the over-explaining of irony and laughing at his own jokes really grated. I was actually a bit appalled at the
Spoiler alert
clitoris
bit, so I guess I gave him exactly what he wanted.
I will say at this point I always feel a bit iffy seeing someone get roasted just for saying they like someone who's generally hated on here. It's one thing if they come in with the tired 'oh, a bunch of bitter jealous failed comedy writers is it?!', but different if, like here, it's just someone expressing mild surprise to find a comedian they love is actually really hated here.
I remember coming here for the first time and feeling a bit mind-blown that there could possibly be anyone who didn't like Extras. AND LOOK AT ME NOW.
Quote from: BritishHobo on May 26, 2022, 01:22:27 PMI will say at this point I always feel a bit iffy seeing someone get roasted just for saying they like someone who's generally hated on here.
That's not happening at all though.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 26, 2022, 12:08:52 PMThe jokes, of course! Watched it with my wife, and she was laughing too. :)
Fair enough. I, like many others on here, would have once considered myself a big RG fan. With his stand up, do you not get bored of him retreading the same old topics with the same old tired justifications?
Quote from: Bobloblawslawbomb on May 26, 2022, 01:28:34 PMFair enough. I, like many others on here, would have once considered myself a big RG fan. With his stand up, do you not get bored of him retreading the same old topics with the same old tired justifications?
Nah, I'm easily pleased. In all seriousness, I wouldn't say I'm a die hard devotee, so I don't see much recycling of old jokes with him. Anyway, I'll leave it there and let you all carry on! Cheers.
Quote from: phes on May 26, 2022, 01:26:06 PMThat's not happening at all though.
Okay. That's fine then.
Quote from: Cold Meat Platter on May 25, 2022, 11:07:33 PMI mean the way I worded that wasn't great but he meant things like chicken legs, roasts, chops and that kind of thing. He was ok with curries and bolognese and things where its origin was less identifiable. Which seems odd to me, like it's ok if he can kid himself that he doesn't know what it is.
Nah, I've got a couple of friends like that. Meat must be disguised or they won't eat it.
Gervais has said the below...
QuoteMy target wasn't trans folk, but trans activist ideology. I've always confronted dogma that oppresses people and limits freedom of expression.
He said this to The Spectator, which is so ironic it's almost like Ricky Gervais routine!!!!!
Quote from: BritishHobo on May 26, 2022, 01:44:22 PMGervais has said the below...
He said this to The Spectator, which is so ironic it's almost like Ricky Gervais routine!!!!!
Yeah this obviously doesn't stand up to scrutiny but that doesn't matter to
Mr Science who has spent years working to suppress analysis of his work
To paraphrase an old quote, I have never been able to find out precisely what trans activist ideology is: I only know that people call trans folk TRAs whenever they express sentiments that differentiate them from a doormat.
Also if anybody could be accused of dogmatically pursuing a particular agenda to a level of irritation separate to the relative righteousness of it, it's Ricky Gervais and atheism.
Telling people not to be trans (or even to describe their experiences and feelings using particular words) is surely limiting freedom of expression
I think the particularly bad freedom of expression limiting is saying "that thing you just said expresses hatred towards marginalised communities." Limiting free expression in other ways is okay, such as by saying "you are wrong about how you feel about yourself and should not pursue these thoughts further."
Don't worry, I'm sure Gervais dedicates a good amount of his gargantuan intellect to the issue and isn't, in fact, a hack who thinks be has wisdom to impart to people he knows nothing about.
So he's a typical lib. If he was around in the 60s he'd be on stage going on about pinkos, black panthers, and how Malcolm X needs to more civil.
This is always worth another watch:
He never recovered from that and spent the rest of his career doing softball interviews with The Radio Times
Quote from: Shaxberd on May 26, 2022, 01:59:09 PMTo paraphrase an old quote, I have never been able to find out precisely what trans activist ideology is: I only know that people call trans folk TRAs whenever they express sentiments that differentiate them from a doormat.
You'd never use that as a stick to beat someone with just the term human rights would? Considering trans people are human, it's an odd thing.
Fucking human right's activists.
Quote from: Shaxberd on May 26, 2022, 01:59:09 PMTo paraphrase an old quote, I have never been able to find out precisely what trans activist ideology is: I only know that people call trans folk TRAs whenever they express sentiments that differentiate them from a doormat.
it's when trans people get "uppity"
Quote from: Shaxberd on May 26, 2022, 01:59:09 PMTo paraphrase an old quote, I have never been able to find out precisely what trans activist ideology is: I only know that people call trans folk TRAs whenever they express sentiments that differentiate them from a doormat.
TRAs are like woke comedy: they only exist in the minds of TERFs, just as woke comedy only exists in the minds of bigots.
I've been called a TRA before. That's a laugh. I'm too lazy to be an activist of any kind.
Terfs think they're activists by being shitheads on Twitter though; a social media post is like gluing yourself to your MP's face to these guys
Quote from: JaDanketies on May 26, 2022, 05:53:46 PMTerfs think they're activists by being shitheads on Twitter
And buying merch, don't forget buying merch.
Quote from: Better Midlands on May 26, 2022, 05:56:39 PMAnd buying merch, don't forget buying merch.
That's more than MRAs do tbf
They have it front and center on Netflix at the moment (must be slow season), so it autoplays a selected clip whenever I log on.
He's talking about atheism. Like, the same talking points that were exhausted not long after Dawkins hit the scene. Powerful stuff.
Quote from: idunnosomename on May 26, 2022, 11:29:48 AMRicky did The Dance at Live 8 but this is the worst one where he is genuinely shitting himself about filling up 5 minutes
Christ, that's the gift that still keeps giving. Every time he thinks he's got away with it, he has to degrade himself again. Excruciating. But he's a multi millionaire and I'm not, so WHO WINS!!!??
Quote from: Stigdu on May 26, 2022, 01:00:10 PMAt the risk of setting myself up for a fall.... (as I feel, especially given that sarcastic comment by Famous Mortimer, that I am being judged and will be shot down whatever answer I give)
Jimmy Carr, Stewart Francis, Anthony Jeselnik for stand up.
Extras, Bottom, The Inbetweeners for comedy shows.
Gervais is like Jeselnik without the material, craft, editing and hard work. Oh and I don't think Jeselnik mentions how fabulously rich he is every single show.
Quote from: Noodle Lizard on May 26, 2022, 06:51:11 PMThey have it front and center on Netflix at the moment (must be slow season), so it autoplays a selected clip whenever I log on.
You can turn that off you know. Netflix, I mean.
Steal all that shit and donate ten quid a month to something that needs it. I am a grown up
Quote from: idunnosomename on May 26, 2022, 11:29:48 AMRicky did The Dance at Live 8 but this is the worst one where he is genuinely shitting himself about filling up 5 minutes
To be fair, I think he did alright enough there for the most part. Granted, an iconoclastic anti-celeb like him had no business being there in the first place, but having to unexpectedly fill 5 minutes by yourself on live TV in front of a huge live audience including the Royal family and er ... P. Diddy is probably a bit fucking nerve-wracking.
The Dance is obviously a bit humiliating, but he knew the audience would go wild for it and they did, sure enough. The worst bit is him doing that "Pug-Nosed Face" Bowie song from Extras, which is far less iconic and, in 2007, had barely even aired yet. That bit's rough.
honestly I reckon a proper stand-up should always have best part of 10 minutes worth of stuff to riff on if everything goes belly-up. Just something about the venue, the night, etc. Well he has that piss-weak global-warming/eskimo stuff. The quid bit is good though, but the problem is he tries to talk over the cheer instead of playing it up and then really spinning out for the punchline. he plays the crowd a little bit more in the song, but by then it's into total cringe territory.
My dream is that Gervais becomes the new Boycie. Being dragged all around and just being told to do his dance.
"Do Derek face, Ricky"
Remember how the terfs tell us TRAs are homophobic?
https://twitter.com/thenameishyde/status/1529059936516419587?fbclid=IwAR2A5DoaaIPICEd0auYHFOUSw_z74B5_qEnkCLeSoSJOoh03Iq1EH-Vpyd0
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FThOzxnWQAM9vhm?format=png&name=medium)
with his Asda pack-of-three black t-shirt and his jeans and sheaux, it's like a nightmare: on stage in front of a global audience with no material and your worst clothes on. Mackenzie at least knew the basics: wear a suit and get off asap.
Quote from: jobotic on May 26, 2022, 10:03:56 PMRemember how the terfs tell us TRAs are homophobic?
https://twitter.com/thenameishyde/status/1529059936516419587?fbclid=IwAR2A5DoaaIPICEd0auYHFOUSw_z74B5_qEnkCLeSoSJOoh03Iq1EH-Vpyd0
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FThOzxnWQAM9vhm?format=png&name=medium)
The clip:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x10rvf
Was always a strong homophobic element to his material tbh.
http://londonfeministnetwork.org.uk/what-weve-done/letter-writing-campaigns/sexist-jokes-are-not-ok-mr-gervais
QuoteAn LFN member attended a humanist event just before Christmas 2008 (http://newhumanist.org.uk/1917). Ricky Gervais was one of the acts and told 'jokes' about an 8 year old girl being sexually abused; first by a stranger, then by her father. He also 'joked' about raping an elderly lady, saying that it was ok because he didn't kill her – he just raped her.
As feminists we need to make it clear to Ricky Gervais and to all comedians that this is not OK. It condones and normalises male violence against women and children.
Cor. Remember when feminism used to include holding men to account for sexism, eh? Those were the days.
I wonder how many of those letters Ince received.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 26, 2022, 11:18:02 AMI'm quite new to this website, so I was expecting loads of people saying how funny the stand up show was, with perhaps one or two people calling it rubbish. I was very surprised to see it's the other way around! I don't think I've ever seen a discussion that's just 99% of people saying how much they didn't enjoy it, or how much they dislike Ricky Gervais.
Is there another discussion thread on here for people who actually did find it funny? Because I did.
Thanks.
I liked the first half, but the second meandered about a bit and rehashed old ground - atheism, hitler.
Quote from: Pimhole on May 26, 2022, 10:27:24 PMhttp://londonfeministnetwork.org.uk/what-weve-done/letter-writing-campaigns/sexist-jokes-are-not-ok-mr-gervais
Cor. Remember when feminism used to include holding men to account for sexism, eh? Those were the days.
I wonder how many of those letters Ince received.
I've said it before, but I find it fascinating how Gervais aligns himself with humanism and atheism, pushes himself as compassionate, seeing the beauty of the world independent of intelligent design - and yet everything he says and does is entirely motivated by ugly cynicism. Even stuff like Derek and After Life which purport to be about kindness and joy and the wonders of life are actually just bizarre screeds full of anger about greedy snorting obnoxious cunts getting in his way - interspersed with weird crassness about nonces and fucking fat people and old women's fannies being gross and bodies being weird and people getting embroiled in disgusting and embarassing sexual acts. He could create any fictional world he wants; like Detectorists, he could show the wonder in simple pleasures. Instead he builds these weird, sleazy little worlds. And then packs his stand-up full of judgement and obsessive ridicule of anyone different to him.
Robin Ince has written a blog-post in which he calls Gervais "a pin up and role model for the alt right":
https://cosmicshambles.com/words/blogs/robinince/a-waste-of-offence
The most interesting part to me is that he and Gervais have regular discussions arguing about the subjects of Gervais' jokes. So he is being pulled up by friends on the hollowness of that defence he always trots out.
TalkTV have started a Twitter pile on to Robin Ince with a poll.
QuoteComedian Robin Ince says Ricky Gervais has become "a pin up and role model for the alt-right" following his controversial Netflix special. Do you agree?
https://twitter.com/TalkTV/status/1529825668598362115
The comments are full of people who think they're centrists but follow lots of far right blowhards (and indeed watch TalkTV), thus proving Robin's position entirely.
Quite funny to see all the inevitable "who the fuck is Robin Ince?" sneering, people saying Ince couldn't possibly understand Gervais' comedy or intentions, and the oh-so-witty making unimaginative "he's not a comedian" jabs. Overlookong that, uh, Gervais platformed him for years as a comedian and formed a close friendship with him. They have to act like any pro-trans person is just some irrelevant idiot who knows nothing and has no insight. In fact there are probably few people better placed than Ince to comment on Gervais.
ah yes, Gervais' comedy with it's lofty 'intentions'. Jesus fucking christ why are people so desperate to elevate this average, thoughtless material.
He's challenging dogma, don't forget.
He's received a glowing tribute in a column by Sarah Vine on the Mail online site.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 26, 2022, 11:18:02 AMI'm quite new to this website, so I was expecting loads of people saying how funny the stand up show was, with perhaps one or two people calling it rubbish. I was very surprised to see it's the other way around! I don't think I've ever seen a discussion that's just 99% of people saying how much they didn't enjoy it, or how much they dislike Ricky Gervais.
https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=11473.0 (https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=11473.0)
Quote from: Cold Meat Platter on May 27, 2022, 03:54:40 AMHe's challenging dogma, don't forget.
Channelling dogshit, more like.
Quote from: Jake Thingray on May 27, 2022, 05:12:45 AMhttps://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=11473.0 (https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=11473.0)
Lol @ thewomb aka Driscoll saying "get a life" to someone archiving Gervais shit. What a difference 16 years makes
Quote from: BritishHobo on May 26, 2022, 11:48:57 PMQuite funny to see all the inevitable "who the fuck is Robin Ince?" sneering, people saying Ince couldn't possibly understand Gervais' comedy or intentions, and the oh-so-witty making unimaginative "he's not a comedian" jabs. Overlookong that, uh, Gervais platformed him for years as a comedian and formed a close friendship with him. They have to act like any pro-trans person is just some irrelevant idiot who knows nothing and has no insight. In fact there are probably few people better placed than Ince to comment on Gervais.
The one time I saw Ricky Gervais live it was when he appeared as a surprise special guest at Nine Lessons And Carols For Godless People. Y'know, as a favour to the organiser and host, his good mate Robin Ince:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Lessons_and_Carols_for_Godless_People#2008:_Nine_Lessons_and_Carols_for_Godless_People
His ten-minute routine included a paedo joke that didn't go down at all well with the audience of clever godless sciencey types. More noises of disgust than laughter.
Quote from: Phoenix Lazarus on May 27, 2022, 04:40:55 AMHe's received a glowing tribute in a column by Sarah Vine on the Mail online site.
...including an obligatory mention of how furious and embarrassed Meghan Markle must be. The Mail's obsession with MM is disturbing.
I note Gervais hasn't tweeted that particular bit of praise. These are his people now, and I can't imagine he's entirely comfortable with that.
I've never cum over a little queer
When Gervais first appeared, his edgy punching down character fitted the times somewhat. He might have done better to distance himself by playing a character.
Over the years, as the edgy stuff got stale and problematic, with people like Sarah Silverman changing heir act, he could've done a Partridge style evolution, and kept the character fresh. But he is lazy and thinks playing the same character still works. Despite the success amongst his thick audience he's a dull, spent force, repetitive, 'problematic' and, well, shit.
The context has changed beneath him, and he's ignored it. He's making money, but his comedy credentials are in the toilet, when I once believed he had the wit to evolve. Apparently not.
I watched some of Gervais' live streams last year (I think he broadcasts them on insta or twitter - I watched facebook re-uploads), where he just hangs out, playing records, showing his pets off and answering questions from viewers. I actually thought he made a quite nice "cosy radio host" and I could see him doing well on Radio 2 in the Paul O'Grady/Vanessa Feltz type slot someday. Probably the nicest content he's ever done, other than that quiz show with the kids.
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 27, 2022, 02:13:11 PMThe context has changed beneath him, and he's ignored it. He's making money, but his comedy credentials are in the toilet, when I once believed he had the wit to evolve. Apparently not.
Insightful.
Clearly, he's not as smart as he thinks he is, and if I wonder if his reticence to evolve is rooted in the fear of being "exposed" as soon as he moves away from his pet subjects.
Quote from: Blue Jam on May 27, 2022, 01:06:23 PMThe one time I saw Ricky Gervais live it was when he appeared as a surprise special guest at Nine Lessons And Carols For Godless People. Y'know, as a favour to the organiser and host, his good mate Robin Ince:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Lessons_and_Carols_for_Godless_People#2008:_Nine_Lessons_and_Carols_for_Godless_People
His ten-minute routine included a paedo joke that didn't go down at all well with the audience of clever godless sciencey types. More noises of disgust than laughter.
Interesting to see s Lee on the bill. Can't imagine him doing a show like that today
Quote from: BritishHobo on May 26, 2022, 11:33:29 PMThe most interesting part to me is that he and Gervais have regular discussions arguing about the subjects of Gervais' jokes. So he is being pulled up by friends on the hollowness of that defence he always trots out.
That immediately jumped out as the most interesting bit. The cunt's been telt and he won't listen.
What I find strange is that trans issues make up a fraction of a percentage of human life but Chappelle did about 30 minutes and the subject popped up in Gervais's new special. Ince said it's because there's money in it for them but I think it's because they've been told to stop being horrible and they don't like being told what to do. It's reverse psychology, we need to bombard their twitter asking them to talk about the trans thing even more. That'll shut 'em up.
Just found out from this standup show that Ricky is an ATHEIST! Interesting as I don't think he's mentioned it before, definitely not on stage anyway.
Quote from: checkoutgirl on May 27, 2022, 02:33:36 PMInce said it's because there's money in it for them but I think it's because they've been told to stop being horrible and they don't like being told what to do. It's reverse psychology, we need to bombard their twitter asking them to talk about the trans thing even more. That'll shut 'em up.
It is 100% this. This is a man who made 13 episodes of astonishing bizarre nonsense because he had to say sorry for calling Susan Boyle a mong
Quote from: Ferris on May 27, 2022, 02:35:48 PMJust found out from this standup show that Ricky is an ATHEIST! Interesting as I don't think he's mentioned it before, definitely not on stage anyway.
It's the seeming lack of intellectual curiosity. How can he not be bored of his atheism by now? I probably was atheist at 15, possibly younger. But the subject of it has never really interested me. It's almost like being fascinated by the fact that you don't like music or art etc. How can a lack of interest in something be so endlessly fascinating? It's so baked into his identity now that his ideas (ahem) branch off from it so he has to quickly mention it to give context for his idea.
It reminds me of a friend who states he's never seen Star Wars. This is of no interest or significance to me but there is a hint of pride detectable in his voice. Like he's a proper grown up or something.
Quote from: checkoutgirl on May 27, 2022, 02:44:51 PMHow can a lack of interest in something be so endlessly fascinating? It's so baked into his identity now that his ideas (ahem) branch off from it so he has to quickly mention it to give context for his idea.
It's because it's not enough that he is an atheist, he needs to be
right. He has to tell everyone whose opinion differs how wrong they are to believe in anything, and he blocks people who disagree.
Quote from: checkoutgirl on May 27, 2022, 02:44:51 PMIt reminds me of a friend who states he's never seen Star Wars. This is of no interest or significance to me but there is a hint of pride detectable in his voice. Like he's a proper grown up or something.
See also 'actually, I don't own a television'. That's great, but you don't need to endlessly tell us about it.
Quote from: somersetchris on May 27, 2022, 02:59:21 PMIt's because it's not enough that he is an atheist, he needs to be right.
It's not enough that he is
right, he needs to be applauded for being
right
Think it's more about him having the last word. Deep down he probably knows he's a fucking idiot, that why he's orchestrated everything for 10 years + to ensure he never, ever exposes himself to be challenged by anyone
Quote from: checkoutgirl on May 27, 2022, 02:44:51 PMIt's the seeming lack of intellectual curiosity. How can he not be bored of his atheism by now? I probably was atheist at 15, possibly younger. But the subject of it has never really interested me. It's almost like being fascinated by the fact that you don't like music or art etc. How can a lack of interest in something be so endlessly fascinating? It's so baked into his identity now that his ideas (ahem) branch off from it so he has to quickly mention it to give context for his idea.
It reminds me of a friend who states he's never seen Star Wars. This is of no interest or significance to me but there is a hint of pride detectable in his voice. Like he's a proper grown up or something.
He's not a curious person at all, is he? He mines his surroundings and draws on his real life (and fair play used to do it well,
The Office remains great and I enjoyed
Extras at the time) but that's his limit. It doesn't have to be a fault if you've got interesting experiences to draw on, but has become a fault because he's got a lovely comfortable life so doesn't have anything new or interesting to say about seemingly anything.
Same with the knock-off Richard Curtis world his widowed avatar lives in
After Life. None of it rings true, it's just the comedian Ricky Gervais destroying a town of straw men because they dare to believe in God, or eat noisily, or think that being a 24/7 cunt maybe isn't alright.
Derek is the aberration (in so many ways) but because he didn't have a clue about the world he was setting it in, it might as well have been a fairytale about a maniac living in a demented fantasy version of a British care home. Two-dimensional to the hilt. Maudlin stereotype overdrive.
If he's got a next telly show in him, I'll put a tenner on it being about an amazing stand-up comedian who wearily battles the woke, refuses to be cancelled and needless to say has the last laugh.
The atheism thing is just so tedious. I'm an atheist, but who cares?
It's hardly an outré position, a quick google says 40-60% of the UK is non-religious or atheist depending on how you measure it.
Oooh, how brave mate. You're saying the unsayable!
Haha, yeah, it might have been slightly more of a thing in America, but don't bring it back home with you, still wearing it like a badge of honour.
"Man got willy, woman got foofoo. Even Ugg know that! Ha ha ha!"
Imagine if that were your audience. Proper knuckle dragging top gear tier fuckwits. Actually he'd slot right into that role, wouldn't he? Are they still looking for a new Clarkson. He's 60 and he's wearing jeans.
Aw, just looked it up, he has plenty of cars, but can't drive them :(
Quote from: frajer on May 27, 2022, 03:17:31 PMHe's not a curious person at all, is he?
He reminds me of how my very Catholic mother would question my career choice: "I know you're into your science, and it's fascinating and all that, but... you don't
really believe we came from monkeys, do you?". Or those QuIrKy AnD uNiQuE types on Reddit who go on about how they hate smalltalk and would rather talk about quantum physics, when their interest in quantum physics amounts to having watched a lot of
Rick and Morty. People who fancy themselves as a bit of a scientist, philosopher, psychologist etc but who have only the most superficial interest in these topics- like hipsters I guess.
QuoteSame with the knock-off Richard Curtis world his widowed avatar lives in After Life. None of it rings true
Derek is the aberration (in so many ways) but because he didn't have a clue about the world he was setting it in, it might as well have been a fairytale about a maniac living in a demented fantasy version of a British care home. Two-dimensional to the hilt. Maudlin stereotype overdrive.
He's so incurious he can't even be bothered to do the basic research which would make his own work more believable. Things like the name "Autumnal Leaves Care Home", when care homes try and avoid names that scream DEAD SOON. Then there's the yoga instructor who doesn't demonstrate the poses and sniffs incessantly, despite control of the breathing and having clear airways being fundamental to the practice of yoga. Not to mention the local paper which somehow turns a profit in 2022. He could visited some care homes and local newspaper offices for research, or attended a yoga class, or even just watched some yoga classes on YouTube.
He'd never try method acting, would he? He's incurious because he's lazy.
Quote from: ImmaculateClump on May 27, 2022, 04:07:25 PMAw, just looked it up, he has plenty of cars, but can't drive them :(
Hasn't he admitted that he never learned to drive purely because he's too lazy? Mind you I can't drive either so I'm one to talk.
Quote from: ImmaculateClump on May 27, 2022, 04:07:25 PMImagine if that were your audience. Proper knuckle dragging top gear tier fuckwits. Actually he'd slot right into that role, wouldn't he? Are they still looking for a new Clarkson. He's 60 and he's wearing jeans.
You jest, but...
https://www.motorbiscuit.com/ricky-gervais-turned-down-host-gig-top-gear-doesnt-know-drive-doesnt-have-drivers-license/
He'd be saying the unsayable if he was doing his shtick in Mississippi or Dhaka.
If he did that, I'd rescind all criticism.
Quote from: Blue Jam on May 27, 2022, 04:32:09 PMMind you I can't drive either so I'm one to talk.
No, well, I can't drive either, but we don't swan around on stage in our supermarket denims swilling fosters out of a can and giving it the big I am, do we? Striding around like some sort of
driver.
Quote from: Blue Jam on May 27, 2022, 04:32:09 PMYou jest, but...
https://www.motorbiscuit.com/ricky-gervais-turned-down-host-gig-top-gear-doesnt-know-drive-doesnt-have-drivers-license/
It's 2002 and someone tells you Jeremy Clarkson is making semi sympathetic shows about growing vegetables and Ricky Gervais is tearing into trans people
Ricky can't drive, because as soon he gets in the car, he starts thinking about all the other cars he could be driving.
^very good
New page no context
He loves telling interviewers how fucking useless he is and how he'd be dead if it wasn't for his partner.
This sort of stuff is a red flag from someone half his age. A 60 year old man saying he can't take care of himself isn't cute, it's pathetic.
I can't drive either.
That's not a red flag and obviously bullshit anyway as he's carved out a phenomenally lucrative career despite having no talent
Quote from: Ferris on May 27, 2022, 03:41:54 PMThe atheism thing is just so tedious. I'm an atheist, but who cares?
It's hardly an outré position, a quick google says 40-60% of the UK is non-religious or atheist depending on how you measure it.
Oooh, how brave mate. You're saying the unsayable!
It is tedious but considering the overwhelming majority of the global population is still very religious and believes in oppressing people's freedoms and killing each other based partly on those stupid beliefs, it becomes more understandable I think.
Anyway, esquire article:
https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a40113434/ricky-gervais-supernature-review/
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/05/the-difference-between-dave-chappelle-and-ricky-gervais
Seems spot-on.
Quote"The ones with wombs. Those fucking dinosaurs. I love the new women. They're great, aren't they? The new ones we've been seeing lately. The ones with beards and cocks."
What's his fucking problem? If millionaires are a minority, why doesn't he do a tight 20 on late stage capitalism, the cost of living crisis and that?
To be honest, if he could actually do some stuff on trans people, positive and negative, that was well written, I'd have much less problems with it. But it's the kind of material your mate would come up with down the pub that you wouldn't bother listening to properly. Rick charges 40 quid a ticket and 20 million to Netflix.
Maybe if Netflix and punters stopped shovelling money at him he'd think about doing something a bit better. There are open mic people who could beat him hands down.
I'll bet there are trans comedians out there who've done stuff about being trans. And it's actually funny because they know what they're talking about.
Quote from: bgmnts on May 27, 2022, 11:51:39 PMIt is tedious but considering the overwhelming majority of the global population is still very religious and believes in oppressing people's freedoms and killing each other based partly on those stupid beliefs, it becomes more understandable I think.
Anyway, esquire article:
https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a40113434/ricky-gervais-supernature-review/
Quote from: Ferris on May 27, 2022, 04:35:57 PMHe'd be saying the unsayable if he was doing his shtick in Mississippi or Dhaka.
If he did that, I'd rescind all criticism.
Ok, genuine question.
https://twitter.com/ARosenflower/status/1529178901087404039?t=pbltMyC14TujGwqjJaV9CA&s=19
Aside from how pathetic the squeeing over a like from Ricky is, is this referring to the bits where he's correcting people about pronoun use, such as "what if she raped me"? Or is it about another bit? Because I've heard that argument a lot since the special dropped, that he's using exact quotes from TRAs, and I'm not convinced that's actually true. Is it?
what is it with GCunts and Fargo?
Quote from: Ron Superior on May 28, 2022, 07:56:14 AMOk, genuine question.
https://twitter.com/ARosenflower/status/1529178901087404039?t=pbltMyC14TujGwqjJaV9CA&s=19
Aside from how pathetic the squeeing over a like from Ricky is, is this referring to the bits where he's correcting people about pronoun use, such as "what if she raped me"? Or is it about another bit? Because I've heard that argument a lot since the special dropped, that he's using exact quotes from TRAs, and I'm not convinced that's actually true. Is it?
Of course it fucking isn't. Ricky Cunt is mocking a strawman who is more outraged about trans people being misgendered than all the rapes that trans people (well, just trans women, who all have beards and cocks and are really just men in dresses) definitely do.
If they know them to be quotes it would be easy to prove it. So, no just some twat.
Quote from: Dog Botherer on May 28, 2022, 08:00:50 AMwhat is it with GCunts and Fargo?
The main character is a pregnant woman, the best kind of woman.
But for some reason they never have
Juno avatars.
The audience really whoops with sycophantic joy when he does his "I'm a white male multi-millionaire" bit. Not ironic laughter - not 'oh haha he's going to do his "I am a minority of under 1%" joke' - but proper whooping like they're proud of him or think he's done well for himself or yes let's cheer and whoop for the multi-millionaire or something.
I can't work it out. Genuinely stumped. They do the same thing every time he mentions his money - "It's usually money coming through the door" etc - and also when he says "especially in the BBC" about paedo staff.
BBC hate, hooray for the millionaires having their own money, what's going on? I know this is small fry compared to the strawmen he's erecting to perform anti-trans material, but Gervais himself is a known quantity of cunt at the moment. What's perplexing me is his audience triggered into rhythms of sycophantic apoplexy over literally a rich man saying "I am rich".
It's because he's their proof that nasty cunts like themselves can do well
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 28, 2022, 08:04:11 AMIf they know them to be quotes it would be easy to prove it. So, no just some twat.
Yeah, that's what I always thought, but so many people have been so fervent that it's their actual words that I started to wonder.
But this is such a huge part of the problem with the whole thing. Huge comics making trans people a significant part of their show about trans people being a problem, all having beards and cocks, all raping women in bathrooms, and all people arguing for trans rights being full of shit. For enough people who don't really care about the issue that just becomes the perceived norm or the matter. So they don't need to care about trans rights, and they can move on.
Quote from: Ron Superior on May 28, 2022, 09:53:47 AMso many people have been so fervent that it's their actual words
Jesus Christ, what morons. Some people believe what they want I guess.
(https://i.ibb.co/zxWdxVG/ince.jpg) (https://ibb.co/PjskjGw)
I looked at who Ricky is following on Twitter and it's people like Sharron Davies. People who already hold his opinion. No one who might actually have a professional understanding of the subject and show it to be a bit more complicated. What a rationalist.
Quote from: Ron Superior on May 28, 2022, 07:56:14 AMOk, genuine question.
https://twitter.com/ARosenflower/status/1529178901087404039?t=pbltMyC14TujGwqjJaV9CA&s=19
Aside from how pathetic the squeeing over a like from Ricky is, is this referring to the bits where he's correcting people about pronoun use, such as "what if she raped me"? Or is it about another bit? Because I've heard that argument a lot since the special dropped, that he's using exact quotes from TRAs, and I'm not convinced that's actually true. Is it?
Pretty sure they're citing the reaction to Chris Chan?
Quote from: RicoMNKN on May 28, 2022, 10:07:07 AMI looked at who Ricky is following on Twitter and it's people like Sharron Davies. People who already hold his opinion. No one who might actually have a professional understanding of the subject and show it to be a bit more complicated. What a rationalist.
Ricky Gervais won't put himself in a situation, ever, where there's a chance that he'll be seriously challenged by anyone with credentials. He's spent 15 years building an echo chamber, spoon feeding idiots, relentlessly bombarding them with friendly reviews and softball interviews parroting the same marketing. He has a chronically fragile ego and like most bullies he knows that his stock would shrivel if he allowed himself to be humiliated. The guy is a coward
Quote from: Barry Admin on May 28, 2022, 10:35:58 AMPretty sure they're citing the reaction to Chris Chan?
It's the closest thing I can think of. But in which case that's absolutely not what literally 99.999% of TRAs think or say.
Quote from: Ron Superior on May 28, 2022, 10:48:53 AMIt's the closest thing I can think of. But in which case that's absolutely not what literally 99.999% of TRAs think or say.
Indeed. But Gervais definitely seems to be referring to the people who insisted that Chan's correct pronouns were still used, because that then supposedly means you care more about pronouns than about the fact they raped their own Mother.
Just seen a shitty parody by the transphobic moley:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FTiLtUpXEAAdHFl?format=jpg&name=900x900)
Quote from: McChesney Duntz on May 28, 2022, 12:03:13 AMhttps://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/05/the-difference-between-dave-chappelle-and-ricky-gervais
Seems spot-on.
Good article, thanks for sharing.
JK Rowling
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on May 27, 2022, 02:22:00 PMInteresting to see s Lee on the bill. Can't imagine him doing a show like that today
He done it many times since, usually in character, with a mask or costume on or something, so Gervais is the aberration here.
Quote from: Barry Admin on May 28, 2022, 10:54:32 AMIndeed. But Gervais definitely seems to be referring to the people who insisted that Chan's correct pronouns were still used, because that then supposedly means you care more about pronouns than about the fact they raped their own Mother.
Just seen a shitty parody by the transphobic moley:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FTiLtUpXEAAdHFl?format=jpg&name=900x900)
Ohoho, the piliferous Moley strikes again!
Total brain rot. Even Gervais could do better than that and he's scraping the latrine every time he opens his mouth.
Quote from: McChesney Duntz on May 28, 2022, 12:03:13 AMhttps://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/05/the-difference-between-dave-chappelle-and-ricky-gervais
Seems spot-on.
Behind a pay-wall, unfortunately.
"Hello, this show is called SuperNature because I will debunk the supernatural in this."
Quote from: Replies From View on May 28, 2022, 12:52:33 PMBehind a pay-wall, unfortunately.
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vanityfair.com%2Fhollywood%2F2022%2F05%2Fthe-difference-between-dave-chappelle-and-ricky-gervais
Quote from: The Guppy on May 28, 2022, 01:11:11 PMhttps://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vanityfair.com%2Fhollywood%2F2022%2F05%2Fthe-difference-between-dave-chappelle-and-ricky-gervais
Thank you.
Good piece, that.
Edit: new page zero context
:D You're on a roll!
For the future, if you put a . after the com or co.uk or whatever, you can usually bypass paywalls.
For example - https://www.vanityfair.com./hollywood/2022/05/the-difference-between-dave-chappelle-and-ricky-gervais (https://www.vanityfair.com./hollywood/2022/05/the-difference-between-dave-chappelle-and-ricky-gervais)
Or in firefox, you can press f9 for "reader view", you won't get to see the pictures, but you should get the full text.
Quote from: ImmaculateClump on May 28, 2022, 01:50:52 PM:D You're on a roll!
For the future, if you put a . after the com or co.uk or whatever, you can usually bypass paywalls.
For example - https://www.vanityfair.com./hollywood/2022/05/the-difference-between-dave-chappelle-and-ricky-gervais (https://www.vanityfair.com./hollywood/2022/05/the-difference-between-dave-chappelle-and-ricky-gervais)
Thanks for this! I wonder how long this workaround will exist - surely they know about it?
I was able to read the whole thing, limited number of free articles maybe?
Quote from: Pink Gregory on May 28, 2022, 02:07:34 PMI was able to read the whole thing, limited number of free articles maybe?
Yes. Same here, got a message about a free article limit.
QuoteGervais sees himself as an equal opportunity offender, and even uses that to justify why he targets the trans community in his special. "I talk about AIDS, famine, cancer, the Holocaust, rape, pedophilia. But no, the one thing you mustn't joke about is identity politics," Gervais says toward the end of SuperNature. "The one thing you should never joke about is the trans issue. They just want to be treated equally. I agree. That's why I include them."
Exactly the same disingenuous 'why are they being so sensitive, I tell jokes about everybody' type of shit that Bernard Manning used to trot out.
Quote from: Replies From View on May 28, 2022, 02:00:20 PMThanks for this! I wonder how long this workaround will exist - surely they know about it?
Yeah, it's weird. I'm guessing youtube could force a way around adblockers as well.
Maybe enough people still pay and watch the ads for them not to think it's worth the bother, yet.
Maybe once all the "boomers" are dead things will change.
Chappelle isn't just bitter for personal reasons, his belief that LGBT issues are being purposefully used to undermine the status of black americans is long standing. He was talking about it twenty years ago, and he's alluded to conspiracy theories about black men being effeminised by the media. He's also a Muslim with apparently quite strict beliefs that he feels he would devalue if he spoke about them publically. In hindsight a lot of his material about relationships was about how masculinity is undermined, men being lazy and not being responsible figures. Which is a weird mix when the other big chunk is stoner comedy and dookie jokes.
I do find it really hard to picture Ricky Gervais having any deeply held beliefs are all. Atheism doesn't count because he hasn't seriously considered the question. He's a reactionary through and through - I don't like that thing people are talking about right now, it does my head in.
Quote from: Video Game Fan 2000 on May 28, 2022, 02:44:33 PMI do find it really hard to picture Ricky Gervais having any deeply held beliefs are all. Atheism doesn't count because he hasn't seriously considered the question. He's a reactionary.
His half-arsed commitment to vegetarianism also suggests this, aye.
Quote from: Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse on May 28, 2022, 02:14:36 AMwell, just trans women
Trans men seem to get off scot free with the big name comedians. Peculiar that.
Quote from: McChesney Duntz on May 28, 2022, 12:03:13 AMhttps://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/05/the-difference-between-dave-chappelle-and-ricky-gervais
Seems spot-on.
This bit:
'When I say something I don't really mean for comedic effect, and you, as an audience, you laugh at the wrong thing '
cause you know what the right thing is. It's a way of satirizing attitudes."
That says it all about Gervais's hopelessly out of touch stance. It's the old 90s/00s 'all the battles have been fought, everyone's basically cool now, and we have the luxury to say anything we like with 0 consequences' attitude. It's beyond bold/naive of him (assuming he's doing it in good faith of course) to assume that all of his audience 'know what the right thing is'.
Quote from: Barry Admin on May 28, 2022, 10:54:32 AMIndeed. But Gervais definitely seems to be referring to the people who insisted that Chan's correct pronouns were still used, because that then supposedly means you care more about pronouns than about the fact they raped their own Mother.
I mean, what's so terrible about that anyway? It's only the same thing as managing to remain non-racist whenever a black person or a Muslim does a crime - you don't use that as an excuse to start with the racial slurs. Obviously this is beyond most GCs by definition, like with Marion Millar's off-the-scale isalmaphobia.
I found it very funny. Yes, the trans jokes. Yes, him referring to himself as being in a 1% minority because he's rich.
Reading this thread, I must be in an absolutely minority as most of you seem to hate him.
And apparently, for finding him funny, I must be a moron and a cunt according to some of you. So that's nice.
Well if you find kicking trans people funny in itself then....
Or maybe you tell us what's funny about Gervais' funny trans jokes?
What's your point? You liked it, other people don't and they're giving their reasons.
People have largely seen Gervais' standup shows, I've seen them all except this one and have found them lacking since Fame and we've said why. "I found it funny" isn't much of a discussion.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 28, 2022, 04:47:25 PMI found it very funny. Yes, the trans jokes. Yes, him referring to himself as being in a 1% minority because he's rich.
Reading this thread, I must be in an absolutely minority as most of you seem to hate him.
And apparently, for finding him funny, I must be a moron and a cunt according to some of you. So that's nice.
I don't think you're a moron or a cunt. I think you're easily pleased by low-effort material and willing to overlook the context of jokes as long as they are constructed in a way that gets a chuckle out of you.
I can't change that, but I
can point out that it's hacky, lazy and morally dodgy and then challenge that material (albeit within my own limited sphere of influence ie a thread on CaB).
I suppose you could argue "don't take it so seriously, it's just a joke! I laugh at anything I find funny!" which is an argument to resurrect racist gags from the '70s as long as punters cackle at the punchline.
Quote from: ajsmith2 on May 28, 2022, 04:39:21 PMThis bit:
'When I say something I don't really mean for comedic effect, and you, as an audience, you laugh at the wrong thing 'cause you know what the right thing is. It's a way of satirizing attitudes."
@Stigdu What do you make of this part? Do you think it's a fair explanation for why you find the jokes funny?
Quote from: C_Larence on May 28, 2022, 05:08:20 PM@Stigdu What do you make of this part? Do you think it's a fair explanation for why you find the jokes funny?
Yeah, could be. What can I say? Asking me what I found funny is like asking me why do I like strawberries? It's all subjective.
I'm not saying I was in hysterics throughout, but yeah, a lot of it made me laugh, I guess because I knew it was naughty and you shouldn't really laugh at it.
What shocks me is people blanket-blaming and calling others the c-word because they don't agree with their opinion. That's not on.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 28, 2022, 04:47:25 PMI found it very funny. Yes, the trans jokes. Yes, him referring to himself as being in a 1% minority because he's rich.
Reading this thread, I must be in an absolutely minority as most of you seem to hate him.
And apparently, for finding him funny, I must be a moron and a cunt according to some of you. So that's nice.
Hi Rick.
This whole thread is ironic bants
If you're saying it's more understandable for Chappelle to be a transphobic piece of shit because he's black then you have to say it's understandable for Glinner's army to be transphobic pieces of shit because they women. Both groups suffer oppression and jostle for position in the hierarchy of oppression, presumably.
I like strawberries because they are very sweet, with a distinctive taste (although they don't taste as good as they used to), the texture is very pleasing, with the little nodules, and also their appearance is especially attractive, like love hearts.
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 28, 2022, 05:20:11 PMI like strawberries because they are very sweet, with a distinctive taste (although they don't taste as good as they used to), the texture is very pleasing, with the little nodules, and also their appearance is especially attractive, like love hearts.
I feel like I've walked into an episode of The Twilight Zone.
@Stigdu, I don't know how much you follow the subject, but when you see posts like this and realise that Supernature is going to make this mum's daughter's life at least a little worse it's hard to find funny
(https://i.imgur.com/67FLDKB.jpg)
I mean, there are plenty of places to go if you want people to agree with you that he's funny... most of the rest of the world, it seems. Twitter?
Or, if I was being more like Ricky - you want a safe space? ARE YOU TRIGGERED?
Quote from: Better Midlands on May 28, 2022, 05:29:54 PM@Stigdu, I don't know how much you follow the subject, but when you see posts like this and realise that Supernature is going to make this mum's daughter's life at least a little worse it's hard to find funny
lol offended
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 28, 2022, 05:20:11 PMI like strawberries because they are very sweet, with a distinctive taste (although they don't taste as good as they used to), the texture is very pleasing, with the little nodules, and also their appearance is especially attractive, like love hearts.
Oh so anyone who doesn't like strawberries is a cunt? I see how it is.
If you laugh at morally dodgy material because it's 'naughty' (rather than your own morals telling you "hmm bit dodgy this") then there's your problem.
You are relying on society (or rather the judgement of others) to enforce basic politeness because you don't have the requisite morals yourself. Example: I wouldn't think "ooh this joke about a black man is a bit naughty - might get in trouble for laughing at this!" I'd think "well that sucks what the fuck?".
The former implies you don't care about whether something is morally reprehensible because it doesn't impact you personally. What you care about is getting into trouble so it feels 'naughty' (rather than, say, bad and wrong).
Again, you could say "don't take it so seriously! I laugh at anything that's funny!" which ignores the fact that's an argument to start doing properly dodgy material. It's also a comedy forum so don't be blown away when people discuss comedy in more depth than you'd see elsewhere.
Quote from: Pimhole on May 28, 2022, 05:33:25 PMOh so anyone who doesn't like strawberries is a cunt? I see how it is.
You pivot to saying "the c-word" after a few posts mate, show some decorum.
Quote from: Better Midlands on May 28, 2022, 05:29:54 PM@Stigdu, I don't know how much you follow the subject, but when you see posts like this and realise that Supernature is going to make this mum's daughter's life at least a little worse it's hard to find funny
(https://i.imgur.com/67FLDKB.jpg)
A lot of abuse victims would have said (and did say) the same thing about Brass Eye. Not defending Gervais but I don't think you can dismiss comedy because a vulnerable person says something like that.
Funnily enough, I don't like strawberries so I guess I really am a bit of a c-word!
Obviously, I don't condone bashing of transgender people - does that need to be said? - but yes, I can find jokes about transgender people, black people, gays, whites, whoever, funny. I don't just automatically switch off when a 'taboo' joke rears its head and have an inner dialogue where I tell myself "I'm not going to find this funny because it's about a dwarf".
I've heard funny jokes about Liverpudlians and rubbish ones too. Depends on the journey to the punchline and, more often than not, the punchline itself.
P.S. I thought 'Derek' wasn't very good/funny. Do I get to join the clique now?
Hey Stacy, what's your opinion on ol' Jermy Crobbins?
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 28, 2022, 05:54:35 PMHey Stacy, what's your opinion on ol' Jermy Crobbins?
I don't know who that is.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 28, 2022, 04:47:25 PMI found it very funny. Yes, the trans jokes. Yes, him referring to himself as being in a 1% minority because he's rich.
Reading this thread, I must be in an absolutely minority as most of you seem to hate him.
And apparently, for finding him funny, I must be a moron and a cunt according to some of you. So that's nice.
I can't tell if you're trolling or not here, but to give you the benefit of the doubt: Why do you care if other people find Gervais funny or not? Why do you feel the need to defend someone who, as he likes to remind us, is a multi-millionaire and would be doing just fine whether people defended him or not?
Gervais fans remind me of Radiohead fans in the way they get very bothered about other people not liking the thing they like. So what? Who cares, honestly? A lot of people hate stuff I like/d, from Better Call Saul to the Super Furry Animals to Oasis to The X Factor, and I don't give a fuck. If Gervais was universally loved and accepted would that be any better? Wouldn't that feel like being a Michael McIntyre fan?
I can't speak for everyone but I personally don't think Gervais fans are morons or c*nts, and I don't think anyone's implying that. I just don't understand why people get so precious about these things- Ricky's a millionaire, relax, he'll be fine.
Who switches off when they hear a joke about a "taboo"?
I think you're trying to strawman everyone in the thread as prudish woke killjoys - considering the forum is based around a shared enjoyment of Chris Morris (who was doing more outré material decades ago) I reckon that's off the mark.
My point was if you tell a load of lazy bigoted jokes recycled from the local golf club, you don't get to tell them, say "not really", then wink and tell some more.
If your defence is "it's ok because he said 'not really' and I laughed at the punchline" then you are on pretty dodgy ground because that could justify a lot of bad-faith material. You can laugh if you like, but on niche comedy forums across the land people will point out that it's probably not great.
Quote from: Blue Jam on May 28, 2022, 05:59:09 PMI can't tell if you're trolling or not here, but to give you the benefit of the doubt: Why do you care if other people find Gervais funny or not? Why do you feel the need to defend someone who, as he likes to remind us, is a multi-millionaire and would be doing just fine whether people defended him or not?
Gervais fans remind me of Radiohead fans in the way they get very bothered about other people not liking the thing they like. So what? Who cares, honestly? A lot of people hate stuff I like/d, from Better Call Saul to the Super Furry Animals to Oasis to The X Factor, and I don't give a fuck. If Gervais was universally loved and accepted would that be any better? Wouldn't that feel like being a Michael McIntyre fan?
I can't speak for everyone but I personally don't think Gervais fans are morons or c*nts, and I don't think anyone's implying that. I just don't understand why people get so precious about these things- Ricky's a millionaire, relax, he'll be fine.
To be honest I don't. I'll leave it there. Cheers
Quote from: Ferris on May 28, 2022, 06:01:31 PMWho switches off when they hear a joke about a "taboo"?
I think you're trying to strawman everyone in the thread as prudish woke killjoys - considering the forum is based around a shared enjoyment of Chris Morris (who was doing more outré material decades ago) I reckon that's off the mark.
My point was if you tell a load of lazy bigoted jokes recycled from the local golf club, you don't get to tell them, say "not really", then wink and tell some more.
If your defence is "it's ok because he said 'not really' and I laughed at the punchline" then you are on pretty dodgy ground because that could justify a lot of bad-faith material. You can laugh if you like, but on niche comedy forums across the land people will point out that it's probably not great.
I guess the last thing I can add is that hearing him (or anyone) say "a woman with a cock" brings out my inner child and makes me chuckle regardless if there's a joke attached. Yes, I'm easily pleased.
I dunno, I think Gervais's trans stuff is just a bit angry and mean-spirited, while something like Goldie Lookin' Chain's Your Mother's Got A Penis is just amusingly childish.
I saw Alan Partridge's Stratagem this week. It had jokes about non-binary peeps, the difference was Steve Coogan allowed himself to be the butt of those jokes, and they were funny.
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on May 28, 2022, 05:49:07 PMA lot of abuse victims would have said (and did say) the same thing about Brass Eye. Not defending Gervais but I don't think you can dismiss comedy because a vulnerable person says something like that.
My main fault with the special was
Quote from: Better Midlands on May 24, 2022, 11:03:03 AMYeah, comedically it's pretty lazy.
I totally agree with you about the bolded text and BE, it was a pretty niche show though - Supernature is on the front page of Netflix.
There's gonna be a load of schoolkids having "lose the cock" shouted at them for the next few months.
Ok, well don't be surprised if other people are less easily pleased and more willing to talk about why that is.
It'd be a fucking boring forum if everyone said "I like it when the man said cock! I laughed!!" and that was as far as the discussion went.
Quote from: Ferris on May 28, 2022, 06:12:14 PMOk, well don't be surprised if other people are less easily pleased and more willing to talk about why that is.
It'd be a fucking boring forum if everyone said "I like it when the man said cock! I laughed!!" and that was as far as the discussion went.
"Barney's movie had heart, but
Football in the Groin had a football in the groin"
Quote from: ajsmith2 on May 28, 2022, 04:39:21 PMThis bit:
'When I say something I don't really mean for comedic effect, and you, as an audience, you laugh at the wrong thing 'cause you know what the right thing is. It's a way of satirizing attitudes."
That says it all about Gervais's hopelessly out of touch stance. It's the old 90s/00s 'all the battles have been fought, everyone's basically cool now, and we have the luxury to say anything we like with 0 consequences' attitude. It's beyond bold/naive of him (assuming he's doing it in good faith of course) to assume that all of his audience 'know what the right thing is'.
And the way that his audience is responding to particular remarks and jokes is quite telling, in this regard. Very specific releases of whooping and joy reserved for the jokes about trans-women.
Not so much "Haha aren't we progressive for understanding all the arguments and being able to laugh at remarks that satirise stupid viewpoints," as "At last someone is speaking the truth."
Quote from: Stigdu on May 28, 2022, 06:05:43 PMI guess the last thing I can add is that hearing him (or anyone) say "a woman with a cock" brings out my inner child and makes me chuckle regardless if there's a joke attached. Yes, I'm easily pleased.
i mean i do hope you won't be offended by this but that seems like the kind of thing that's a lot easier to laugh at if trans issues are a kind of invisible abstraction and not something that's material to your day to day life
How much did Netflix pay for this abomination of a show? It's incredible what Gervais has managed to wangle off the back of about eight good episodes of The Office.
Quote from: g0m on May 28, 2022, 07:34:25 PMi mean i do hope you won't be offended by this but that seems like the kind of thing that's a lot easier to laugh at if trans issues are a kind of invisible abstraction and not something that's material to your day to day life
He's probably never been enjoying a bit of femdom action on pornhub and then realised "Fuckin 'ell she's got a cock. This has got way out of hand."
If you've not been through that it's so easy to laugh at it. For everyone else, it's a CRYING GAME *smirking Gervais waddle back to his notes podium*
THREE MILLION POUNDS FOR THAT SATIRE PLEASE, NETFLIX, THERE'S A GOOD CHAP.
Quote from: Replies From View on May 28, 2022, 07:35:02 PMHow much did Netflix pay for this abomination of a show? It's incredible what Gervais has managed to wangle off the back of about eight good episodes of The Office.
I heard he got 20 million dollars for his first two specials. Each.
remember that joke he did about wanking with an insect trapped on the end of his knob. I remember him doing that on 11 o'clock show, his chat show and his first stand up. And presumably it wasn't even his "material", his mate at school came up with it.
That mate from his primary school deserves some sort of co-writer credit for Gervais' whole career.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 28, 2022, 05:52:54 PMP.S. I thought 'Derek' wasn't very good/funny. Do I get to join the clique now?
No, don't you get it?!
Derek might be the funniest thing Gervais has ever done.
Quote from: mr. logic on May 25, 2022, 06:15:26 PMTony Soprano famously loved animals
So does Derek
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNTlhNzM5MGYtZGJjYi00NDJlLWFhZWItZTdhNWJlZTA2MjYxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjYyNDMwOQ@@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg)
Quote from: Stigdu on May 28, 2022, 05:27:07 PMMy name's Stacy.
Hi Stacy. I think it's much easier to explain why something isn't funny than explain why it is. Hopefully as someone who finds Supernature funny you'll stick around so we can discuss it.
A lot of us are lapsed Ricky fans who enjoyed and still enjoy the XFM, Karl and Office stuff. And there's nobody more critical than a fan of the early good stuff who's disappointed in the later lazy, less funny stuff.
If you bear that in mind the Gervais threads on this site will make a bit more sense.
Regarding your earlier comment about strawberries, that's not giving us much to be going on with at this stage of the status debate.
What the fuck am I on about?
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on May 28, 2022, 07:45:25 PMI heard he got 20 million dollars for his first two specials. Each.
For fuck's sake. This actually makes me deeply angry.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 28, 2022, 05:52:54 PMI don't just automatically switch off when a 'taboo' joke rears its head and have an inner dialogue where I tell myself "I'm not going to find this funny because it's about a dwarf"
I'm not sure that anyone here automatically switched off. Most people seem to be engaging with the content and for me the problem is is that there weren't really any jokes to speak of, just straight up pointing and laughing nastiness.
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on May 28, 2022, 07:45:25 PMI heard he got 20 million dollars for his first two specials. Each.
Money for old rope. It can take years and years to hone a decent hour. Ricky's just throwing it together in a few weeks and putting in some filler by reading Twitter. Nice little scam going there.
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on May 28, 2022, 05:49:07 PMA lot of abuse victims would have said (and did say) the same thing about Brass Eye. Not defending Gervais but I don't think you can dismiss comedy because a vulnerable person says something like that.
That's fair. Thing is, context matters, and the context in the UK at the moment is that virtually all the tabloids, most of the broadsheets and even the BBC are pushing transphobic, culture war bullshit. It would be one thing if, as Contrapoints notes in one video, trans people had so many rights it was okay to make fun of them. Then Ricky Gervais would be an edgelord off in the distance. But trans people are still hugely discriminated against, and as a result Gervais is just reinforcing the misinformation put out by allegedly trustworthy media outlets.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 28, 2022, 05:52:54 PMObviously, I don't condone bashing of transgender people - does that need to be said? - but yes, I can find jokes about transgender people, black people, gays, whites, whoever, funny. I don't just automatically switch off when a 'taboo' joke rears its head and have an inner dialogue where I tell myself "I'm not going to find this funny because it's about a dwarf".
Jimmy Carr could perhaps use the defence that it's just jokes.
I believe Gervais sees himself in the lineage of the truth-teller comedians, though.
What message do you think he was giving with the trans section?
He seems to just be re-enforcing prejudices with no attempt to challenge his audience, and he appears to believe what he said, so there is no irony involved.
The fact his audience do a Pavlovian laugh to the word "rape" at one point is fucking grim.
The Eddie Izzard line was a deep-dive Stewart Lee steal, though, I'll give him that.
Quote from: Replies From View on May 28, 2022, 07:33:25 PMAnd the way that his audience is responding to particular remarks and jokes is quite telling, in this regard. Very specific releases of whooping and joy reserved for the jokes about trans-women.
Not so much "Haha aren't we progressive for understanding all the arguments and being able to laugh at remarks that satirise stupid viewpoints," as "At last someone is speaking the truth."
I mean look at the response people are getting on social media when they say they don't like it. They definitely aren't people who are 'laughing because they know what the right thing is'. These are people who follow terfs, GB News and various right wing trolls. I am sure Gervais knows this, but believes he can plausibly hide behind it.
It reminds me of that bit in Frankie Boyle's Tramadol nights where he says the n-word and then goes
"Nah, but racism's stupid though..."
Just playground humour with a disingenuous out.
Oh and what hasn't developed yet in children joking in the playground?
No, empathy you sick fucks.
Quote from: Cold Meat Platter on May 28, 2022, 11:09:34 PMOh and what hasn't developed yet in children joking in the playground?
No, empathy you sick fucks.
They have empathy in other locations
Quote from: Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse on May 28, 2022, 10:02:57 PMThat's fair. Thing is, context matters, and the context in the UK at the moment is that virtually all the tabloids, most of the broadsheets and even the BBC are pushing transphobic, culture war bullshit. It would be one thing if, as Contrapoints notes in one video, trans people had so many rights it was okay to make fun of them. Then Ricky Gervais would be an edgelord off in the distance. But trans people are still hugely discriminated against, and as a result Gervais is just reinforcing the misinformation put out by allegedly trustworthy media outlets.
Yeah, Morris was attacking the press's attitude to paedophiles. Gervais is attacking a group of people who are already massively targeted by the press, and are a vulnerable minority to boot. I'm not saying Paedogeddon wasn't triggering for abuse survivors, I'm sure it was but it's apples and oranges.
I used to find trans jokes funny but grew out of it, and having friends who were trans and seeing the struggles trans people go through was part of why.
It's reassuring his audience that "you were right to spend absolute zero seconds thinking about this subject and just going with your knee jerk emotional instincts. They can't tell us up is down and black is white and a man is a woman"
Same thing with the guy in a dress in after life.
Like you say, there is no irony involved. He is "telling it how it is", that's how he presents it, and that's how his audience takes it.
It's like the whole irony explanation is a sly wink between friends "Yeah, you know why I have to say this, don't you?"
Remember when he came on 11 o'clock show I used to go and make a drink or something to miss his bit. He just seemed like the scuzziest depressed alcoholic shock comedian they'd found in the pub or something. I know that was the act but he was just really unpleasant.
Hold your horses, everyone. Let's hear what Jeremy Clarkson has to say (yesterday's Sun, print version). 'I'm starting to think that Ricky Gervais is more than just a comedian or a writer or an anti-woke warrior. I'm beginning to believe he might actually be a bona fide genius. Einstein in a T-shirt... [praises The Office] ... he was similarly clever in After Life, especially the first series, which was funny and sad in equal measure. And as the chubby little fat man in Extras with David Bowie, we learned he's a damn gond actor as well. But in his new Netflix show he's hit peak Gervais, as he wades, scrotum deep, into every single no-go area. Trans sex. Hitler. Aids. He literally does the lot. But his arguments about how the human mind works are persuasive. His social commentary is next-level clever and he produces more quotable one-liners than William Shakespeare and Winston Churchill combined...'
I need to stop reading this thread, it's just all so sad.
End of Clarkson piece: 'Needless to say, the show has not gone down well in the world's sixth-form common rooms. They see his jokes as actual hand grenades. They accuse him of bigotry and 'literally' killing people. And they are completely missing the point of what he's trying to say'. End of quote, excuse typo in previous post, should read 'damn good actor'. Clarkson's words, not mine! So what are these awe-inspiring one-liners? What point are the killjoy wokies missing?
Quote from: Bigfella on May 29, 2022, 06:32:31 AMHold your horses, everyone. Let's hear what Jeremy Clarkson has to say (yesterday's Sun, print version). 'I'm starting to think that Ricky Gervais is more than just a comedian or a writer or an anti-woke warrior. I'm beginning to believe he might actually be a bona fide genius. Einstein in a T-shirt... [praises The Office] ... he was similarly clever in After Life, especially the first series, which was funny and sad in equal measure. And as the chubby little fat man in Extras with David Bowie, we learned he's a damn gond actor as well. But in his new Netflix show he's hit peak Gervais, as he wades, scrotum deep, into every single no-go area. Trans sex. Hitler. Aids. He literally does the lot. But his arguments about how the human mind works are persuasive. His social commentary is next-level clever and he produces more quotable one-liners than William Shakespeare and Winston Churchill combined...'
With fans like that who needs critics
The point the killjoy wokies are missing is that they are wrong about trans acceptance, duh
Thank god somebody's finally waded into the no-go area of "Hitler". It's about time!
Quote from: Kankurette on May 28, 2022, 11:44:28 PMI used to find trans jokes funny but grew out of it, and having friends who were trans and seeing the struggles trans people go through was part of why.
Same. And crucially, looking back and trying to analyse why I found those jokes funny, I'm unable to conjure anything beyond the reasoning that it was completely outside the realm of my understanding and was frankly alien to me, much the same as any other LGBTQ+ issues or even race issues as I lived in a small, insular and predominantly white town.
Literally all it took for me to stop laughing at down-punching humour was to talk to/listens to accounts of non-white/cis/male people and think about what it's like to be someone other than me for a minute.
Incidentally it's blatantly obvious the reason why people like Gervais or Chappelle believe they have the right to make these jokes stems from the privilege of not having to deal with the wider common every day world that you or I see all the time, which makes Gervais' frequent mentions of his own wealth and status even more galling than it already is. I don't doubt that part of the reason they think they're allowed to write and perform this material comes from a select one or two people from marginalised groups who assure them "I'm transgender but I think you're hilarious and it helps me see my struggle in a more simple and amusing light". (Hasn't Chappelle said this specifically?) It implies that select people should be allowed to speak out on behalf of an entire community and it's not a million miles away from "I'm not racist, some of my best friends are black."
Quote from: Bigfella on May 29, 2022, 06:32:31 AMHold your horses, everyone. Let's hear what Jeremy Clarkson has to say (yesterday's Sun, print version).
"Hello you stupid pricks, here's my offensive uneducated opinion that I have for money."
Quote from: The Mollusk on May 29, 2022, 07:37:59 AMSame. And crucially, looking back and trying to analyse why I found those [trans] jokes funny, I'm unable to conjure anything beyond the reasoning that it was completely outside the realm of my understanding and was frankly alien to me
I think fundamentally a lot of trans-related humour from the last few decades is very directly built on-top of "violations of expectations" - this person has markers of gender or sex that are at odds with you expected, given how you've understood their gender based on other markers.
Some of it is then also built on prejudiced expectations specifically about trans people (versus their gender identity's stereotypes?), or and aggressively exaggerating those violations specifically to make one person or the other seem ridiculous for trying to resolve them.
I wonder, very vaguely, about a few things:
- It's possible to normalise trans people and eliminate prejudice, but perhaps not to completely remove the idea of inconsistency from "trans"-ness. (As in, to do so would, I think, involve destruction of the concept and the assumptions about gender and sex that underlie it.) I don't know what the implications of that are.
- Performative violations of expectations aren't
necessarily about punching down - although they often are and the wider social context promotes that approach.
Maybe there's something here about picking apart queerness's relationship with humour, and the commonality in their relationship to prevailing norms, but I'm not sure that a Ricky Gervais thread can bear that.
Quote from: Bigfella on May 29, 2022, 06:46:20 AMEnd of Clarkson piece: 'Needless to say, the show has not gone down well in the world's sixth-form common rooms. They see his jokes as actual hand grenades. They accuse him of bigotry and 'literally' killing people. And they are completely missing the point of what he's trying to say'. End of quote, excuse typo in previous post, should read 'damn good actor'. Clarkson's words, not mine! So what are these awe-inspiring one-liners? What point are the killjoy wokies missing?
Children aren't Listening to this guy, what planet is this old fossil on?
Quote from: BritishHobo on May 29, 2022, 07:16:45 AMThank god somebody's finally waded into the no-go area of "Hitler". It's about time!
'Scrotum deep', no less. Only Ricky has the balls to do it.
Quote from: Bigfella on May 29, 2022, 06:46:20 AM"Needless to say, the show has not gone down well in the world's sixth-form common rooms"
Genuinely got a bigger laugh from this than Supernature
Quote from: Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse on May 29, 2022, 08:22:51 AM"Hello you stupid pricks, here's my offensive uneducated opinion that I have for money."
Judging by how much he idolises Gervais here, it seems he really does fear 'cancel culture'. Until now he's mostly been concerned about EU autocrats and local councils knocking back planning permission for his farm.
I don't think sixth-form common rooms are a global thing.
Quote from: checkoutgirl on May 28, 2022, 09:13:45 PMHi Stacy. I think it's much easier to explain why something isn't funny than explain why it is. Hopefully as someone who finds Supernature funny you'll stick around so we can discuss it.
A lot of us are lapsed Ricky fans who enjoyed and still enjoy the XFM, Karl and Office stuff. And there's nobody more critical than a fan of the early good stuff who's disappointed in the later lazy, less funny stuff.
If you bear that in mind the Gervais threads on this site will make a bit more sense.
Regarding your earlier comment about strawberries, that's not giving us much to be going on with at this stage of the status debate.
What the fuck am I on about?
Thank you for the reply. I don't know what XFM or Karl stuff is (Pilkington? Haven't really seen much with him in) but I did enjoy The Office, LOVED Extras, then Derek I gave up on and After Life I watched all of, but could have given a miss. It was OK. Bit mawkish and not funny enough to be a comedy, not grounded in reality enough to be a hard-hitting drama.
Someone mentioned earlier that perhaps I haven't had any direct involvement around the trans community or issues, and they'd be absolutely right, which is why none of his jokes (or 'jokes' as I'm sure many of you would say) hit too close to home for me. It was just absurdist humour to me. We all take these things differently. Subjective, etc.
I dare say if it was a subject close to my heart then sure, I'd have felt it was terribly mocking and re-inforcing stereotypes. Actually, my best friend's uncle had a sex change. I remember when we were in our early teens in the 80s and he used to call me up and ask to stay round my house while his uncle came to visit. He went from John to Jan. Anyway, I digress.
My comment about strawberries was me saying I think it's difficult to say why we find a joke funny, just like it's difficult to explain why we like the taste of something.
I think the bottom line is, at this present moment in time, I'm unaffected by the things he jokes about. I'm not a woman, transgender, Jewish, I don't believe in past lives. Like him, I'm a tubby, middle-aged, white, heterosexual male.
Who often makes shit jokes.
@Stigdu you owe it to yourself to check out the XFM shows, I think they're fairly easily available and people still have a fondness for them, mileage may very RE Pilkington but it's some of their best stuff
Quote from: Zetetic on May 29, 2022, 08:50:58 AMPerformative violations of expectations aren't necessarily about punching down - although they often are and the wider social context promotes that approach.
I'm almost certain that it's possible to flip that subject and make oneself the subject of derision in the context of a joke. All it would take is some careful consideration and the willingness to make oneself look a tit, but sadly we all know Gervais is completely incapable of either of those.
Quote from: Bigfella on May 29, 2022, 06:32:31 AMhe wades, scrotum deep, into every single no-go area. Trans sex. Hitler. Aids.
Hahaha, Christ. Pretty sure these things aren't "no-go areas" if you're trans (or in a relationship with someone who is), if you have Aids (or you work with people who do, care about someone who does, etc.), if you're a historian of modern European history
or if you're Hitler - it's just... life.
Gervais and his worshipers seem so distracted by getting off on how transgressive and fearless they think they're being, that they're ignoring how ironically prudish and childish this "
I talk about stuff no one else dares talk about!" schtick really is - like mate, go hang out at a HIV clinic, I'm pretty sure there are loads of people talking about Aids there, all day! Soo edgy!!!
Obviously the grimly problematic bit isn't the fact that he talks about it - it's the fact that he's bashing vulnerable groups and willfully stoking hatred and bigotry among his audiences, for $$$. But it's still pretty pathetic watching someone so jumped up on their own sense of how brave and taboo-smashing they're being, when the "shock value" of the subject they're broaching betrays an actually very sheltered mindset.
I mean I'm sure Gervais knows exactly what he's doing, which is depressingly sinister - but going by slavering accolades like the above, I bet for many of his fans, part of the appeal is that these subjects already seem super taboo and edgy because it's simply not something they ever actually hear discussed, outside the context of horrible right-wing media and Twitter bollocks, and it's pretty telling that they've obviously never actually spent time with any trans people/any of the other vulnerable groups Gervais lazily punches down at.
Or Hitler. And as well as perhaps developing some fucking empathy, they might realise that these subjects aren't actually as exotic and "out there" as they'd like to believe - it's just people's day-to-day lives.
But of course if these vulnerable groups were afforded human rights then the whole premise of these jokes falls down.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 29, 2022, 09:45:42 AMI think the bottom line is, at this present moment in time, I'm unaffected by the things he jokes about. I'm not a woman, transgender, Jewish, I don't believe in past lives. Like him, I'm a tubby, middle-aged, white, heterosexual male.
Who often makes shit jokes.
You found it unsettling being alone in your opinion in one place on the internet about a stand-up comedy show. I'm sure you can extrapolate that to how it could feel when moreorless the whole media is platforming people questioning your existence, talking grossly about your body and calling you rapists and paedophiles.
Quote from: phes on May 29, 2022, 10:09:32 AMYou found it unsettling being alone in your opinion in one place on the internet about a stand-up comedy show. I'm sure you can extrapolate that to how it could feel when moreorless the whole media is platforming people questioning your existence, talking grossly about your body and calling you rapists and paedophiles.
Spot on. There's been a noticeable decrease in empathy in certain parts of this country.
Quote from: phes on May 29, 2022, 10:09:32 AMYou found it unsettling being alone in your opinion in one place on the internet about a stand-up comedy show. I'm sure you can extrapolate that to how it could feel when moreorless the whole media is platforming people questioning your existence, talking grossly about your body and calling you rapists and paedophiles.
Of course.
Stigdu: Take the morality / empathising with other people out of it for a second. "Punching down" isn't funny because it's easy. Any cunt can say "trans women have beards and cocks!" It's difficult for minorities to get along in life because they stand out, and that's an easy thing to make fun of.
It's a much more difficult thing to make fun of norms / institutions / whatever that we take for granted as normal or that are popular. How do you make a mass audience laugh at themselves? How do you make them realise something they'd never noticed before? And so on.
Ricky Gervais' jokes are easy and one dimensional on a basic mechanical level, before you even get to the issue of how harmful his words are.
Quote from: willbo on May 28, 2022, 07:56:36 PMremember that joke he did about wanking with an insect trapped on the end of his knob. I remember him doing that on 11 o'clock show, his chat show and his first stand up. And presumably it wasn't even his "material", his mate at school came up with it.
I think that mate was called Richard Herring.
Maybe we should give Stacy some comedy picks so that eg Jimmy Carr drops out of his top five comedians?
I'm going to say you might like Mitch Hedburg (for gud jokes) and Maria Bamford (seems outside your usual taste but curious about your reaction).
It's Hitler who I feel bad for in all of this
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 29, 2022, 10:33:58 AMMaybe we should give Stacy some comedy picks so that eg Jimmy Carr drops out of his top five comedians?
I'm going to say you might like Mitch Hedburg (for gud jokes) and Maria Bamford (seems outside your usual taste but curious about your reaction).
I would say Brendon Burns but I think he's just doing the clubs in the US at the minute, stopped his podcast etc
I was thinking about other comics and I thought of Sean Lock, and Thinking he wasn't a "woke bore" or anything, would genuinely surprise you with where he'd go with his material, and trying to think of anything of his that didn't age well, and remembered he did about about sex changes. I always remember him describing a post op vagina as looking like a squirrel that had been shot with a magnum. It was a pretty shocking joke, but a really funny description in how weirdly specific, without being hateful and resorting to any references to rapists or any judgements or moralising or anything.
Quote from: Ron Superior on May 29, 2022, 11:31:04 AMI was thinking about other comics and I thought of Sean Lock, and Thinking he wasn't a "woke bore" or anything, would genuinely surprise you with where he'd go with his material, and trying to think of anything of his that didn't age well, and remembered he did about about sex changes. I always remember him describing a post op vagina as looking like a squirrel that had been shot with a magnum. It was a pretty shocking joke, but a really funny description in how weirdly specific, without being hateful and resorting to any references to rapists or any judgements or moralising or anything.
He did a long joke about having sex with a "lady boy" too. About how it's convincing until they orgasm and sound like a man. Pretty bizarre really, and I'm pretty sure it was the finishing joke of one of his DVDs
Quote from: Stigdu on May 29, 2022, 09:45:42 AMI dare say if it was a subject close to my heart then sure, I'd have felt it was terribly mocking and re-inforcing stereotypes.
I don't have any dog in the fight either and I'm uncomfortable with any subject being off the table per ce. But there are some issues that irk with Gervais.
1. His repeated visiting his same old cliches, AIDS, atheism etc, some well over a decade old.
2. No new twist on same.
3. A lack of cleverness or funniness.
4. A lack of balance, punches easy targets with nothing from the other perspective.
5. Did I mention I'm a millionaire? Yes Ricky, for the last decade.
6. Explaining what irony is and what way the audience should be understanding everything. Good comedians don't need to do this.
7. Audience people guffawing at just the mere mention of minorities.
I'm personally happy for a comedian to joke about a gay, religious, transexual, African Jew with AIDS with poo on their head in a toilet that is also poor and not a rich as Ricky Gervais. On paper that's fine. But come on man, you're going to have to work very hard to make the joke funny, which is not something Gervais is prepared to do. Well the product is inferior then.
It's like he does just enough to extract the money and not a tap more and he can't believe this scam is still working on Netflix and audiences. He's almost directly mocking you for paying him money.
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on May 29, 2022, 11:33:30 AMHe did a long joke about having sex with a "lady boy" too. About how it's convincing until they orgasm and sound like a man. Pretty bizarre really, and I'm pretty sure it was the finishing joke of one of his DVDs
It was, on the "Sean Lock Live" tour/DVD. I always remember to switch it off before that bit closes the show as it's an otherwise brilliant set, which I think is fairly indicative that he can be forgiven for it. I don't recall him ever making larger stand-up diatribes or panel show yarns or even sitcom scenes* about these subjects and so those couple of jokes can be written off as unfortunately of-their-time and should just be overlooked, if possible.
* There was the one scene on 15SH where a bloke greets his new neighbour who is very androgynous in appearance, and awkwardly asks them if they are a man or a woman because "if we ever get into a fight, I want to know whether I can punch you or not". Though I would say that this is much more a joke on the man asking the questions and making himself look needlessly foolish about such a trivial thing that only exists in his own insecure mind. The other person isn't the butt of the joke at all in that scene.
I just got back from church. After the priest asked for prayers for a) the people of Ukraine, b) the people of Sri Lanka, and c) people involved in the Uvalde school shootings, he gave a last option (as he always does) for a moment's silent prayer for anything we want, so I prayed for oppressed minorities, including transgender folk.
It certainly helps with my Catholic guilt.
I've not heard of any of these other comedians people are recommending (apart from Sean Lock), so I'll check them out.
On another note, is it just me, or are specifically-named targets of jokes harder to take than blanket gags about a group of people? To whit: show me a comedian telling a joke about black people, gay, short, fat etc and I'll more than likely laugh (although given what I've read over the past few pages, I'll certainly try to be more considerate about hateful jokes that incite or promote oppression), but when a comedian tells a joke about a specific person, then I do think that's too near the knuckle.
Frankie Boyle (who I love) and Harvey Price springs to mind, as does Anthony Jeselnik and Conor Clapton.
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on May 29, 2022, 11:33:30 AMHe did a long joke about having sex with a "lady boy" too. About how it's convincing until they orgasm and sound like a man. Pretty bizarre really, and I'm pretty sure it was the finishing joke of one of his DVDs
Ooh yeah, I'd forgotten about that bit. Not great. But I would argue that if it came down to it and he had to justify it as being just a joke, it would be easier to accept that argument from Sean Lock as a great deal of the rest of his material wasn't also about the dangers of accepting them.
Or maybe I'm just justifying those jokes cos I like Sean Lock. But then I used to like Ricky Gervais, and only stopped because the quality went down as the amount of lazy material about the same groups went up.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 29, 2022, 09:45:42 AMI think it's difficult to say why we find a joke funny, just like it's difficult to explain why we like the taste of something.
Maybe that's true. Also maybe it's more difficult if you haven't spent much time analysing these things with like minded people on a website?
If people who like Gervais's stuff have substantial explanations for why they do then that's worthwhile and interesting and gets a debate going.
There's less value in people getting aggressive or just saying I liked/hated it, dunno why, regardless of which side you're on.
Quote from: The Mollusk on May 29, 2022, 12:03:04 PM* There was the one scene on 15SH where a bloke greets his new neighbour who is very androgynous in appearance, and awkwardly asks them if they are a man or a woman because "if we ever get into a fight, I want to know whether I can punch you or not". Though I would say that this is much more a joke on the man asking the questions and making himself look needlessly foolish about such a trivial thing that only exists in his own insecure mind. The other person isn't the butt of the joke at all in that scene.
That sounds like it came from Mark LeMuur, a known thug and puncher of heads
Quote from: Stigdu on May 29, 2022, 12:11:06 PMOn another note, is it just me, or are specifically-named targets of jokes harder to take than blanket gags about a group of people? To whit: show me a comedian telling a joke about black people, gay, short, fat etc and I'll more than likely laugh (although given what I've read over the past few pages, I'll certainly try to be more considerate about hateful jokes that incite or promote oppression), but when a comedian tells a joke about a specific person, then I do think that's too near the knuckle.
This is a result of not wanting to acknowledge accountability, since it's far more guilt-free on the conscience to make fun of a faceless group than it is to target one specific person whose thoughts and feelings you are far more likely to consider. It is nevertheless no more acceptable to do so, in my (and certainly a lot of other people's) opinion.
So is the prevailing CaBthink here that a (presumably privileged on any which axis) comedian making a joke about trans people ideally has to make it so they are the butt of the joke, every time? Seems very limiting. I would personally like the trans person to be the butt of the joke about half the time; no-one is above being made fun of.
(Also, wasn't asked, but just so I'm coming across clearly: I think Ricky is a very poor comedian, and this new special was more tedious than anything else.)
I think James Acaster's analogy sums it up well. If you're driving past a school and see a bully beating up a smaller child, it's not balance to stop the bully and then also call the victim a piece of shit.
Quote from: chip on May 29, 2022, 12:42:46 PMSo is the prevailing CaBthink here that a (presumably privileged on any which axis) comedian making a joke about trans people ideally has to make it so they are the butt of the joke, every time? Seems very limiting. I would personally like the trans person to be the butt of the joke about half the time; no-one is above being made fun of.
(Also, wasn't asked, but just so I'm coming across clearly: I think Ricky is a very poor comedian, and this new special was more tedious than anything else.)
As he's said himself,
over and over again: don't mistake the subject of a joke for the target. He needs to take his own advice. There's plenty of things in Supernature that's lazy and hackneyed and maybe offensive but you could at least attempt to argue they're within a broader joke (punching disabled kids, using dwarves to ween paedophiles off kids etc). The trans stuff is just pointing and laughing, it's just Barrymore doing a Ching Chong Chinaman face to whoops of delight
Quote from: chip on May 29, 2022, 12:42:46 PMSo is the prevailing CaBthink here that a (presumably privileged on any which axis) comedian making a joke about trans people ideally has to make it so they are the butt of the joke, every time? Seems very limiting. I would personally like the trans person to be the butt of the joke about half the time; no-one is above being made fun of.
There isn't a prevailing CaBthink.
My opinion however is that if you haven't experienced the vast swathes of deeply traumatic mental and physical abuses that come with being part of a marginalised or minority race or gender/sexuality group then you shouldn't be making fun of those people at all, because you don't have the right as a privileged and relatively worry free individual to poke fun at people who in the current climate are still being systematically trodden into the shit from many angles on a daily basis. It's not okay.
I remember making a joke about non-binary people at the end of last year. It was after I'd read an article online that said how annoyed a minority of non-binary people were that *their* represented day of the year was sandwiched between the women's and the men's days.
My joke:
International Women's Day was on 8th March this year, and International Men's Day was 19th November. I hear a small minority from the non-binary community are upset that International non-binary Day is right between them, on 14th July.
Imagine how pissed off they'd have been if it was on the 10th!
I don't get it.
Quote from: The Mollusk on May 29, 2022, 01:02:18 PMThere isn't a prevailing CaBthink.
My opinion however is that if you haven't experienced the vast swathes of deeply traumatic mental and physical abuses that come with being part of a marginalised or minority race or gender/sexuality group then you shouldn't be making fun of those people at all, because you don't have the right as a privileged and relatively worry free individual to poke fun at people who in the current climate are still being systematically trodden into the shit from many angles on a daily basis. It's not okay.
Okay. I definitely think people at Rick's level of influence should take more care; front-loading most of the trans material in the special did just seem like he was gleefully and wilfully stoking the Twitter Trending fires with what he maybe deemed was the most likely to be "cancellable" stuff. And bingo, he was right. And of course, NONE of it was funny - which as a stand-up special is its predominant failing.
Otherwise, I'm afraid I'm just one of those bores that doesn't think anyone should be 'off limits', regardless of personal traumatic experiences (which not even every trans or GNC person even goes through). And that talented stand-up comedians
do have that right, even as privileged and relatively worry-free individuals themselves. (But then aren't all comedians depressed sad-clowns anyway?)
Quote from: mr. logic on May 29, 2022, 01:33:48 PMI don't get it.
Me neither.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 29, 2022, 01:12:09 PMImagine how pissed off they'd have been if it was on the 10th!
(https://www.theglobeandmail.com/resizer/avAzH3t75CoYe2C5itc0Iv-I9Dc=/900x0/filters:quality(80):format(webp)/arc-anglerfish-tgam-prod-tgam.s3.amazonaws.com/public/YRBFFVUOYRGIZA7IKANIJC32FI)
.
Quote from: chip on May 29, 2022, 01:35:32 PMAnd that talented stand-up comedians do have that right
What about Ricky Gervais though?
Joking aside, do only talented comedians have that right? The untalented (like Ricky) do not then? If he is rich enough and famous enough and on TV enough, does a stand-up move from untalented to talented? How does this work?
Or - more simply - any comedian has the same right as anyone else to say whatever they want, and then they have to deal with the consequences same way anyone else would. Has anyone here said that Ricky
shouldn't be allowed to say the things he's saying?
Quote from: chip on May 29, 2022, 01:35:32 PMI'm afraid I'm just one of those bores
Yeah I'm sorry, but it does make you kind of a bore. I can find that opinion on any boomer facebook group. Like Stacy Tigdu up there, comedy exists in some magical vacuum where it's a binary, funny or unfunny and nothing else matters.
@Stigdu — the 10th would piss off non-binary peeps because 10 is a binary number?
You've actually just given us a perfect example of making a joke while staying within the constraints of not punching down or mocking anyone or being cruel- you've seen this as a challenge, gone off on a maths tangent, and come up with something original! Which is better than anything Ricky Gervais could manage now!
Admittedly I didn't laugh but I did go "Ahhhh, that's pretty good."
Quote from: Stigdu on May 29, 2022, 01:12:09 PMI remember making a joke about non-binary people at the end of last year. It was after I'd read an article online that said how annoyed a minority of non-binary people were that *their* represented day of the year was sandwiched between the women's and the men's days.
My joke:
International Women's Day was on 8th March this year, and International Men's Day was 19th November. I hear a small minority from the non-binary community are upset that International non-binary Day is right between them, on 14th July.
Imagine how pissed off they'd have been if it was on the 10th!
I think I actually get this and I'm pretty sure it's only cos I'm not sober. Because 1 and 0 are the symbols in binary code?
ETA:
Blue Jam beat me to it
Yes, you're both correct.
Here's a trans joke I like: The Globo-Chem ad pitch from
Mr. Show (at 4:15):
Alright, people don't use the word "transexuals" much anymore but the idea of trans people being a lucrative target market because "they buy and spend for two"- as well as just being an absurd bit of logic, this isn't "Trans people- weird and gross, huh?" but "Trans people- hmmmm, how can we make money out of them?". Again, it's staying within the constraints of not being cruel or punching and doing something much more original- and funny.
Incidentally, a lot of "wokeism" is really just businesses realising they can make more money if they target a broader section of society-
Mr. Show really was ahead of its time.
Another trans joke I like: from
Alan Partridge: Stratagem (spoiler tagged for those who are yet to see it):
Spoiler alert
"I'd like to offer an extra warm welcome to any women or non-binary people. Not to white men though, because you come to my shows anyway."
Yes, it was self-deprecating and the joke was on Alan, but it was also a self-demonstrating joke:
Spoiler alert
The queue for the ladies' was refreshingly short, the queue for the gents' was (I'm told) horrendously long.
AIDS is a weird one, because AIDS was a big scary thing in the 1980's, which is why it was the subject of playground jokes of the time. Now, in the developed world at least, people don't really die of AIDS anymore, they get put on antiretrovirals and live a normal life. I know
SuperNature was written two years ago so it would be unfair to expect Ricky to have thrown in some. monkeypox material, but on top of everything else, AIDS jokes are just so dated.
Here's an AIDS joke I like: Glaswegian stand-up Scott Agnew was diagnosed with HIV a few years ago and, after taking a break and considering quitting stand-up altogether, he decided to just be open about it and do material on it, to highlight the fact that for people on antiretrovirals the virus is at undetectably low levels and ubtransmissable, and to try and help wipe out the stigma. Anyway, I saw him do a joke about breaking the news of his diagnosis to an elderly relative:
"I told him 'It's alright, I just have to take one pill a day' and he went 'I'm on 20, son! One pill a day? There's fuck-all wrong wi' ya!'"
A more up-to-date joke and one that gives a bit of hope and positivity instead of making the world worse for a marginalised group.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 29, 2022, 01:48:15 PMYes, you're both correct.
What, all 10 of us?
*b-dum-tish*
Has anyone done a "There are only 10 genders" joke yet?
"I believe there are 10 different genders, but that's only because I use the binary numeral system. And I'm a TERF."
Would be easy to do callbacks too: "I decided to go back to the decimal system after I ordered a quattro formaggio pizza and it was a bit
too cheesy." (apologies to Harry Hill).
Christ I'm a nerd, sorry.
Quote from: Blue Jam on May 29, 2022, 02:07:58 PMWhat, all 10 of us?
*b-dum-tish*
I like it, sir.
My favourite AIDS joke (that sounds weird) is about the man who goes to a doctor and asks if he can catch AIDS from a parrot. The doctor looks at him incredulously and says "no, but you can from a cockatoo."
Quote from: Stigdu on May 29, 2022, 02:10:58 PMI like it, sir.
My favourite AIDS joke (that sounds weird) is about the man who goes to a doctor and asks if he can catch AIDS from a parrot. The doctor looks at him incredulously and says "no, but you can from a cockatoo."
See I think that one's exactly the sort of joke Gervais would repeat because it's stigmatising homosexual sex. i.e. laughing at the gays for their disgusting lifestyle choices that cause HIV/AIDS to spread. So inaccurate, damaging and the wordplay isn't funny enough to make up for it.
Change the man to a woman and I don't think it changes how funny the joke is (if you rework the parrot bit), with the wordplay remaining the same, but it gets rid of the othering and the nasty stereotyping.
You wouldn't hear Gervais say
Dr, can I get cervical cancer from a Parrott... No, but you can from a cockatoo
Because it doesn't explicitly involve gay people, or an illness he associates with them
Yeah, that joke's in Peep Show, where Super Hans asks Mark's mother if she's ever owned a parrot. It's funny because it's cheeky and inappropriately flirty, and Mark's mother enjoys it (to the chagrin of Mark, who is an uptight miserable get, and his father, for the same reason plus she cheated on him).
It takes a little work to write jokes within constraints, but the extra effort shows.
Netflix: "Please, there must be something, my subscribers would be so pleased, they're going to leave if I keep talking about the transphobia, but I know I'm right, and I am sure there's something you could do for twenty million dollars an hour."
Gervais: "For what..? For..?"
Netflix: "Twenty million dollars an hour, couldn't you do a transphobia for two or three hours, at twenty million dollars an hour?"
Gervais looks at camera.
Can't think of any good AIDS jokes or gay jokes. I can think of some racist jokes where the punchline is the racist, and I think those still work, but I can't think of the equivalent for gay jokes. Maybe there's a general humour in inserting things into your arsehole and there's a Venn diagram with some gay jokes too although I can't think of any off the top of my head. I'm sure when I first heard Careless Wispa as a punchline it was funny although I'm not sure what preceded it. Perhaps there's also some humour in being homophobic but engaging in homosexual sex acts and then making obviously poor justifications as to why it's straight, too.
Quote from: JaDanketies on May 29, 2022, 03:10:55 PMCan't think of any good AIDS jokes or gay jokes. I can think of some racist jokes where the punchline is the racist, and I think those still work, but I can't think of the equivalent for gay jokes. Maybe there's a general humour in inserting things into your arsehole and there's a Venn diagram with some gay jokes too although I can't think of any off the top of my head. I'm sure when I first heard Careless Wispa as a punchline it was funny although I'm not sure what preceded it
Well, there's the one about the fella who's about to get on board a bus when the other fella tells him not to and ends up saving his life. My dad told me that one many years ago and I thought it was most amusing back then.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 28, 2022, 05:12:06 PMYeah, could be. What can I say? Asking me what I found funny is like asking me why do I like strawberries? It's all subjective.
Sorry to state the bleedin' obvious, but with any discussion of comedy/ art/ music you have to take it as a given that everyone knows 'it's all subjective'. It's the first rule of Fight CaB.
I don't even get how the "it's just bantz" thing works with Gervais when he is a self-styled social critic (in his own head).
Is it "pretend the troll isn't a troll" week at CaB?
Quote from: Brundle-Fly on May 29, 2022, 04:02:46 PMSorry to state the bleedin' obvious, but with any discussion of comedy/ art/ music you have to take it as a given that everyone knows 'it's all subjective'. It's the first rule of Fight CaB.
Like I said before, I've only ever posted on the Inside No. 9 discussion board a few times, so I'm very new to this website. This is the second discussion board I've ever posted to on here.
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on May 29, 2022, 04:24:38 PMIs it "pretend the troll isn't a troll" week at CaB?
Why do you think they're a troll?
Oh dear. Here we go...
Being marginalised because I had a different viewpoint to the majority of those in here. The irony is so thick, I could spread it on my toast in the morning.
So, what's the definition of a troll? Let's Google it, shall we?
1. They use new, anonymous accounts.
Well, I've been here a year. Only found out about the place via its mention on Inside No. 9, hence not many posts. Feel free to check my post history.
2. They leave negative or hateful statements.
Again, no. I've been trying to spin how I - shock, horror! - found a comedian's stand-up show amusing and was genuinely surprised that the first place I came to to see who else has seen it was totally trashing it. And I found it why. And it's all good and makes sense. No hatred here.
3. They make outrageous or questionable claims.
I don't believe I've done that. Unless you find the fact I *still* think he's funny is questionable. OK, you might have me on that point.
4. They won't let a topic go and constantly post.
I don't think I've been posting that much, but in my defence I've been laid up in for 3 days with a bad stomach bug that's been a little messy, shall we say, so I've had a little more time to browse the Web.
5. They use bad spelling or grammar.
Well, again, I like to think I've done OK there. Happy to be corrected. I'm certainly no grammar police myself.
I don't think I've said anything to offend or annoy, but if I have, feel free to block me. I don't even know why I'm defending myself, to be honest! Guess I just don't like being accused of shit that isn't true.
Cheers
If Ricky Gervais' gargantuan intellect could manifest itself as a person, I would fuck them so hard. I'm cumming just thinking about it.
Isn't it interesting... That those defending a marginalized community... Are now themselves marginalizing someone... For finding the marginalizing jokes funny?
I agree. Let's assume good faith on Stigdu's part. We've all fucking laughed at Little Britain and South Park, don't pretend you haven't.
It's the snotty closed-shop of CaB, you're intolerant of anyone who doesn't join in with the consensus.
If that isn't obvious to you then you've been spending too much time here.
It's only one person who's made the "troll" accusation. And that's someone who accuses everyone of being a troll.
Quote from: Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse on May 29, 2022, 07:51:32 PMI agree. Let's assume good faith on Stigdu's part. We've all fucking laughed at Little Britain and South Park, don't pretend you haven't.
Faith on all sides: I rember singing The Sash and Derry's Walls as an infant. Should I still harbour a grudge? The truth is - I don't. I'll repeat the words of an unassigned terrorist, broadcast mid 90s - 'I will not disrespect the families of those who I have killed by apologising to them. What I will say is that I can live with what has happened, and I hope that you can too.' I've quoted that before, because it's true.
I used to laugh at trans jokes in the 90s because I thought it was just a sexual kink, like bdsm or something.
Realised walking home today that these are David Brent jokes. Fucking hell.
The most bizarre thing about Gervais is how many intelligent people seem to worshipping the ground he walks on. You could add another dozen or two quotes from "comedy greats" to this list too. I don't know what they all see in him.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ChTBfPNWkAEJydF.jpg)
Ricky Gervais Retweeted
Peter Egan
@PeterEgan6
·
20 May
.
@RickyGervais Is not only a comic genius & one of the most compassionate people on the planet he's also one of the most generous..absolutely brilliant : Ricky Gervais donates £427,000 from Supernature ticket sales to animal charities
Quote from: Stigdu on May 29, 2022, 07:07:10 PMOh dear. Here we go...
Relax the cacks. Relieve the brieves. I think one person said troll.
Quote from: willbo on May 29, 2022, 09:48:45 PMI used to laugh at trans jokes in the 90s because I thought it was just a sexual kink, like bdsm or something.
I know what you mean (but for me it was the 70s/80s).
I laughed at this kind of stuff when I was young, because I didn't know any better. I laughed at trans jokes, gay jokes, AIDS jokes, Space Shuttle Challenger jokes and Joey Deacon. Doesn't make it right. I didn't know or think or possibly care about the hurt or ignorance that was being spread.
When Alan Partridge says "I will be the first to hold my hands up and say in the past, circa 1983, I developed a robust dislike for the gay community, but that was before I met Dale Winton. And I realised I had absolutely nothing to worry about" it's clear that the joke is Alan, not gay people and not even Dale Winton.
Quote from: willbo on May 29, 2022, 09:48:45 PMI used to laugh at trans jokes in the 90s because I thought it was just a sexual kink, like bdsm or something.
You'd laugh at me slamming my knob in a door now would you?
Quote from: drummersaredeaf on May 29, 2022, 10:15:04 PMYou'd laugh at me slamming my knob in a door now would you?
Stick a video up and see if anyone chuckles.
Quote from: Bigfella on May 29, 2022, 09:36:42 PMFaith on all sides: I rember singing The Sash and Derry's Walls as an infant. Should I still harbour a grudge? The truth is - I don't. I'll repeat the words of an unassigned terrorist, broadcast mid 90s - 'I will not disrespect the families of those who I have killed by apologising to them. What I will say is that I can live with what has happened, and I hope that you can too.' I've quoted that before, because it's true.
Nothing against you in particular, mate. Now, as a fully grown man, many of those that I turn to for help are Catholics of a kind. I love what they do, and I definitely love Dali's Christ of St John on the Chross.
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on May 29, 2022, 09:59:17 PMThe most bizarre thing about Gervais is how many intelligent people seem to worshipping the ground he walks on. You could add another dozen or two quotes from "comedy greats" to this list too. I don't know what they all see in him.
I looked up where the Billy Connolly quote came from, and it was a 2008 show called New Hero of Comedy. I can't find any clips, but it sounds like he's specifically talking about The Office, doesn't it?
https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8c87b12f
Also, that was before most people realised how ironic bigotry was being used by the far right, and it was still very much the zeitgeist in comedy (the others featured in the series were Lucas and Walliams and Sacha Baron Cohen).
Have any big names praised him recently?
Quote from: RicoMNKN on May 29, 2022, 11:31:25 PMHave any big names praised him recently?
Nigel Farage, Lawrence Fox, Julie Bindel, Glenn Beck.
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on May 29, 2022, 09:59:17 PMThe most bizarre thing about Gervais is how many intelligent people seem to worshipping the ground he walks on. You could add another dozen or two quotes from "comedy greats" to this list too. I don't know what they all see in him.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ChTBfPNWkAEJydF.jpg)
Brandishing the Mail's distaste there, as if he's not fully aware that a lot of his content is solidly aligned with many of the values expressed in it.
I guess if you've chosen to plough the furrow of "
I make jokes about EVERYONE, no target is too taboo for me!" but you're full well knowingly pandering to a fanbase with views where there's frequently a fair bit of overlap with other very traditional, old-fashioned ideologies... it must put you in a weird quandary, wanting to appease your fans, but staying edgy and not wanting to show allegiance to anything too mainstream or fuddy-duddy (even though you're literally making unbelievably slovenly subterranean punches for Netflix dollars).
I suppose people who do genuinely think this stuff is the cutting edge of social commentary are so convinced of their own oppression under the imagined bogeymen of cancel culture and woke mania, that they truly believe their views are brave and revolutionary and rebellious - so it doesn't occur to them that it's actually just very fucking backwards and boring and old-fashioned, and really nothing new, actually. I just struggle to see these people as anything other than unimaginative, sheltered prudes, as much as they'd hate that.
(NB - I don't mean anyone in this thread! Just all the people acting like Gervais is some sort of astonishingly inventive oracle because he TELLS IT LIKE IT IS, and is not in fact just a lazy cunt getting rich off transphobia)
"A stupid fat little cunt who isn't as clever as he thinks he is"
A person on the internet
I made a mistake last night. I've been trying to give up the drink for a while and it went wrong. Sorry you had to see it. Please remove my stupid posts.
To be honest I didn't understand a word of it so you're all good here.
Quote from: Bigfella on May 29, 2022, 06:46:20 AMEnd of Clarkson piece: 'Needless to say, the show has not gone down well in the world's sixth-form common rooms. They see his jokes as actual hand grenades. They accuse him of bigotry and 'literally' killing people. And they are completely missing the point of what he's trying to say'. End of quote, excuse typo in previous post, should read 'damn good actor'. Clarkson's words, not mine! So what are these awe-inspiring one-liners? What point are the killjoy wokies missing?
Erecting the same straw men there that Gervais was evoking when he discussed someone screaming "what if SHE rapes me?"
Any evidence of these sixth formers who spectacularly miss the "point" that Gervais literally spells out and Clarkson thinks he's so clever for picking up on? No, of course not.
Quote from: Replies From View on May 30, 2022, 08:09:38 AMErecting the same straw men there that Gervais was evoking when he discussed someone screaming "what if SHE rapes me?"
Any evidence of these sixth formers who spectacularly miss the "point" that Gervais literally spells out and Clarkson thinks he's so clever for picking up on? No, of course not.
Am I a desiccated irrelevant jeans man?
No, it's the sixth formers who are wrong.
Got a bit of a soft spot for Clarkson, I must confess. While I don't agree with his politics he is intelligent and a good writer (on cars at least, I wouldn't read any of his Fathers' Day toilet books) and a funny and charismatic presenter. He may well have found SuperNature hilarious but he's possibly just parrotting the line. Writing for the S*n though- I can't defend that.
As for the sixth form common room reference- this stereotype of students being politically engaged just refuses to die doesn't it? It'll probably still be around when the current generation of apathetic and students feeling nothing but hopelessness grow up to become journalists.
Quote from: frajer on May 30, 2022, 08:11:31 AMAm I a desiccated irrelevant jeans man?
No, it's the sixth formers who are wrong.
You can count your arsecheeks that it were to become 'common sense' to mock rich men who wear too much jeanage, he'd be the biggest fucking snowflake about it.
Sorry if it's already been mentioned but this furore reminds me of how puzzling Gervais' own sense of humour is on that 'Talking Funny' special he put together with Seinfeld, Rock and CK. CK talks about how he finds really 'stupid' humour funny, and gives this example:
https://youtu.be/OKY6BGcx37k?t=1820
Gervais initially insists that you could only laugh at that 'ironically', but to me that's always seemed to me like him deploying a learned tactic, like he's not quite grasped what laughing ironically means but he knows you should say that's what you're doing if you sense you're laughing at something offensive.
There's an incredible disingenuity as well behind the argument "you can be cancelled now for saying something ten years ago that wasn't offensive when you said it".
It wasn't deemed 'offensive' ten years ago because we were arguably less aware/enlightened about the situations of those specific minorities, you knob. It doesn't mean you weren't being a bully back then or delivering those arguments without a cruel intent. It just means the spotlight wasn't going to be on you so easily, and that's also probably why you did it. Plus you evidently still hold those views now, while the rest of us are trying to move on. That's the thing - it's not like everyone is suddenly flawless, but there can be an intention by everyone to move in a certain direction and not feel personally affronted that actually you'd still quite like to be a cunt if that's ok.
Since it's apparently fine to erect strawmen: "It was different times back then; then all of a sudden it became 'not on' to grope a young woman on a train and everyone had a phone camera to catch you out, and everything in the world became unfair. Lol I'm being ironic though amirite lads"
Quote from: checkoutgirl on May 29, 2022, 12:22:16 PMIf people who like Gervais's stuff have substantial explanations for why they do then that's worthwhile and interesting and gets a debate going.
It's just funny to watch a fat man struggle.
IRONY LOLOLOLOLOL
Quote from: Replies From View on May 30, 2022, 09:39:06 AMThere's an incredible disingenuity as well behind the argument "you can be cancelled now for saying something ten years ago that wasn't offensive when you said it".
It wasn't deemed 'offensive' ten years ago because we were arguably less aware/enlightened about the situations of those specific minorities, you knob. It doesn't mean you weren't being a bully back then or delivering those arguments without a cruel intent. It just means the spotlight wasn't going to be on you so easily, and that's also probably why you did it. Plus you evidently still hold those views now, while the rest of us are trying to move on. That's the thing - it's not like everyone is suddenly flawless, but there can be an intention by everyone to move in a certain direction and not feel personally affronted that actually you'd still quite like to be a cunt if that's ok.
Since it's apparently fine to erect strawmen: "It was different times back then; then all of a sudden it became 'not on' to grope a young woman on a train and everyone had a phone camera to catch you out, and everything in the world became unfair. Lol I'm being ironic though amirite lads"
He's definitely trying to imply that boundaries to humour are arbitrary and move unpredictably, and I think it's fair to say that he intends that as a damning criticism. I agree that he's wrong, but at the same time I do think that although you can tell in advance what's likely to become beyond the pale, you can't necessarily know when it will happen. I'm not a vegetarian but I'm aware that morally I probably should be, and I'm convinced that a time will come when today's casual acceptance of animal slaughter will look seriously repugnant. How long will that take, though? How long will easy jokes about cows being dinner or getting nervous around chefs be funny? It's really hard to say.
I know it's a few pages back and there was a link to something on twitter I think that I never clicked, but regarding whether Gervais was parodying people saying you shouldn't misgender Chris Chan, even if he did rape his mother, is there any evidence Gervaise has heard of Chris Chan? I bet he hasn't.
Just want to remind everyone that Gervais literally says "It doesn't hurt anyone because it's just words" in this. Not as an ironic joke, but as a explanation of why it's ok for someone in his position to bash minorities 'for comic effect' to people who just think it's ok to bash minorities.
"you can be cancelled now for saying stealing something ten twenty years ago that wasn't offensive when you Stewart Lee said it".
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 30, 2022, 10:08:46 AMI know it's a few pages back and there was a link to something on twitter I think that I never clicked, but regarding whether Gervais was parodying people saying you shouldn't misgender Chris Chan, even if he did rape his mother, is there any evidence Gervaise has heard of Chris Chan? I bet he hasn't.
Why does that matter?
People have asserted that it's wrong to misgender someone just because they've committed a crime, and that is most commonly a bone of contention when it's someone like Yaniv, Karen White or Chris Chan - i.e. people who are considered to be abusive fakers.
That's obviously what Gervais is referencing.
(https://preview.redd.it/3memsx9zlpe71.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=2debb7ba8335136abd8eac312da21d10f35c0306)
I don't think it's complicated or controversial. It's not okay to 'only be bigoted towards shitheads'. It's not okay to 'only use the n-word for criminals', for instance. You're demonstrating to other members of the same minority group that you still think slurs about them, and that you're only not being bigoted about them because they're 'one of the good ones'. But if they take the wrong step, they'll be a n*gger too!
Quote from: JaDanketies on May 30, 2022, 11:19:18 AMI don't think it's complicated or controversial. It's not okay to 'only be bigoted towards shitheads'. It's not okay to 'only use the n-word for criminals', for instance. You're demonstrating to other members of the same minority group that you still think slurs about them, and that you're only not being bigoted about them because they're 'one of the good ones'. But if they take the wrong step, they'll be a n*gger too!
To be clear, I completely agree.
Ironic the sixth form common rooms thing, since that is about the depth of Gervais' thinking, whether it's atheism, irony, jokes being just words, "nature", "science", or solo sitcom writing.
I only learned about chris chan relatively recently, but aren't they a special case? I read that he was autistic and the victim of a long, slow, internet bullying campaign that involved people pretending to be their friend and planting seeds like "Oh, you might be trans" or whatever, and seeing how far they could push it?
Quote from: QDRPHNC on May 30, 2022, 11:48:21 AMIronic the sixth form common rooms thing, since that is about the depth of Gervais' thinking, whether it's atheism, irony, jokes being just words, "nature", "science", or solo sitcom writing.
Gervais' own psuedo-intellectual musing on what goes into his jokes really is amazing. Whenever I hear him pontificating yet again about why it's fine to make jokes about minority groups, and that he sets out to offend everyone so that's what makes it fair, it really does remind me that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Quote from: ImmaculateClump on May 30, 2022, 12:32:28 PMI only learned about chris chan relatively recently, but aren't they a special case? I read that he was autistic and the victim of a long, slow, internet bullying campaign that involved people pretending to be their friend and planting seeds like "Oh, you might be trans" or whatever, and seeing how far they could push it?
Yeah, using Chris Chan as a case study about anything outside of maybe cyber bullying is a waste of time.
Quote from: ImmaculateClump on May 30, 2022, 12:32:28 PMI only learned about chris chan relatively recently, but aren't they a special case? I read that he was autistic and the victim of a long, slow, internet bullying campaign that involved people pretending to be their friend and planting seeds like "Oh, you might be trans" or whatever, and seeing how far they could push it?
some girl got doxxed and a load of other bad stuff about her came out after she allegedly encouraged Chris Chan to rape their mother, too; she was the one who leaked the info. People hated her for 'breaking the internet's favourite toy'
Quote from: frajer on May 30, 2022, 12:41:43 PMGervais' own psuedo-intellectual musing on what goes into his jokes really is amazing. Whenever I hear him pontificating yet again about why it's fine to make jokes about minority groups, and that he sets out to offend everyone so that's what makes it fair, it really does remind me that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
it's pretty impressive the amount of chin-stroking he does concerning his own stand up. (not to mention the serious overthinking he does on that
Talking Funny programme) But when you actually see some of this
Telling It Like It Is material it's such hack rubbish that I, and probably a lot of people here, have already seen deservedly crash and burn at open mics.
https://youtu.be/tCIkSRE1vjE?t=509
(https://pbs.twimg.com/tweet_video_thumb/EpoDxkzWMAQjQaY.jpg)
Should have realised that the one line I thought had potential (although he bungles it and uses it the wrong way round and fucks it basically) also exists almost verbatim on the internet. Not saying it's lifted directly just that it exists almost verbatim in a readily accessible place.
I do feel like I am turning into a critic version of Ricky Gervais - trotting out 10-15 year old observations of his material and the character that's presented to the world as true and without irony or veneer, and making the same points over and over again - and seemingly as frustrated with him as he is with the world although I don't think he is frustrated with it I just think it's a very lucrative niche he's carved and won't move away from.
Fascinating man but it's a real shame now that he's actively a bad thing for the world rather than a curiosity.
Ricky Gervais Diana Memorial Dance - Hi Google Crawler
Quote from: frajer on May 30, 2022, 12:41:43 PMGervais' own psuedo-intellectual musing on what goes into his jokes really is amazing. Whenever I hear him pontificating yet again about why it's fine to make jokes about minority groups, and that he sets out to offend everyone so that's what makes it fair, it really does remind me that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
And it's not so much knowledge, either, as a rhythm that he copied off Stewart Lee and stuffed his own content into.
The more I think about it, the more true it seems that his intellectual curiosity sort of ended around early adulthood - mentally, if not physically.
You think about Derke and Afterlife - an 18-year-old's idea of how a care home works, or a newspaper, or how relationships work, or how grief works, etc. And not only that, but he still has that adolescent air about him, that he has now figured out that religion is bad, say, and we all need to be informed of this.
Quote from: ImmaculateClump on May 30, 2022, 01:06:15 PMhttps://youtu.be/tCIkSRE1vjE?t=509
(https://pbs.twimg.com/tweet_video_thumb/EpoDxkzWMAQjQaY.jpg)
John Lydon has gone all MAGA hat of late though, still not a bit of praise I'd be proud of.
Quote from: QDRPHNC on May 30, 2022, 02:06:18 PMThe more I think about it, the more true it seems that his intellectual curiosity sort of ended around early adulthood - mentally, if not physically.
You think about Derke and Afterlife - an 18-year-old's idea of how a care home works, or a newspaper, or how relationships work, or how grief works, etc. And not only that, but he still has that adolescent air about him, that he has now figured out that religion is bad, say, and we all need to be informed of this.
Yeah the manufactured awestruck way he presents such simplistic ideas (Being Kind is Good, Animals Should be Cared For), as if he's just been struck by a lightning bolt of clarity, is deeply childish.
And he never develops the ideas further than the abstract. For all he touts his atheism (I know, surprised me too, but he is!) he's got hugely simple ideas about morality that never explore what would actually cause or inspire people to be kind, or otherwise.
None of which would especially irritate, if he didn't always bang on about the intellectual wells he draws from to create his two-dimensional characters, or offer wilfully basic jokes about sex/ gender/ politics/ whatever the fuck happens to float across his brain and think "that'll be good for 2 minutes of material."
His "debunk of the supernatural" in this show amounted to him saying "I don't think there are any ghosts" and a tired bit about ghost hunting programmes broadcast in the 90s. I did think the development of the idea into Attenborough finding fuck all everywhere would be decent if it was the second stage of something bigger, but it was actually the final stage of it - he stopped it there and apparently that was the depth needed to name the entire show after it.
(https://i.imgur.com/1nHyisg.jpg)
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/ricky-gervais-new-netflix-show-supernature-b2090265.html
Quote from: Better Midlands on May 30, 2022, 04:09:16 PM(https://i.imgur.com/1nHyisg.jpg)
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/ricky-gervais-new-netflix-show-supernature-b2090265.html
https://youtu.be/fAOjEDatpR4
GervaisHighFiveDenied.gif
and just who is Ryan Coogan? Huh? Has he ever presented the Globes?
Quote from: Ferris on May 30, 2022, 04:25:05 PMGervaisHighFiveDenied.gif
Love how YouTube's new popularity graph shows an Everestian peak at that point in the film, including some twinkly stars and 'Most replayed' when you hover
It is a superb moment. He even does the gervais laugh (after he sees CK go for it) to show how "among his peers" he really is.
What an absolute herbert.
Oh go on then (34m 53s):
Worse than I remember.
Three seasoned stand-up comedians and a boy who drank too much orange squash.
As well as the failed high five I remember a great bit where someone asks Gervais if he remembers writing his first joke and Rock immediately says "yeah, he wrote it last week."
Quote from: frajer on May 30, 2022, 12:41:43 PMGervais' own psuedo-intellectual musing on what goes into his jokes really is amazing. Whenever I hear him pontificating yet again about why it's fine to make jokes about minority groups, and that he sets out to offend everyone so that's what makes it fair, it really does remind me that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
"I make jokes about everyone" was also literally the defence that Bernard Manning used.
It'd carry more weight if he actually did do that.
He's not having a pop at cab drivers, or tories, or morons who read the sun, or people who didn't go to university, or material on how hilarious it is that Philip and the queen will soon be dead, or jerry Seinfeld being a nonce and Louis CK being a sex offender, or Jewish people or Sri Lankans, or [continues indefinitely] etc etc. I mean, neither do I but that's because I'm not a cunt, and I thought he was having a go at everyone and that was the entire defense.
He definitely doesn't find room to write gags about short, balding, overweight white men 60+ with an inferiority complex. He might do better on here if he did.
Never finds time to do gags at the expense of his audience or himself or his mates, or anything genuinely societally offensive enough to impact his bottom line.
Strangely enough, he always finds time to have a pop at gay people (or non-binary or otherwise nonconforming people) or people experiencing disabilities. Funny that.
Quote from: frajer on May 30, 2022, 07:21:07 PMThree seasoned stand-up comedians and a boy who drank too much orange squash.
It's quite baffling the way that Gervais so quickly found himself in the position of performing massive stand-up gigs on the back of 12 episodes of a sitcom. He's never been in the humble position of honing his craft in front of small audiences, or developing one of his shows through a series of work-in-progress versions. I'd feel like such a fraud in his shoes, but he's up there as smug as can be, describing layers of irony in stand-up that he's nicked from Stewart Lee, as if he has worked any of it out for himself.
^ obv that swift "rise" has been picked apart thoroughly on here, but it's astounding that in the decade+ since taping that self-celebration, Ricky does not seem to have even attended a comedy club, let alone working up material in front of real audiences, ever? In that regard, the new special's reversion to playground bullying is at least a step up from reading out tweets that annoyed him, off his phone, as in [the last special I noticed, if not the last actual one].
So, did anyone here actually enjoy any of his previous stand-up shows? Animals? Humanity? The other ones?
Quote from: Stigdu on May 31, 2022, 10:47:28 AMSo, did anyone here actually enjoy any of his previous stand-up shows? Animals? Humanity? The other ones?
Animals and Humanity are mostly harmless, just dull.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 31, 2022, 10:47:28 AMSo, did anyone here actually enjoy any of his previous stand-up shows? Animals? Humanity? The other ones?
There are other comedians whose personality or manner gets in the way of my enjoying them a little (Emo, Katt Williams, Simon Munnery) but the material overtops that easily and I end up loving it. Gervais never quite achieves that for me: it's middling material delivered in a douchey way by an unlikeable man. I do think he worked well in the XFM shows though, diluted and balanced by better comedians.
Quote from: Pdine on May 31, 2022, 10:58:33 AMThere are other comedians whose personality or manner gets in the way of my enjoying them a little (Emo, Katt Williams, Simon Munnery) but the material overtops that easily and I end up loving it. Gervais never quite achieves that for me: it's middling material delivered in a douchey way by an unlikeable man. I do think he worked well in the XFM shows though, diluted and balanced by better comedians.
Ah, I don't get that with Gervais. I think he's very likeable and funny, but I confess to never having seen the XFM shows (I think they were mentioned earlier in the discussion), so it's something I may invariably catch up on at some point.
Watched Animals years ago. At the time I was a big fan of The Office and the podcasts (and thought Extras was decent, if overhyped) so I was expecting to be thoroughly entertained, but it didn't do it for me.
With hindsight what I liked best about his early work was the rest of the cast - Tim and Gareth in the Office, Karl Pilkington in the podcasts, Steven Merchant and Barry from EastEnders in Extras. Gervais was at his best when he surrounded himself with funny people and humour came from his character's interactions with others. Being a gag man on stage isn't one of his strengths, especially after he decided to double down on being 'outrageous'.
Extras was all about Les Dennis and Keith Chegwin for me. :)
Quote from: Stigdu on May 31, 2022, 11:07:42 AMAh, I don't get that with Gervais. I think he's very likeable and funny, but I confess to never having seen the XFM shows (I think they were mentioned earlier in the discussion), so it's something I may invariably catch up on at some point.
https://www.therickygervaisshow.com/xfm-vault/
Quote from: Stigdu on May 31, 2022, 10:47:28 AMSo, did anyone here actually enjoy any of his previous stand-up shows? Animals? Humanity? The other ones?
Think I enjoyed Animals (if not change the name to the one that it is when you read the last bit if this) at the time but not as much as I expected. I watched it at a time when his shrieking / disbelieving delivery was still quite fresh and I'd discovered the XFM shows to boot. I was disappointed when he ended on the urban legend of the man who shits himself/buys jeans/throws old jeans out of train window /discovers he has bought a denim jacket. I had heard it fairly recently on the XFM show where he and Merchant had (very funnily) torn it apart as Karl told it as a true story. I remember thinking - that's just an urban legend told as your own joke plus it's not as funny as when it was on XFM.
Totally agree with
@Replies From View (and Chris Rock) that Gervais
isn't a stand-up yet has manufactured this reputation and very lucrative career as one. Is there
anyone else who has done similar? Stephen Merchant did do stand-up. I thought it was quite middling but Robin Ince loved it (cf. RHLSTP). It would make more sense that he had this career rather than a man who seems to have no interest in the art. But maybe that's precisely why Merchant hasn't.
Quote from: Pdine on May 31, 2022, 11:16:42 AMhttps://www.therickygervaisshow.com/xfm-vault/
Thanks for the link, Pdine!
<Pdine posted the link>
Quote from: Stigdu on May 31, 2022, 11:07:42 AMAh, I don't get that with Gervais. I think he's very likeable and funny, but I confess to never having seen the XFM shows (I think they were mentioned earlier in the discussion), so it's something I may invariably catch up on at some point.
They're all on YouTube, easily found. Best stuff he's been involved with. Try 'Ricky Karl and Steve' - most of it is solid gold.
Some of Animals was quite funny in a "twitter account with humorous facts about squirrels" way, but there was way too much shit about God. Sadly he chose the wrong direction for his subsequent work. I watched a bit of it recently, turning on at random, and there were long sections where he just read something off pieces of paper and nobody made any noise, it was like a school assembly. So yes, he's not a stand-up comedian, he's not even someone with a humorous Powerpoint.
I liked Animals at the time, same with Politics only less so, thought Fame stank of staleness. Gervais would then go on to do Life's Too Short and a bunch of other stuff that eroded my goodwill for him to the point that by the time Science came out, I watched it with friends with the same detached irony as when we rented Roy 'Chubby' Brown DVDs from a library, which I'm sure the Rickster, with his love of comedy that disappears up itself, can appreciate.
I also suspect that if I hadn't watched the first two at an age when my experience of other stand-up was basically zero then I wouldn't have been so impressed.
ETA: Just realised my memory's a bit wonky as Science preceded Life's Too Short by two years.
Oh, I loved Life's too short! I forgot about that show.
Oh dear. Go watch some Mitch Hedburg on YouTube.
I remember the promo shots for Life's Too Short premiere being rather iffy but never saw this one before. Bizarre choice.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/924/mQuDTF.jpg)
I critisised "life's too short" on a gaming forum at the time and one user demanded that I post my address so he could come round and beat me up.
He told me to fuck off and die and if I didn't laugh I should watch "my family" or "red dwarf" instead.
I was very polite and fair in my critique, I thought. I wasn't goading anyone or being a twat.
Very strange behaviour.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 31, 2022, 01:50:38 PMOh, I loved Life's too short! I forgot about that show.
I liked bits of Life's Too Short. I was going to say having not really liked Animals and then watched this I thought that's when I saw cracks appear. Then I thought there must have been a couple years between them though. Just looked it up and there were 7 years. I do know that I didn't have a TV during that time (it broke, I'm not a hipster*) so would have watched DVDs on my laptop. I must not have been aware of Ricky Gervais during that time so probably only saw interviews with him were he would have still seemed a bit of a novelty.
I do remember that Stephen Merchant looked a bit like there was someone behind the camera pointing a gun at him. Or maybe just holding up a picture of his family and drawing their finger across their throat to remind him why he was there.
Lasting memory of it is that it relied on dropping celebs in doing things being awful which I don't enjoy much (seemed old hat even then) and is why I didn't really watch Extras 2 (or like Extras that much - Grant Mitchell / Cheggers / Barry / Les Dennis aside. I hate the Samuel L Jackson one as he clearly had it written in that he could not be uncool).
* maybe I was a hipster before everyone else liked being a hipster
Quote from: Brundle-Fly on May 31, 2022, 02:06:15 PMI remember the promo shots for Life's Too Short premiere being rather iffy but never saw this one before. Bizarre choice.
That is ... odd.
(https://external-preview.redd.it/BlGoki8srisAi04HXsbR0nayFCb5E-3IqYD8LhJIzHI.jpg?auto=webp&s=3cff4abc112e0c50fff1a3c46a54442222e93294)
We're further away from Life's too Short than Life's too Short was from The Office when it (life's too short) was broadcast.
Quote from: ImmaculateClump on May 31, 2022, 02:12:45 PMI critisised "life's too short" on a gaming forum at the time and one user demanded that I post my address so he could come round and beat me up.
He told me to fuck off and die and if I didn't laugh I should watch "my family" or "red dwarf" instead.
I was very polite and fair in my critique, I thought. I wasn't goading anyone or being a twat.
Very strange behaviour.
Is it just me or is it quite strange to draw an equivalence between
Red Dwarf and
My Family like that? I remember on the XFM shows one of the prizes for Rockbusters one week was something Red Dwarf related, and Merchant and Gervais had a quick sneer at it. Hmmm...
Haha, yeah, I didn't dare admit that I really liked early red dwarf when I was younger.
I think "comedy nerd" was what he was going with with that reference, but like you say, "my family" suggests the exact opposite.
Life's too short was the Gervais production that really made me see the cracks. I was so looking forward to it. I saw all of the trailers, thought it looked really good, and when it finally aired I went "oh dear". I put it down to just the first episode not being very good, you know how a sitcom isn't always good right from the start. So I was kind of chasing the dragon each week going "the next episode will be better" but that moment never came. I started thinking "Is it just me? Or do other people think this is a step down?" So I found forums like pilkipedia and this one. And before too long we were all watching along with "Derke".
Edit: Ricky Newpaige
Quote from: Poison To The Mind on May 31, 2022, 07:50:50 AMRicky does not seem to have even attended a comedy club, let alone working up material in front of real audiences, ever?
That would dilute the Work.
Quote from: ImmaculateClump on May 31, 2022, 02:12:45 PMI was very polite and fair in my critique, I thought. I wasn't goading anyone or being a twat.
Very strange behaviour.
It's because - for many people, not all - Ricky is a thick person's smart comic.
Quote from: Stigdu on May 31, 2022, 10:47:28 AMSo, did anyone here actually enjoy any of his previous stand-up shows? Animals? Humanity? The other ones?
I didn't mind the pre-Netflix ones, although I'm not sure if I saw all of them. None of the ones I did see (can't remember which) were great, but they were OK for a can't-be-arsed-to-think sort of watch. Humanity, the first Netflix one, I could only take about 10 minutes of. No interest in watching SuperNature at all, despite Netflix's increasingly desperate attempts to shove it down my throat. and I expect I will similarly be avoiding Armageddon when it appears.
I enjoyed Animals.
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 31, 2022, 01:56:04 PMOh dear. Go watch some Mitch Hedburg on YouTube.
I'll check him out, thanks!
Is it Animals that begins with an awkward, laugh-free VT firstly with some lowest-common-denominator faux commentary over an animal documentary, then a sequence about bringing a woman back to his place at night then deciding to wank to a magazine in the bathroom instead? As if that was some kind of well-observed recognisable behaviour we'd relate to.
I remember ultimately convincing my younger self that the overall show was very funny back then, but that intro always left me wondering if I was missing something, shouldn't a professional comic be opening with something better than that.
He's very odd in that for someone who didn't come to fame until quite late in life he seems to have very few life experiences to draw on.
Stephen Merchant's stand up (from what I remember) had relatable (being a bit of a spod and not very suave springs to mind) bits in it. In the one that we watched together he has that bit about his mother dying and the funeral being sad[/i] and [/i]funny (Mind. Blown). Except the thing that sticks in my mind is that he got the funniest line that made people piss themselves (he didn't. His brother's was funnier. His was shit). But the whole bit seemed to lead up to that. Frank Skinner has been famous for as long as he was not famous now and he is able to trot out stuff about pubs in Oldbury and people wearing full face crash helmets, or being burgled and them taking his video recorder that's always a joy to listen to. I know he can be a bit pompous about having read books and awkward when he does his nouveau riche schtick but he knows how to craft a funny story and make it feel lived.
I think that he has such a defence up about being mocked or failing or not being the cleverest that he refuses to draw on real stuff that he could make good. Instead there's just this pseudo-intellectual rubbish and crowd-pleasing faux-outrage and awkward swearing.
Am back to being fascinated by him. I cannot escape.
Politics and Animals are both pretty funny. But that's largely because they're comparatively tightly written and, while none of the material is particularly groundbreaking, it's much easier to swallow Gervais's 'naughty boy' act when he's newly famous and seemingly more humble. But it was also performed in a different time and context, in that end-of-history ether in which it was felt that progress was a guarantee. The likes of Matt Lucas and Sarah Silverman have managed to both discuss, defend and apologise for their contribution to comedy of a similar period, but Gervais' material has remained static, choosing instead to curate an audience and earn plaudits he once would have balked at. Lazy cunt.
It might be interesting if Stigdu has any views on Gervais' trajectory from being endlessly lauded in the Guardian and starting his podcast with them, Mark Lawson and others of fashionable opinion talking about The Office as though it had invented the wheel in terms of the sitcom to, in the past week, being effectively and proudly called son by Jim Davidson (who, incidentally, refers to the subjects of the most talked about material in SuperNature as "transvestment people").
Transvestment is when a member of the clergy dresses up as an official from another denomination.
Disgusting stuff, I hear there's Methodists pretending to be Catholics because they get off on the big boxy hats.
Quote from: Dr Rock on May 31, 2022, 01:56:04 PMOh dear. Go watch some Mitch Hedburg on YouTube.
Just got back from work and stuck on a 'best of'. It was OK. I mean, I smiled and laughed once but didn't think the jokes were very strong. Plus his drawl was a bit annoying.
I loved The Office, liked Extras and what little I've seen of Afterlife seems at least varied and interesting at times, but I've never found any of Gervais' stand up remotely watchable. It always seems based around him sniggering while telling some long winded gross anecdote around some mate from school, like his mate was wanking and a spider went up his bum or something.
I act
Quote from: olliebean on May 31, 2022, 03:22:57 PMI didn't mind the pre-Netflix ones, although I'm not sure if I saw all of them. None of the ones I did see (can't remember which) were great, but they were OK for a can't-be-arsed-to-think sort of watch. Humanity, the first Netflix one, I could only take about 10 minutes of. No interest in watching SuperNature at all, despite Netflix's increasingly desperate attempts to shove it down my throat. and I expect I will similarly be avoiding Armageddon when it appears.
I've only seen youtube clips of the Netflix ones, but outside of the gender obsession I thought they looked better crafted than the early 00s ones. At least they seem to have some sort of jokes.
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on May 31, 2022, 02:21:43 PM(https://external-preview.redd.it/BlGoki8srisAi04HXsbR0nayFCb5E-3IqYD8LhJIzHI.jpg?auto=webp&s=3cff4abc112e0c50fff1a3c46a54442222e93294)
Andy partridge looking cheerful there
No one in that photo looks like they're actually there if you know what I mean.
yeah it looks like a collage from a Dead Kennedys album
Quote from: Stigdu on May 31, 2022, 11:14:43 AMExtras was all about Les Dennis and Keith Chegwin for me. :)
Pop Knob In Fanny bloopers always cheers me up.
God bless ya Cheggers
After Life does contain some of the elements that made The Office successful, in that there's an interesting ensemble cast. Brian, Ken and James always seemed to steal their scenes. The issue was the grating grief (particularly the shite scenes with the old widow on the bench in the churchyard) and the will they won't they crap in the Care home.
I enjoyed The Office. Extras was poor and to me, it was obvious the tank was already empty. The podcasts, like much of his output, were about pointing and laughing.
This isn't an original observaiton, but it's true. Sometime after The Office, it became clear, in his behaviour and output, that Gervais really is Brent. Not the "he's a good guy really" Brent that he goes on about now, but the nasty, desperate part of Brent who pretends to fire people for a laugh, and who thinks difference is hilarious while insisting he's right on. It's perplexing, because The Office seems to comment on Brent's faults from the outside, by somone who can see them clearly.
More than Brent, he's proudly pig ignorant while simultaneously boasting about being intellectual. Like Brent, he uses the power he has to bully people; the difference is in the level of power. Brent is a monster, for sure, but by comparison with his creator, he's quite sweet.
That's about the sum of it.
I read somewhere, maybe on here, how Ricky Gervais needs Stephen Merchant to hold him back. This is demonstrated perfectly by the Princess Diana song from The Office. In the David Brent movie you get a second verse, written by Gervais alone, but the song originated in the series written by both Gervais and Merchant. The two verses are like different songs. The first verse captures perfectly what you'd get if a terrible, amateur songwriter tried to write a song about Diana's death. The second is jokes about aids.
He's got the AIDS and bumming material but he's a bit short on Ethiopian famine jokes imo.
Quote from: TommyTurnips on May 31, 2022, 02:48:50 PMLife's too short was the Gervais production that really made me see the cracks. I was so looking forward to it. I saw all of the trailers, thought it looked really good, and when it finally aired I went "oh dear".
Here are the two main characters in LTS (apart from Gervais and Merchant) showing how they're just ciphers for Gervais, with no characterisation to speak of.
I've got jokes about all the offensive topics, all the different offensive topics...
Trans...
AIDS...
...all the offensive topics.
I think it's sad what's happened to him, just in pure comedic terms. I re-watched The Office fairly recently and it's still fucking amazing. Clever and subtle but also very funny. I'd actually enjoyed his 11 O'Clock Show performances as well - which is why I watched the Office in the first place.
I was disappointed in Extras. It reminded me of those Simpsons episodes where the only joke seems to be that a celebrity is on The Simpsons. They think that's enough. Of course there are good moments here and there but the cracks were beginning to show(insert Patrick Stewart reference). The best bits were usually the scenes in Merchant's office.
Life is Short was ok. About the same standard.
Never seen any of his films but downloaded Politics and Animals. I don't remember any specific bits from either but just a feeling that they were pretty shit - especially as I was coming in with fairly high expectations.
The podcast was pretty good though I guess. Although I do probably wish they'd done a few more, I suppose maybe they had pretty much exhausted that particular dynamic. I always felt by the end that Merchant was sort of a third wheel on them. Gervais was pretty clear that it was actually The Ricky and Karl Show. There wasn't really a role for Merchant in it anymore, and when he did chip in it was usually under-prepared and a bit inarticulate and shit. There's also that weird bit when he really screams at Gervais to let Karl finish a thought. I think a bit of tension was coming out there. It's awkward to listen to.
And the clips I've seen of this latest show - regardless of the subject matter - just seem depressingly third rate. A bit like that David Walliams pilot sketch show that was put out one Christmas. Just weirdly sub-standard.
That programme he did with Seinfeld and Chris Rock etc is just painful. You can visibly detect the contempt Seinfeld has for him. Especially that bit up thread where he laughs too loud and for too long. It's almost a prototype Seinfeld episode. The Too Long Too Loud Laugher. The fucking balls to think he belongs in that company. Not that I'm a fan of Rock or Louis either particularly. But, like, have some self-awareness ffs.
Oh and I thought his Golden Globe appearances were really good. I often re-watch them. Probably the only good thing he's done in years. Anyone know who he wrote them with, if anyone?
Genuinely good he donated that money to the animal charities too. At least he's right on that issue. Is he actually a vegan, does anyone know?
Quote from: willbo on May 31, 2022, 06:41:05 PMI loved The Office, liked Extras and what little I've seen of Afterlife seems at least varied and interesting at times, but I've never found any of Gervais' stand up remotely watchable. It always seems based around him sniggering while telling some long winded gross anecdote around some mate from school, like his mate was wanking and a spider went up his bum or something.
That's been my opinion of Gervais from day 1. He's the school bully who's got famous for never outgrowing his school bully persona. He's the sort of sly prick who'd be pretending to be friends with the younger, less confident kids whilst getting them to humiliate themselves. All the time he's nudging and winking to his gang of idiot mates.
From what very little I heard of the podcast he did with Marchant and Pilkington, it was exactly that. Obnoxiously howling and cackling at everything Pilkington said to demean him.
I did enjoy that show he made where he was in Gary Shandlings house though...probably not for the reason Gervais would hope though.
It's worth saying for those who haven't listened that the podcast and the XFM shows (especially the first couple of runs) are very different things. The XFM stuff is much more natural - a conversation between the three of them that's mostly very funny and quite boundary-pushing (when you're aware that it was going on on Saturday mornings), even if that was often in a puerile way. The podcasts were much more Karl being told to repeat something (often from an XFM show) that Gervais has heard before and found funny and/or ridiculous. There were still moments that were decent, but that was mostly Karl coming up with content for Rockbusters or one of his ...News segments.
Quote from: Twonty Gostelow on June 01, 2022, 01:14:15 AMHere are the two main characters in LTS (apart from Gervais and Merchant) showing how they're just ciphers for Gervais, with no characterisation to speak of.
You posted this like it's a bad thing. That was absolutely hilarious! The little looks to camera remind me of Oliver Hardy. Brilliant.
Quote from: Menu on June 01, 2022, 03:25:14 AMGenuinely good he donated that money to the animal charities too. At least he's right on that issue. Is he actually a vegan, does anyone know?
I spent some time googling a couple of years ago trying to find out if he was a vegetarian. I think he's gone back and forth on it and is kind of vague on it.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 01, 2022, 08:15:37 AMYou posted this like it's a bad thing. That was absolutely hilarious! The little looks to camera remind me of Oliver Hardy. Brilliant.
It's not not funny - I chuckled at a couple of the bits and I quite like exasperated comedy - but (as Twonty says) from a critical pov that's just the two Ricky Gervais interview characters played by different people - they're not really characters in their own right. I'd like to be bitchy and say it's probably saved by having Merchant's input. If that were in Afterlife the Warwick Davies character would be played by Gervais and would triumph. Probably call her a cunt, too.
Quote from: dumpster on June 01, 2022, 12:47:43 AMI read somewhere, maybe on here, how Ricky Gervais needs Stephen Merchant to hold him back. This is demonstrated perfectly by the Princess Diana song from The Office. In the David Brent movie you get a second verse, written by Gervais alone, but the song originated in the series written by both Gervais and Merchant. The two verses are like different songs. The first verse captures perfectly what you'd get if a terrible, amateur songwriter tried to write a song about Diana's death. The second is jokes about aids.
Yeah the Brent movie shows a repeated misunderstanding of the character, and the songs especially. As you say, in The Office he's a loser who is trying to emulate what he understands popular music to be like in a very shallow way - and also he's someone who doesn't quite understand how to navigate political correctness during jokes in the office. Come the film, he's just obsessivsly singing about disabled people and non-white people and AIDS and orphans.
It's odd that he's incapable of expressing genuine love or affection towards humans in ways other than teasing or being cruel, but he can manage this with dogs. What I'm saying is that is like to see someone do 70 minutes about Gervais torturing and fucking dogs
Quote from: willbo on June 01, 2022, 08:31:47 AMI spent some time googling a couple of years ago trying to find out if he was a vegetarian. I think he's gone back and forth on it and is kind of vague on it.
I think he's said he couldn't go fully vegan because he likes cheese too much. Fair enough, can relate.
He also claimed the fish fingers he ate in the cafe scene in the first series of
After Life were some kind of vegan substitute, and I remember him mocking the manufactured outrage over the Greggs vegan sausage roll ("Urrrrggghhh, there's no anus in this!" - which I actually found pretty funny) but then when he last presented the Golden Globes he did an interview where he made sure to knock the 100% plant-based menu for the pre-show dinner.
Weird that someone who has been outspoken about animal rights would do that, but I guess that's just him being cowardly again. He can't make jokes based on his sincere feelings about animal rights because his current audience wouldn't laugh.
Quote from: PlanktonSideburns on May 31, 2022, 06:49:47 PMAndy partridge looking cheerful there
Ha glad i wasn't the only one
Don't know if anyone's seen this yet:
https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2022/05/31/50888/the_office_gets_a_middle_eastern_remake
I liked the bits about the elephants in Animals. Hated the bits where he pretended his mate said something at school which turned out to be exactly what we said at school.
Not that I'd watch it again. He's like Johnson, I can't stand his voice.
Quote from: jobotic on June 01, 2022, 10:03:28 AMI liked the bits about the elephants in Animals. Hated the bits where he pretended his mate said something at school which turned out to be exactly what we said at school.
I liked Animals and Politics when they came out (and I was 14 or so), but then I heard the XFM shows and realised he'd appropriated some of the funnier takes from Karl anyway. Also, the kind of schoolboy anecdotes you mentioned were discussed on the XFM shows but with him fully acknowledging their urban legend status, so it's a bit weird that he later tried to pass them off as genuine stories from his childhood in his stand-up. Proper end-of-pier beaviour there.
Quote from: Joe Qunt on June 01, 2022, 09:59:10 AMDon't know if anyone's seen this yet:
https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2022/05/31/50888/the_office_gets_a_middle_eastern_remake
Al Tawaif looks at camera a split second before his beheading
Quote from: The Giggling Bean on June 01, 2022, 07:50:02 AMThat's been my opinion of Gervais from day 1. He's the school bully who's got famous for never outgrowing his school bully persona. He's the sort of sly prick who'd be pretending to be friends with the younger, less confident kids whilst getting them to humiliate themselves. All the time he's nudging and winking to his gang of idiot mates.
From what very little I heard of the podcast he did with Marchant and Pilkington, it was exactly that. Obnoxiously howling and cackling at everything Pilkington said to demean him.
I did enjoy that show he made where he was in Gary Shandlings house though...probably not for the reason Gervais would hope though.
Did you ever see Taping Nigel? Behind the scenes DVD extra (and it's sequel) in which he treats the editor of The Office and Extras as a toy for his own amusement.
Similar to how he treated Robin Ince but with substantially more physical contact.
Quote from: Noodle Lizard on June 01, 2022, 10:18:07 AManecdotes you mentioned were discussed on the XFM shows but with him fully acknowledging their urban legend status, so it's a bit weird that he later tried to pass them off as genuine stories from his childhood in his stand-up
I have waited almost 20 years to bitch about this with someone.
Quote from: Joe Qunt on June 01, 2022, 09:59:10 AMDon't know if anyone's seen this yet:
https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2022/05/31/50888/the_office_gets_a_middle_eastern_remake
Have always wanted to know how these non-UK Office franchises worked out. Don't suppose there are any Cabbers who are native speakers or grounded enough in the culture enough to comment on them who have seen them.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 01, 2022, 08:15:37 AMYou posted this like it's a bad thing. That was absolutely hilarious! The little looks to camera remind me of Oliver Hardy. Brilliant.
You're saying that Ricky Gervais' fatness somehow came through in the performances of two people he directed.
Disgraceful.
Quote from: Des Wigwam on June 01, 2022, 08:39:31 AMIt's not not funny - I chuckled at a couple of the bits and I quite like exasperated comedy - but (as Twonty says) from a critical pov that's just the two Ricky Gervais interview characters played by different people - they're not really characters in their own right. I'd like to be bitchy and say it's probably saved by having Merchant's input. If that were in Afterlife the Warwick Davies character would be played by Gervais and would triumph. Probably call her a cunt, too.
What's especially distracting for me about Life's Too Short is the Brent impression that everyone's constantly doing. Not just relatively subtle things like glances to the camera, but the actual vocal inflections that seem to be a result of him directing them or them copying him because they can't think of a better way, or something else I can't identify. It happens in Derke as well - I haven't seen Afterlife so I can't comment on that - and it's interminable.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 01, 2022, 10:45:46 AMWhat's especially distracting for me about Life's Too Short is the Brent impression that everyone's constantly doing. Not just relatively subtle things like glances to the camera, but the actual vocal inflections that seem to be a result of him directing them or them copying him because they can't think of a better way, or something else I can't identify. It happens in Derke as well - I haven't seen Afterlife so I can't comment on that - and it's interminable.
Randomly selected example of the above:
Two David Brents, there. Why?
Quote from: Des Wigwam on June 01, 2022, 10:34:27 AMHave always wanted to know how these non-UK Office franchises worked out. Don't suppose there are any Cabbers who are native speakers or grounded enough in the culture enough to comment on them who have seen them.
The German version is probably the most successful after the UK and American versions, lasting 5 seasons, eight years, and having its own spin-off book and movie.
Although, there was a controversy surrounding plagiarism. Originally Gervais and Merchant weren't credited and only after the BBC threatened to sue did they put an "inspired by" credit.
I've never seen it though, so can't say how good or not it is.
Amazing to think there are almost 15 different international versions (including the original and the US).
Quote from: Replies From View on June 01, 2022, 10:45:46 AMthe actual vocal inflections that seem to be a result of him directing them or them copying him because they can't think of a better way
Phoneshop's Tom / New Man character suffers from this in the first few episodes. The character is almost painfully doing a Brent impression. When the credits roll you see that Gervais is script editor (or consultant - can't remember exactly how he's listed). I really like Phoneshop.
Thinking about that - he must have other script editing credits but him not being front and centre beggars belief these days.
Quote from: Des Wigwam on June 01, 2022, 11:13:29 AMThinking about that - he must have other script editing credits but him not being front and centre beggars belief these days.
The recent John Lydon comment is hilarious because Gervais has shown so little aptitude for direction. He directed every episode of Derek and After Life, yet there's no technical development made over the five seasons. It's inconceivable that he'd attempt something like Cemetery Junction now.
Quote from: Des Wigwam on June 01, 2022, 11:13:29 AMPhoneshop's Tom / New Man character suffers from this in the first few episodes. The character is almost painfully doing a Brent impression. When the credits roll you see that Gervais is script editor (or consultant - can't remember exactly how he's listed). I really like Phoneshop.
Thinking about that - he must have other script editing credits but him not being front and centre beggars belief these days.
iirc his first sort of TV credit was being involved in picking the music and commissioning the theme tune to This Life
Quote from: scarecrow on June 01, 2022, 12:05:52 PMThe recent John Lydon comment is hilarious because Gervais has shown so little aptitude for direction. He directed every episode of Derek and After Life, yet there's no technical development made over the five seasons. It's inconceivable that he'd attempt something like Cemetery Junction now.
I know it feels like the obvious thing to say, but Merchant's
Fighting With My Family and
The Outlaws absolutely shit on Gervais' work in every aspect.
Merchant was on The One Show last night, and when asked why he gave all the characters in The Outlaws (including his own) equal screentime, he joked it's because he's not arrogant enough to think he should lead it.
I don't for a second think it was intended as a dig, but it did make me laugh. I also saw he was asked recently if he and Gervais would work together again, and he politely avoided answering the specific question, instead saying that comedy has moved on now and he doesn't think two white blokes would have much to say. Really shows the difference in sensibilities.
Quote from: BritishHobo on June 01, 2022, 12:18:05 PMI don't for a second think it was intended as a dig, but it did make me laugh. I also saw he was asked recently if he and Gervais would work together again, and he politely avoided answering the specific question, instead saying that comedy has moved on now and he doesn't think two white blokes would have much to say. Really shows the difference in sensibilities.
But one white bloke does? Merchant seems okay but that's just fucking bizarre, unless he was joking. If not it just seems like he's trying to hard to be woke and getting it badly wrong.
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on June 01, 2022, 12:33:53 PMBut one white bloke does? Merchant seems okay but that's just fucking bizarre, unless he was joking. If not it just seems like he's trying to hard to be woke and getting it badly wrong.
I guess his angle would be the fact that his outlaws series put lots of non white bloke types to the fore?
I guess the decision for him now would be either to retire or to keep taking offers and try and make his writing and casting more inclusive, - can understand why some people would think the latter solution is not good enough, but fair fucks to him I say, outlaws and fighting with my family we're a worthy lean in that direction for me
Yeah, I assumed it was referring to the style of comedy they did together - white blokes saying lots of sexist, racist, ableist stuff - which continues to be Gervais' sole party trick.
I can't imagine Gervais writing something like The Outlaws - the dynamic between Clare Perkins' activist and Darren Boyd's Daily Mail businessman, for example. Gervais' worldview is so narrow and limited that I don't think he's capable of even approaching writing something like that, giving such weight to other people's perspectives.
Quote from: BritishHobo on June 01, 2022, 12:49:16 PMI can't imagine Gervais writing something like The Outlaws - the dynamic between Clare Perkins' activist and Darren Boyd's Daily Mail businessman, for example. Gervais' worldview is so narrow and limited that I don't think he's capable of even approaching writing something like that, giving such weight to other people's perspectives.
The Outlaws is a great shout, I didn't out-and-out love the episodes I saw but I liked it and more importantly it clearly has the intelligence and warmth to show different viewpoints, and the conflict and co-operation that arises when different people are forced together.
Compare it to After Life, which is Gervais imagining what how mopey and cuntish he'd be if he was widowed and fills his time by bumping into an endless parade of annoying ciphers whose biggest crime is not thinking and acting like Ricky Gervais wants them to.
It would be fair to argue they are different shows trying to achieve different things, but they are both comedy dramas and I'd say are absolute miles apart in terms of ability.
I remember finding this hilarious at the time because it seemed very audacious to ridicule Comic Relief in a Comic Relief sketch. Rewatching the sketch today, I still laughed at bits, but less heartily, as now it all comes over as rather mean spirited than subversive. Blue's dance turn should have been the punchline with a red-faced Ricky, but no, he has to have the last laugh with a cruel put down on one of the boy band that returns him to high status.
Quote from: BritishHobo on June 01, 2022, 12:49:16 PMYeah, I assumed it was referring to the style of comedy they did together - white blokes saying lots of sexist, racist, ableist stuff - which continues to be Gervais' sole party trick.
I can't imagine Gervais writing something like The Outlaws - the dynamic between Clare Perkins' activist and Darren Boyd's Daily Mail businessman, for example. Gervais' worldview is so narrow and limited that I don't think he's capable of even approaching writing something like that, giving such weight to other people's perspectives.
If I have a problem with Merchant's writing is that it's too mechanically by-the-book. He adheres to every structural rule of screenwriting until it comes off like an exercise rather than something organic. If a plot line or object is set up or mentioned in episode one, you better believe it'll be wrapped up nicely by episode ten.
Fighting With My Family also has this, which holds it back from being truly great. Instead both Outlaws and FWMF are pretty good, showing flashes of future greatness.
THAT SAID, he still knows how to write a goddamn screenplay. If you wish that he wouldn't fret quite so hard at making sure that one line from episode 3 has a payoff by episode 8, Gervais' writing is basically masturbation on a page. There are no plotlines, structure, character arcs, three act structures, arcs or setup-and-payoff.
Stuff just happens in Gervais' scripts until it's time for the ending to happen. The Invention of Lying has this issue too.
The stuff that's overworked and overcooked in a Merchant screenplay is simply non-existent. Over the two, I know which I'd take.
He does make some odd acting choices, though. Couldn't believe it when I saw him in Logan. He was terribly mis-cast.
Yeah not sure I appreciated him in JoJo Rabbit.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 01, 2022, 10:45:46 AMWhat's especially distracting for me about Life's Too Short is the Brent impression that everyone's constantly doing. Not just relatively subtle things like glances to the camera, but the actual vocal inflections that seem to be a result of him directing them or them copying him because they can't think of a better way, or something else I can't identify. It happens in Derke as well - I haven't seen Afterlife so I can't comment on that - and it's interminable.
If you've ever seen
People Just Do Nothing, the guy who plays MC Grindah is essentially the world's worst Brent impersonator. It's painful.
Quote from: Brundle-Fly on June 01, 2022, 01:56:14 PMI remember finding this hilarious at the time because it seemed very audacious to ridicule Comic Relief in a Comic Relief sketch. Rewatching the sketch today, I still laughed at bits, but less heartily, as now it all comes over as rather mean spirited than subversive. Blue's dance turn should have been the punchline with a red-faced Ricky, but no, he has to have the last laugh with a cruel put down on one of the boy band that returns him to high status.
It's understandable that having seen the same joke for 20 years it's not going to raise a laugh (I did genuinely laugh at the
sad piano music drive through the streets and at "put your cap on" and the lad from Blue discussing his move was funny) but the bit with Richard Curtis is horrible. And as you say the general tone is mean spirited - but admittedly hindsight might be colouring a lot of my reaction to it. I know Curtis knows what's going on and seems to be slightly smiling at times but he also looks very tired of it. Nice to hear Merchant behind the camera.
I find it very weird that he blends the character he plays on screen with the character he plays in real life - the loser and the winner. That alone doesn't make sense. It's still in-universe but Julie Walters as Mrs Overall / Bo Beaumont is how it's done.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 01, 2022, 10:33:53 AMDid you ever see Taping Nigel? Behind the scenes DVD extra (and it's sequel) in which he treats the editor of The Office and Extras as a toy for his own amusement.
Similar to how he treated Robin Ince but with substantially more physical contact.
I haven't seen it but I remember it being vigorously discussed here back in the day. I heard that he was pretty physically abusive in it but can't remember the specifics.
Here's the first one:
The second one is a bit darker, I recall, but my quick search hasn't found it.
Quote from: willbo on June 01, 2022, 08:31:47 AMI spent some time googling a couple of years ago trying to find out if he was a vegetarian. I think he's gone back and forth on it and is kind of vague on it.
I know he's said he's vegan but I suspect he loves cheese too much to fully commit. Not that I could blame him for that.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 01, 2022, 10:33:53 AMDid you ever see Taping Nigel? Behind the scenes DVD extra (and it's sequel) in which he treats the editor of The Office and Extras as a toy for his own amusement.
Similar to how he treated Robin Ince but with substantially more physical contact.
That just looks like office japes to me. Are we slagging off Ricky Gervais for being a bully now as well, then? I can't tell with you lot if you're deadpan joking or being serious.
the question of "is Ricky just a harmless joker or a bully or some manic gray area between the two" has been done to death on here over the years. At least Ince seems to still know him and have time for him unlike Karl, Steve and possibly Nigel
Taping Nigel 2 here:
1/3: https://streamable.com/1yo9
2/3: https://streamable.com/h3z0
3/3: https://streamable.com/3rkk
Quote from: Stigdu on June 01, 2022, 05:28:02 PMThat just looks like office japes to me. Are we slagging off Ricky Gervais for being a bully now as well, then? I can't tell with you lot if you're deadpan joking or being serious.
What do you mean "as well"? The thread is almost entirely about Gervais punching down, no?
Also if it's office japes it's office japes that go entirely one way and far beyond anything I imagine most people have ever seen in a workplace.
Especially when the person doing it is the boss.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 01, 2022, 08:15:37 AMYou posted this like it's a bad thing. That was absolutely hilarious! The little looks to camera remind me of Oliver Hardy. Brilliant.
It is bad though. I'm surprised Merchant was sat behind the camera thinking "
this is of the required standard to go out". She's just telling him to be a chimney sweep. Why is Warwick putting up with that? It's just stupid.
Unlike some I got along okay with most of Extras (haven't watched it in at least a decade mind) but Life's Too short is abysmal, now and at the time it came out.
We'll agree to disagree. I think Life is Short is absolutely hilarious. So many funny bits.
I wonder why Life's Too Short didn't have a second series + specials. Is it the only Gervais sitcom not to follow this pattern?
Quote from: Stigdu on June 01, 2022, 07:17:19 PMWe'll agree to disagree. I think Life is Short is absolutely hilarious. So many funny bits.
Like when he tries to step out of the car, but falls because he is small and the car is high up.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 01, 2022, 08:20:03 PMI wonder why Life's Too Short didn't have a second series + specials. Is it the only Gervais sitcom not to follow this pattern?
Wasn't there talk of that early on? Seem to remember they quietly dropped that and just did a special after the first series, given the luke-warm reception and poor ratings.
Quote from: scarecrow on June 01, 2022, 08:27:08 PMLike when he tries to step out of the car, but falls because he is small and the car is high up.
Haha short
Quote from: scarecrow on June 01, 2022, 08:27:08 PMLike when he tries to step out of the car, but falls because he is small and the car is high up.
Or Liam Neeson, or the washing machine. Brilliant.
Quote from: Barry Admin on June 01, 2022, 08:35:19 PMWasn't there talk of that early on? Seem to remember they quietly dropped that and just did a special after the first series, given the luke-warm reception and poor ratings.
I've just remembered that when Life's Too Short was broadcast there was suddenly apparently a spate of incidences of drunken thugs grabbing little people and throwing them, breaking their ankles upon landing, and other pranks. So maybe it was cancelled on that basis.
I wonder whether the emboldened Gervais of today would even claim to care about such complaints.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 01, 2022, 08:44:17 PMOr Liam Neeson, or the washing machine. Brilliant.
It's intrinsically funny because if a taller man was in a washing machine, he wouldn't fit so he wouldn't be in it.
Whereas a shorter man
would be able to fit in it, so he
would be in it and so it would be funny. 😂
I liked it when practically every single person Warwick encountered was horrible to him for no reason whatsoever.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 01, 2022, 08:49:00 PMIt's intrinsically funny because if a taller man was in a washing machine, he wouldn't fit so he wouldn't be in it.
Whereas a shorter man would be able to fit in it, so he would be in it and so it would be funny. 😂
Couldn't they just have got a bigger washing machine?
I liked it when the dwarf was sick on his own penis.
Frankly I'm disgusted at how quickly everyone forgot gervais co-wrote a "serious" song with the drummer from Razorlight for After Life (including a music video) that failed literally every attempt at rhyming and didn't make it into the series as broadcast.
...but he did an interview with the Mail and the Sun to plug it anyway.
In case anyone thought I made that up:
It
genuinely doesn't rhyme once after the first line.
Just in case anyone missed it. This isn't "office pranks" - Nigel genuinely hated this during Extras series 1, and took on the job of editing Extras series 2 on the understanding that these activities wouldn't be repeated.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 01, 2022, 05:45:08 PMTaping Nigel 2 here:
1/3: https://streamable.com/1yo9
2/3: https://streamable.com/h3z0
3/3: https://streamable.com/3rkk
At 3:10, Nigel is bound up with tape and trapped in a cage for the crew of Extras to laugh at him.
Jonathan Ross appears at the 4:45 minute mark as well, discussing whether he should punch Nigel in the stomach "to ruin his day" for a laugh. Somebody who thinks this is "office pranks" please tell me at what point any of this steps into the territory of being even remotely amusing.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 01, 2022, 08:49:00 PMIt's intrinsically funny because if a taller man was in a washing machine, he wouldn't fit so he wouldn't be in it.
Whereas a shorter man would be able to fit in it, so he would be in it and so it would be funny. 😂
It does work on a lot of levels. Well, one. (Short level.)
Quote from: BritishHobo on June 01, 2022, 12:18:05 PMMerchant was on The One Show last night, and when asked why he gave all the characters in The Outlaws (including his own) equal screentime, he joked it's because he's not arrogant enough to think he should lead it.
I don't for a second think it was intended as a dig, but it did make me laugh. I also saw he was asked recently if he and Gervais would work together again, and he politely avoided answering the specific question, instead saying that comedy has moved on now and he doesn't think two white blokes would have much to say. Really shows the difference in sensibilities.
I feel like it's been said before, but I've read a few print interviews with Merchant and the question of him ever writing with Gervais again has come up in almost of them with Merchant saying something non-committal about working on different projects but who knows... But I've never seen or heard an interview with Gervais where he's asked about working with Merchant again. It's as if Merchant's been airbrushed out of his reality.
Quote from: Ferris on June 01, 2022, 09:24:32 PMIn case anyone thought I made that up:
It genuinely doesn't rhyme once after the first line.
Thank you for reminding us. That's what kindness is - really cheered me up spotting the rhyming misses. I was trying to remember the "lines made of smiles" line about his woman when it was suddenly upon me. Great stuff.
Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on June 01, 2022, 08:59:17 PMI liked it when practically every single person Warwick encountered was horrible to him for no reason whatsoever.
My enduring memory is Warwick Davis asking Doc Brown to please ring a doorbell that Warwick can't reach, and Doc Brown inexplicably launching into a rant about how playing Ewoks and goblins isn't proper acting. It really was just a string of people parroting Gervais' 'ironic' viewpoints, wasn't it?
Quote from: Des Wigwam on June 01, 2022, 09:55:54 PMThank you for reminding us. That's what kindness is - really cheered me up spotting the rhyming misses. I was trying to remember the "lines made of smiles" line about his woman when it was suddenly upon me. Great stuff.
I enjoyed watching the video again, and the
Derke-tier "make the lyrics literally describe what is happening on-screen" direction. You can imagine him storyboarding it out.
"Ok line about the dad, cut to the dad character, now the line about doing things, cut to the shots of Tony way playing squash and walking a dog or whatever, now the 'your woman' (christ) line, cut to shot of me dancing with whatsername from
Dinnerladies, ok next line is about..." etc.
It's beyond parody and honestly, lest we forget.
Quote from: Ferris on June 01, 2022, 09:24:32 PMIn case anyone thought I made that up:
It genuinely doesn't rhyme once after the first line.
He said life comes down to just three things,
You need
Something to do
Someone to fart on
Someone to film yourself pissing in their tea
Little Ricky: "Dad, why are you happy? We're poor."
Quote from: Twonty Gostelow on June 01, 2022, 09:51:42 PMBut I've never seen or heard an interview with Gervais where he's asked about working with Merchant again. It's as if Merchant's been airbrushed out of his reality.
Didn't Ricky do a podcast once or interview once, and it came out that he'd asked beforehand they don't mention Merchant. And the entire interview was full of "When YOU created The Office"
Or did I just imagine that because I hate Ricky Gervais.
Quote from: Mobius on June 01, 2022, 10:08:20 PMDidn't Ricky do a podcast once or interview once, and it came out that he'd asked beforehand they don't mention Merchant. And the entire interview was full of "When YOU created The Office"
Or did I just imagine that because I hate Ricky Gervais.
That story about Ricky Gervais is not true. But I feel that what it tells us about Ricky Gervais is true.
Quote from: scarecrow on June 01, 2022, 08:27:08 PMLike when he tries to step out of the car, but falls because he is small and the car is high up.
At least someone on here agrees with me that it's brilliant! Cheers, mate.
Quote from: BritishHobo on June 01, 2022, 09:59:13 PMMy enduring memory is Warwick Davis asking Doc Brown to please ring a doorbell that Warwick can't reach, and Doc Brown inexplicably launching into a rant about how playing Ewoks and goblins isn't proper acting. It really was just a string of people parroting Gervais' 'ironic' viewpoints, wasn't it?
It was. I remember Davis talking enthusiastically about the project beforehand, and it did sound quite promising. A sitcom based on the everyday experiences of a little person is obviously a good idea in theory, it has the potential to be funny while at the same making various thoughtful observations about living with a genetic medical condition.
As we now know, it ended up being a mirthless load of old shit in which a cackling Ricky Gervais stuffed Warwick Davis down a toilet. I mean it was always going to be that, because it's Gervais, but I do wonder what Davis thinks of the whole thing now.
Quote from: Mobius on June 01, 2022, 10:08:20 PMDidn't Ricky do a podcast once or interview once, and it came out that he'd asked beforehand they don't mention Merchant. And the entire interview was full of "When YOU created The Office"
Or did I just imagine that because I hate Ricky Gervais.
I remember there was a post on his blog around the release of the office anniversary dvd that was Ricky gushing about how he made the office. There were paragraphs and paragraphs about how he had made this great show and Stephen Merchant's name was not mentioned once.
Quote from: Barry Admin on June 01, 2022, 08:35:19 PMWasn't there talk of that early on? Seem to remember they quietly dropped that and just did a special after the first series, given the luke-warm reception and poor ratings.
Also it must have been round this time that Gervais and Merchant went their separate ways.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 01, 2022, 09:40:28 PMJust in case anyone missed it. This isn't "office pranks" - Nigel genuinely hated this during Extras series 1, and took on the job of editing Extras series 2 on the understanding that these activities wouldn't be repeated.
At 3:10, Nigel is bound up with tape and trapped in a cage for the crew of Extras to laugh at him.
Jonathan Ross appears at the 4:45 minute mark as well, discussing whether he should punch Nigel in the stomach "to ruin his day" for a laugh. Somebody who thinks this is "office pranks" please tell me at what point any of this steps into the territory of being even remotely amusing.
ghoulish
Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on June 01, 2022, 08:59:17 PMI liked it when practically every single person Warwick encountered was horrible to him for no reason whatsoever.
Well that's pretty much the template for the Office and Extras and kinda everything else, isn't it? Everyone else is smarter, more confident and easily puts you in your place. Until the end when you get a momentary "victory" that lasts a minute and no-one else really sees.
There's almost a sexual component to taping Nigel that's a bit disconcerting. See also feeling entitled to touch and squeeze Karl's head despite Karl not liking it and it being weird and overstepping boundaries anyway.
sigdu come on. That stuff is weird and unfair. Kicking a stall door when Karl's going toilet. Putting a Burger King bag or bin lid on Karl's head, a 40 year old man shouldn't be like that. Certainly not one outside a care home of some sort.
My last gf knew people who went to university with him. Apparently he was a know-it-all cunt and nobody liked him.
Objection, hearsay.
The whole of "Life's Too Short" is just the scene with the cab drivers from Taxi Driver.
"I like those midgets. They like to ride up front. Sometimes I like just to pick 'em up so their little legs dangle."
Quote from: checkoutgirl on June 02, 2022, 07:43:10 AMThere's almost a sexual component to taping Nigel that's a bit disconcerting. See also feeling entitled to touch and squeeze Karl's head despite Karl not liking it and it being weird and overstepping boundaries anyway.
sigdu come on. That stuff is weird and unfair. Kicking a stall door when Karl's going toilet. Putting a Burger King bag or bin lid on Karl's head, a 40 year old man shouldn't be like that. Certainly not one outside a care home of some sort.
I don't know about any of that. He does seem like a big kid. Aren't they his mates? Did they make complaints?
I remember we sellotaped one of our mates to an office chair at work and wheeled him around the office for a laugh. Think we used 2 entire rolls of tape. He took it in good humour. Then again, this was 25 years ago when we were in our 20s!
They always complained - I'm sure you've seen Taping Nigel 2 as you're talking about it being mere office japes. Nigel is obviously extremely upset by the cage incident in particular, for example, but it's odd to me that having a wife and kids gains him more sympathy from the actress who's nice to him than otherwise.
As with Pilkington though it's impossible to garner how much is actually consensual. They might consider it a trade-off of working with him, but then that would be a hallmark of an abusive relationship.
Quote"I'm constantly excited by my friends. I haven't lost that. I treat them like pets. I treat them the same way I treated Constantine the Frog [on Muppets Most Wanted] – I want to see happens when I poke them and wrestle them. That's a very 'man' thing, isn't it? I don't think there are any grown women poking, wrestling and insulting each other [laughs]. With British male friends, it's about who gets the insult out first. That said, [my friends] know I'll do anything for them when it comes down to it."
From back when Gervais was heavily rebranding himself after mong-gate with his
Kindness is Magic Mantra
https://www.shortlist.com/news/ricky-gervais-nine-commandments-of-being-nice
Quote from: Replies From View on June 02, 2022, 09:20:52 AMAs with Pilkington though it's impossible to garner how much is actually consensual. They might consider it a trade-off of working with him, but then that would be a hallmark of an abusive relationship.
The impression I always got with Pilkington (and this is just my impression) is that he's aware that this relationship is abusive, but he was also aware that Gervais was blowing up and had enough business sense that if he played Gervais' pet idiot for several years, he'd be able to ride that abuse to some success and fame to the point where he wouldn't need Gervais anymore.
Not that that makes it okay, but I always thought that Pikington had one eye towards the end goal - An Idiot Abroad plus the book deal, Sick of It etc.
Quote from: dead-ced-dead on June 02, 2022, 09:48:56 AMNot that that makes it okay, but I always thought that Pikington had one eye towards the end goal - An Idiot Abroad plus the book deal, Sick of It etc.
Karl mentioned people saying he was being bullied on one of the Idiot Abroad shows I think. "I'm nearly 40, don't worry about me".
Quote from: The Bumlord on June 02, 2022, 09:56:24 AMKarl mentioned people saying he was being bullied on one of the Idiot Abroad shows I think. "I'm nearly 40, don't worry about me".
I'm glad he was able to get out of Gervais' shadow, but that statement makes me really sad. I mean it's definitely not a no, is it?
Similar attitude to Danger Ehren. Although IIRC he bought loads of property rather than sports cars and does alright for himself nowadays
Quote from: dead-ced-dead on June 02, 2022, 10:00:19 AMI'm glad he was able to get out of Gervais' shadow, but that statement makes me really sad. I mean it's definitely not a no, is it?
There's a bit more to it but iirc he doesn't sound remotely bothered, more annoyed that people say it.
Yeah, it gives me a similar feeling to Taping Nigel, in that the worst thing about it is admitting to yourself as a grown man that you're being bullied every day at work. I feel like you'd have to force yourself to believe it's okay and you're in on the joke, because accepting the alternative is a heartbreaking and humiliating thing to do.
I think some of you are reading far more into it than is necessary. If they were really bothered, they'd have snapped and decked Gervais. Like Pilkington says, he's a grown man. He can take it. What's worth more to these grown men being 'bullied'? The fame and notoriety, or their sense of worth?
He's a bully, he senses who won't deck him.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 02, 2022, 10:17:31 AMI think some of you are reading far more into it than is necessary. If they were really bothered, they'd have snapped and decked Gervais. Like Pilkington says, he's a grown man. He can take it. What's worth more to these grown men being 'bullied'? The fame and notoriety, or their sense of worth?
It's not reading too deeply into it- that implies it's taking too much effort or isn't obvious on the surface.
It doesn't need to even be about the specific people Gervais targets, so much as his tendency to treat differences with ridicule and people with differences as pets to squeeze, squash and encourage ganging-up on. The cage incident is clearly humiliating for Nigel. Everyone working on the set that day saw the editor squashed in a cage, unable to move and it was at least awkward for them while Gervais howled with laughter like his lungs were going to burst. Then Jonathan Ross appeared and started bragging about the exact amount of punching required to ruin Nigel's day.
And it's punching down. Beyond calling Steve googly-eyed, Gervais obviously never crossed the same boundaries due to respect for him. Certainly not physical boundaries, he never forced objects onto his head or physically trapped him with tape. So it's not "I do this to my friends, haha, what are all men like, we all do this". He never did it to Jonathan Ross. He's a classic bully punching down and finding excuses by saying a) he does it to all his mates and b) all men are like this so it's not just him anyway.
And so it's a completely valid discussion in this thread where we're talking about a wealthy white man forming jokes about people with differences that bigots take at face value. It reinforces attitudes that need challenging, and helps to assure bullies that they operate according to some model of common sense and people are just being snowflakes for being offended.
I remember how in the wake of The Ricky Gervais Show podcast there were a glut of other comedians or individuals suddenly doing the "you are an idiot for thinking that" motif in their own shows. Not interesting improvisation, just "how stupid" and other waves of mockery essentially modelled on Gervais' bullying persona towards Karl's village idiot persona. So I don't really think it's specifically about whether Karl Pilkington and Nigel were sufficiently financially rewarded by working with Gervais, it's about behaviour and attitudes spread by people who are in a position of influence, and whether they could do better considering what they claim to believe "in real life".
Getting back to Super Nature, what an absolute waste of an opportunity for supposedly-liberal Gervais to challenge the likes of Jim Davidson and Jeremy Clarkson and generate some interesting discussion in the newspapers rather than climb into their basket and get his back slapped by them.
What a platform he had, and what a waste. And if he doesn't react with horror to the people he's now aligned himself with, and create his next show as a response to that, then he is a coward.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 01, 2022, 07:17:19 PMWe'll agree to disagree. I think Life is Short is absolutely hilarious. So many funny bits.
What was it that you didn't like about Derek?
Quote from: The Bumlord on June 02, 2022, 10:01:45 AMThere's a bit more to it but iirc he doesn't sound remotely bothered, more annoyed that people say it.
Regarding the "bit more to it", it's something like this:
"First of all, I'm nearly 40, you don't need to worry about me. But secondly who's come to my help? People are saying "Karl's getting bullied" but who's come to help me?"
I can't get it more accurately at the moment but if anyone cares I can watch it again tonight and transcribe it exactly; it's episode 8 of series 1 of An Idiot Abroad.
Whatever happened to the FLANIMALS MOVIE
the glubbgobster's mate has died so he just goes around calling everyone a cunt but he is still the kindest of the flanimals really
I've not seen Afterlife, just read the premise on Wikipedia. Are there nuances of difference between Gervais' character behaving like a cunt because his wife has died in this and his character behaving like a cunt in The Invention of Lying?
Quote from: Replies From View on June 02, 2022, 11:23:58 AMI've not seen Afterlife, just read the premise on Wikipedia. Are there nuances of difference between Gervais' character behaving like a cunt because his wife has died in this and his character behaving like a cunt in The Invention of Lying?
In Afterlife we are reassured via video recordings that his cuntiness was hilarious to his dead wife who also told him repeatedly that he was a lovely kind man.
^ This but also he's got a dog.
Quote from: frajer on June 02, 2022, 11:29:48 AM^ This but also he's got a dog.
oh that's a clever twist
Quote from: Pimhole on June 02, 2022, 11:08:04 AMWhat was it that you didn't like about Derek?
I just remember being bored it. I came late to the party, as I started to watch it after I'd already watched most of After Life, and I managed 1 1/2 episodes. I don't think I laughed, was moved, or particularly interested in any of the characters. It's the weakest thing he's done, IMHO.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 02, 2022, 11:23:58 AMAre there nuances of difference between Gervais' character behaving like a cunt because his wife has died in this and his character behaving like a cunt in The Invention of Lying?
I must re-watch this at some point. I don't remember him being a horrible person in the film, but I do remember a very funny bit where he's talking to a large crowd about going to Heaven when you die.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 02, 2022, 11:41:22 AMI just remember being bored it. I came late to the party, as I started to watch it after I'd already watched most of After Life, and I managed 1 1/2 episodes. I don't think I laughed, was moved, or particularly interested in any of the characters. It's the weakest thing he's done, IMHO.
Outside of my dislike for the guy's work, it was definitely a gamble. He plays exactly the same character in everything he does, and then for one show only he inexplicably decides to do
that.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 02, 2022, 11:42:57 AMI must re-watch this at some point. I don't remember him being a horrible person in the film, but I do remember a very funny bit where he's talking to a large crowd about going to Heaven when you die.
It works really well because in real life Gervais realised that people might not go to heaven, but lying about it might help people reconcile their fear of dying, and it completely blew our minds that he came up with this.
And he put it in a film for the first time ever, and there was probably even a funny glance to camera or something to make it into a comedy.
The guy is an absolute comedy genius and in my view he thoroughly deserves to spread hate about trans people. He has earned it.
You can't even say you're part of the 1% these days.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 02, 2022, 11:59:15 AMIt works really well because in real life Gervais realised that people might not go to heaven, but lying about it might help people reconcile their fear of dying, and it completely blew our minds that he came up with this.
And he put it in a film for the first time ever, and there was probably even a funny glance to camera or something to make it into a comedy.
The guy is an absolute comedy genius and in my view he thoroughly deserves to spread hate about trans people. He has earned it.
Sarcasm doesn't suit you. I can't tell if you're poking fun at Gervais, or poking fun at me. Which I don't appreciate. Which is it?
I seem to recall an interview Merchant did years ago where he said that early on in their partnership he made it very clear to Gervais he wouldn't be tolerating any of the weird bullying that the likes of Robin Ince and Karl and Nigel went through.
So maybe at the start Gervais was attempting that sort of thing with him and Merchant said absolutely not and as they were so successful together at the time Gervais accepted that.
What are Stigdu's opinions on the videos linked to upthread of Gervais in the presence of American comedians he's often cited in interviews as his heroes and influences, and coming across as an embarrassing poor relation?
Quote from: Jake Thingray on June 02, 2022, 01:02:38 PMWhat are Stigdu's opinions on the videos linked to upthread of Gervais in the presence of American comedians he's often cited in interviews as his heroes and influences, and coming across as an embarrassing poor relation?
I haven't seen any of them so I have no opinion on that. :)
Quote from: Replies From View on June 02, 2022, 09:20:52 AMThey might consider it a trade-off of working with him,
Karl does, or did. He said Ricky was like an iron lung in that he needed him but wished he didn't. He got his millions and most people would take a fart or two or a bin lid on the head for that.
It's more from Ricky's perspective that fascinates me. He's admitted on air to "torturing" (his words) Karl to the point of snapping and then changing gears at the last minute and winning him back by being nice.
On air they've discussed having crisis meetings about it in XFM.
Quote from: Dr Rock on June 02, 2022, 10:22:23 AMHe's a bully, he senses who won't deck him.
Yeah he knows who needs him professionally and targets those people. Also they have to be passive. You could argue Merchant needed him at points but he wouldn't stand for it. You can hear him put Ricky in his place on XFM.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 02, 2022, 10:17:31 AMI think some of you are reading far more into it than is necessary. If they were really bothered, they'd have snapped and decked Gervais. Like Pilkington says, he's a grown man. He can take it. What's worth more to these grown men being 'bullied'? The fame and notoriety, or their sense of worth?
You don't seem to understand. You can have success and a sense of self worth.
Quote from: DigForVictory on June 02, 2022, 12:30:41 PMSo maybe at the start Gervais was attempting that sort of thing with him and Merchant said absolutely not and as they were so successful together at the time Gervais accepted that.
There's no maybe about it. I'm sure Ricky overstepped and there's a recording on XFM where Merchant says to play a record or advert so they can discuss something off air.
Ricky is extremely childish in many ways. I doubt he'd try and humiliate Jonathan Ross or Larry David because he perceives them as richer and/or more talented and Ricky respects that.
When they first met, Gervais presumably regarded Merchant as someone who would put up with his hilarious bullying. A lanky, bespectacled geek who is more than ten years his junior? Perfect. But when Merchant flat-out refused to go along with it, Gervais gave up. Because it's no fun for him if the victim fights back. He's a coward.
Quote from: checkoutgirl on June 02, 2022, 01:26:11 PM[...] changing gears at the last minute and winning him back by being nice.
That is the kind of behaviour you hear of a murderous spouse on those I Married a Murderer Who Murdered Me programmes.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 02, 2022, 10:17:31 AMI think some of you are reading far more into it than is necessary. If they were really bothered, they'd have snapped and decked Gervais. Like Pilkington says, he's a grown man. He can take it. What's worth more to these grown men being 'bullied'? The fame and notoriety, or their sense of worth?
I can imagine that kind of behaviour goes on a lot more and is tolerated in industries where contacts and exposure are vital to get what and to where you want and you have to play the game. A lot of the MeToo stuff bears that out. It doesn't mean it's right and you can hate the player as well as the game. And as
@Ballad of Ballard Berkley says Gervais just comes across as a workplace (but school-level) bully and Merchant's exemption highlights it.
I remember Tim from The Office way back in the early 00s talking about how Gervais was annoying to work with. I thought at the time he was saying it with a smile but he really meant "yea, he's annoying" in the same way the guy says "yeah, he drinks" at Neil's welcome do.
I had no idea he had this reputation. It's a shame, as I think he's really funny but this has soured all that a little.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 02, 2022, 03:32:01 PMI had no idea he had this reputation. It's a shame, as I think he's really funny but this has soured all that a little.
Welcome to the club. Have a seat. Tea, coffee?
Quote from: checkoutgirl on June 02, 2022, 03:42:14 PMWelcome to the club. Have a seat. Tea, coffee?
Not with you lot, no. As some of you seem to think it's cool pointing at the new bloke and treating him like a cunt. Actually, you seem OK. They know who they are.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 02, 2022, 03:43:58 PMNot with you lot, no. As some of you seem to think it's cool pointing at the new bloke and treating him like a cunt. Actually, you seem OK. They know who they are.
Wait till you meet me!
Gervais meets Shandling is endlessly fascinating and it's been analysed to death on here of course but one of the bits I find interesting is when Gervais tells Shandling, someone he's never met before, that he looks like a character from the Banana splits.
I don't know if it was just Gervais being too used to insulting the way other people look, like Karl and Steve and Robin Ince and Nigel etc, that he just forgot that you sort of have to know them and be friends with them to do that.
You don't meet someone for the first time and go hey you know who you look like? This weird ugly puppet character.
It seems a weird aspect of Gervais that he has to treat all his mates as though they're freaks or oddballs or pets. And he seemed to try and do it to Shandling who of course had absolutely none of it.
The Banana Splits thing is extra painful because he clearly knew what would happen, its offensive-hurtful rather than offensive-shocking, then keeps it going on even though Shandling is offended and angry. He is far more concerned with explaining the wittiness of joke to the camera than talking to Shandling
I thought it would have seemed to Shandling that the premise of the show was a prank at his expense - Gervais doesn't exactly sound sincere or overawed with "you're one of my herwos" - and then its followed up with "I'm a loveable chubby guy and you look like an ugly muppet". And then he explains Shandlings own craft to him. He's so bored when Shandling is talking about writing. You're my hero, your work was the direct inspiration for my own huge personal success but I'm going to stare over your shoulder when you talk about writing? And then change the subject immediately to my personal life.
Quote from: checkoutgirl on June 02, 2022, 01:48:00 PMThere's no maybe about it. I'm sure Ricky overstepped and there's a recording on XFM where Merchant says to play a record or advert so they can discuss something off air.
I think that was Karl's doing:
Can't listen at the moment so I might have the wrong bit.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 02, 2022, 03:43:58 PMNot with you lot, no. As some of you seem to think it's cool pointing at the new bloke and treating him like a cunt. Actually, you seem OK. They know who they are.
You should have been here ten years ago, it was like a warzone.
Quote from: The Bumlord on June 02, 2022, 05:23:52 PMI think that was Karl's doing:
Can't listen at the moment so I might have the wrong bit.
Bloody hell, that's the very definition of a deafening silence.
The chat with Daniel Sloss that Robin Ince mentioned in his Gervais blog is up: https://cosmicshambles.com/bookshambles/daniel-sloss
Ricky Gervais doesn't get a mention by name, but most of their thoughts about lazy offence comedy clearly applies to him.
Quote from: The Bumlord on June 02, 2022, 05:23:52 PMI think that was Karl's doing:
Can't listen at the moment so I might have the wrong bit.
Good lord. Why did that fall so flat? It was a bad joke but they could have gone along with it a bit. I've never heard the shows so there's probably background I'm missing. That was absolutely painful.
It's possible it's just messing about of course.
There are quite a few compilations of insults between Merchant and Pilk.
I always read that bit as Gervais just being a bit capricious with his favouritism towards Karl and deciding on a whim that it would be funny to pull the rug away and leave him hanging. I don't know if there's any other context that I'm missing or have forgotten about from that particular episode, but Ricky and Steve's flabbergasted reactions sound very much hammed up to me.
Steve didn't hold back to be fair.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 02, 2022, 12:27:04 PMSarcasm doesn't suit you. I can't tell if you're poking fun at Gervais, or poking fun at me. Which I don't appreciate. Which is it?
Why not respond to the more comprehensive and detailed responses I've already given, rather than pretending those never happened and honing in on my inconsequential, glib asides.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 02, 2022, 03:43:58 PMNot with you lot, no. As some of you seem to think it's cool pointing at the new bloke and treating him like a cunt. Actually, you seem OK. They know who they are.
It's not a personal thing about you.
In fact it's somewhat unpleasant to take a thread about Gervais punching down and claim that
actually people
here are punching down towards
you for being
new.
I thought I offered a fairly decent response (by my standards) to your comment that we were looking too deeply into this bullying stuff, and you've ignored it.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 02, 2022, 07:03:52 PMIt's not a personal thing about you.
In fact it's somewhat unpleasant to take a thread about Gervais punching down and claim that actually people here are punching down towards you for being new.
I thought I offered a fairly decent response (by my standards) to your comment that we were looking too deeply into this bullying stuff, and you've ignored it.
I didn't fucking ignore it. Just fuck off. Are you the one who called me a troll, or the one making snide comments to prove your intellectual superiority over me? Or one of the other ones?
Quote from: Stigdu on June 02, 2022, 07:06:46 PMI didn't fucking ignore it. Just fuck off. Are you the one who called me a troll, or the one making snide comments to prove your intellectual superiority over me? Or one of the other ones?
Yeah you're taking this far too personally.
Oooft... just watched the Ricky Gervais Garry Shandling interview again. Well, most of it. Part three of the five parts wasn't available on YouTube for some reason. Has anyone noticed how Ricky changes shoes at one point during the interview? They're outside and Ricky is wearing the black Nike trainers that you'd expect him to wear as part of his Ricky Gervais costume, then they are back inside and he is wearing a much more formal pair of shoes. Weird..
the thing with Gervais is how empowered he has been by the wider world
Any and all of Merchant, Pilkington, Davis, cast of the Office etc etc etc would have been insane not to ride the wave that Gervias found himself on.
I don't think any of it really reflects badly on themselves, Merchant (particularly) and Pilkington managed to stay on the surfboard and ride it home, everyone who came later can be forgiven for having realised that there's gold in them thar hills too, and Gervais is this bizarre and horrific passport to it.
Quote from: Old Nehamkin on June 02, 2022, 06:31:13 PMI always read that bit as Gervais just being a bit capricious with his favouritism towards Karl and deciding on a whim that it would be funny to pull the rug away and leave him hanging. I don't know if there's any other context that I'm missing or have forgotten about from that particular episode, but Ricky and Steve's flabbergasted reactions sound very much hammed up to me.
Very much so, yes. These kinds of interactions are obviously part of their 'characters' insofar as you can call them that. Just like Greg Davies and Alex Horne aren't actually at each other's throats in Taskmaster.
Stigdu, don't let it get to you. This is a comedy forum and therefore we take comedy very seriously. Rightly so, too!
Many years ago you'd have been subject to ridiculous, sustained abuse by several posters who are thankfully no longer active on this forum. Count yourself lucky you've rocked up at this point in time, seriously.
Yes, there have been some pretty gentle jabs in your direction but people have also consistently asked you questions in good faith and responded properly to what you've had to say. Again, don't take the hard edges of some posters on here personally.
No-one is denying your right to an opinion. Most people here - myself included - just don't agree with you. I thought the sun shone out of Gervais's arse when the Office came out, but it's been 20 years of diminishing returns since then, and the more I've got to know his personality the more I've disliked it.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 02, 2022, 07:06:46 PMI didn't fucking ignore it. Just fuck off. Are you the one who called me a troll, or the one making snide comments to prove your intellectual superiority over me? Or one of the other ones?
I think someone else called you a troll. Pretty much everyone else is trying to have a discussion, somewhat stridently at times we'd have to admit. Personally I'm fascinated in what Gervais has become and also anyone who states they're a genuine fan of his later work, they're fairly rare around these parts. A Gervais fan getting defensive and pissy is of less interest.
What I can make out by your responses so far is this. You're a fan of Gervais not because you've examined his comedy in any great depth, more because you haven't looked into it that much at all. Which makes a lot of sense, because his stuff doesn't hold up to much scrutiny.
Quote from: kalowski on June 02, 2022, 07:47:19 AMThe whole of "Life's Too Short" is just the scene with the cab drivers from Taxi Driver.
"I like those midgets. They like to ride up front. Sometimes I like just to pick 'em up so their little legs dangle."
<Travis Bickle Cancelled>
Quote from: Stigdu on June 02, 2022, 11:42:57 AMI must re-watch this at some point. I don't remember him being a horrible person in the film, but I do remember a very funny bit where he's talking to a large crowd about going to Heaven when you die.
Interesting. Does anyone know what Ricky Gervais thinks about religion?
Quote from: Old Nehamkin on June 02, 2022, 06:31:13 PMI always read that bit as Gervais just being a bit capricious with his favouritism towards Karl and deciding on a whim that it would be funny to pull the rug away and leave him hanging. I don't know if there's any other context that I'm missing or have forgotten about from that particular episode, but Ricky and Steve's flabbergasted reactions sound very much hammed up to me.
Come on, it's just a 'bit' isn't it. A 'bit'.
Quote from: Menu on June 02, 2022, 09:46:01 PMCome on, it's just a 'bit' isn't it. A 'bit'.
Well, I don't think the whole exchange was worked out in advance between the three of them or anything like that. I think it's a case of Karl genuinely going for a laugh with one of his classic savage digs at Steve, overshooting a bit, and Gervais making the improvisational choice to side with Steve and put on a show of mock stunned outrage. So a 'bit', in a sense, but a spontaneous one. That's how I read it, anyway.
Yeah, it probably is just a bit of improvised shtick. That sudden frosty silence is a good piece of radio, though. Dead air at its best.
Shandling's explanation of the Gervais interview is that they were at cross purposes. They'd planned to film a couple of segments and each one thought they were filming the other's bit. Shandling thought he was doing an edgy bit for some Gervais promo or something while Gervais thought he was doing the interview for the C4 doc.
I don't want to believe that version of events though, because Shandling nails Gervais so perfectly.
Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on June 02, 2022, 10:19:17 PMYeah, it probably is just a bit of improvised shtick. That sudden frosty silence is a good piece of radio, though. Dead air at its best.
Also, remember that the context of this particular episode is they've just failed to do well in the radio awards and they're 'trying' to ascertain what could be wrong with their content whilst being 'inadvertently' shit or inappropriate. It's a running gag throughout.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 02, 2022, 10:38:15 PMAlso, remember that the context of this particular episode is they've just failed to do well in the radio awards and they're 'trying' to ascertain what could be wrong with their content.
Yeah I don't think anyone was offended or anything. Obviously not rehearsed but they all knew where it was going.
Quote from: David Pielingtonburygrot on June 02, 2022, 10:35:49 PMShandling's explanation of the Gervais interview is that they were at cross purposes. They'd planned to film a couple of segments and each one thought they were filming the other's bit. Shandling thought he was doing an edgy bit for some Gervais promo or something while Gervais thought he was doing the interview for the C4 doc.
I don't want to believe that version of events though, because Shandling nails Gervais so perfectly.
It's been a long time since I've seen it, but my memory is that Shandling was transparently dumbfounded at Gervais' childishly basic take on 'uncomfortable' humour.
Quote from: The Bumlord on June 02, 2022, 06:34:40 PMSteve didn't hold back to be fair.
This is about as 'real' as Ian Boldsworth smashing Raji James's lava lamp.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 02, 2022, 07:06:46 PMI didn't fucking ignore it. Just fuck off. Are you the one who called me a troll, or the one making snide comments to prove your intellectual superiority over me? Or one of the other ones?
I'm the one who called you a troll, because you are.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 02, 2022, 10:47:47 PMThis is about as 'real' as Ian Boldsworth smashing Raji James's lava lamp.
There is that bit that I mentioned a couple of days ago when Stephen really shouts at RG to shut up and let Karl speak. Gervais doesn't seem too pleased about it and goes a bit quiet. It's uncomfortable to listen to. I think it's one of their last ones - those "Ricky Gervais Guide to...." things. Sounds like something that happens at a tense family Christmas that everyone immediately pretends hasn't happened.
Quote from: David Pielingtonburygrot on June 02, 2022, 10:35:49 PMShandling's explanation of the Gervais interview is that they were at cross purposes. They'd planned to film a couple of segments and each one thought they were filming the other's bit. Shandling thought he was doing an edgy bit for some Gervais promo or something while Gervais thought he was doing the interview for the C4 doc.
I don't want to believe that version of events though, because Shandling nails Gervais so perfectly.
Didn't he also say he thought he was filming first and Gervais arrived in his kitchen with a camera crew and caught him off guard?
That doesn't make much sense as TV is usually planned in detail but I suppose it's possible. None of Schandling's explanations ever rang true. I reckon Gervais just annoyed him and his cheeky shenanigans didn't work with a customer like Schandling, who then retaliated.
I can understand him not wanting to admit to getting pissed off and hitting back. Whatever happened Gervais was totally unprepared for this, couldn't adjust to it and immediately swore off doing anymore of these Ricky meets his heroes episodes.
Until Talking Funny which was a bit less of a disaster.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 02, 2022, 10:41:05 PMIt's been a long time since I've seen it, but my memory is that Shandling was transparently dumbfounded at Gervais' childishly basic take on 'uncomfortable' humour.
Didn't he give him a hard time about always shitting on vulnerable people or something? Vague memory of that.
Shandling's explanation doesn't cover shit like Gervais saying "thanks its fine I didn't want one" when Shandling makes himself a drink.
It does seem like he thought Gervais was doing a bit but that's not why its such a failure. If Gevais thought he was doing the interview proper, why's he so bored and rude? Gary Shandling misunderstanding you and being confrontational in interview would be fucking gold in the hands of someone less full of himself who could react in kind. My name was floated as a successor to Johnny Carson ...well I worked in an office once. Did you Ricky? For someone who's apparently a Larry Sanders megafan he seems unaware of context of the show or the massive significance of talk shows when it was broadcast - but I suppose you could put it down to the trademark Gervais total lack of curiousity.
Shandling must have felt a bit like Elvis Costello when he appeared on Sanders - Where are the questions? Why isn't anyone interested in my songs? I thought you were supposed to be fans?
Just watching the shandling thing now. It's so hard to take. Not sure I can manage it in one go. I think Shandling puts Gervais on the back foot from the off, and he can't handle it at all.
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on June 02, 2022, 10:50:21 PMI'm the one who called you a troll, because you are.
Why? They've been discussing in good faith the whole time.
Gervais was really feeling his oats after getting on like old pals with Larry David and David Guest and was probably thinking "watch and learn son, watch and learn" going into this interview. And then just hits a brick wall with Shanders.
Heh. Pride cometh before a fall.
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on June 02, 2022, 10:50:21 PMI'm the one who called you a troll, because you are.
You don't know that for sure, and we shouldn't be presuming new posters are trolls just because they like Gervais, or whatever. There should be more diversity of opinion on here, not less.
The bit where he confronts Gervais about being uncomfortable around Jewish people seems uncalled for. It's mad that they included it but not Ricky's reply (if there was one).
Edit to add an explanation by Shandling. Seems he doesn't dislike Gervais but was just being a bit postmodern
"Oh, good," he says, and begins to talk.
While completing the DVD extras for Sanders, Shandling had been struck by the idea that Gervais would be a great addition. Though he'd never appeared on the show, Gervais had spoken openly about how Sanders inspired him. So Garry called Gervais and asked if he'd do it. The answer was yes, but Gervais also had a request. While he was in Garry's home, could they also shoot his Channel 4 show? Shandling agreed, and all was well until the day of the dueling interviews, when wires got crossed. Garry says he assumed they would shoot the "visit" for the DVD extra first, because "that laid-back, not-on tone is good preparation for saying, 'Let's turn it on'" later, for Gervais's special.
But when Shandling walked into his kitchen, he realized instantly that Gervais thought the Channel 4 special was being shot first. Gervais was on—extremely so—and so were several cameras. Garry could have said something but wanted to see what would happen if he played it out. What if he stayed in the same low-affect head space he was in to do his DVD extras? Could he reach Gervais without explicitly identifying the problem? Could he bring Gervais's energy level down?
"It's fascinating, really," Garry tells me. "We both became locked into the shows we were each doing, and it became a bit of a boxing match. Because he's trying to get me to do the show that he needs, and I'm trying to get him to do nothing. I was trying to pull Ricky into the moment."
A great boxer makes his opponent fight his fight, on his terms. A great stand-up takes control of a room. There's a reason comics say their best shows "killed." Making people laugh is, at its simplest, an act of domination. And Shandling dominated Gervais. I tell Garry their interaction looks more hostile than he will admit. He offers me an organic-turkey sandwich. "A lot of funny people have a way of looking at life and commenting on it," he says. "Now, there's another leap to take, which is: Are those funny people actually integrating their life into their work? I still search for ways to put it. It's living art. I see it as living life as an art. And part of that's the comedy, and part of that's the acting, and part of that's the basketball, and part of that's the boxing."
Quote from: Replies From View on June 02, 2022, 10:38:15 PMAlso, remember that the context of this particular episode is they've just failed to do well in the radio awards and they're 'trying' to ascertain what could be wrong with their content whilst being 'inadvertently' shit or inappropriate. It's a running gag throughout.
It is. But as I say, if it's possible to time a (faux) angry silence to perfection on radio, Merchant does it there. It's great.
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on June 02, 2022, 11:29:01 PMThe bit where he confronts Gervais about being uncomfortable around Jewish people seems uncalled for. It's mad that they included it but not Ricky's reply (if there was one).
I don't think it was uncalled for, in the sense that it came from Gervais in a statement that was itself unprovoked. My memory of it is as follows:
Without Shandling first making any comment about Jewish comedy or being Jewish, Gervais suddenly offered the comment (and I am paraphrasing): "When I spoke to Larry David, he said that Jewish humour is 'a lot of complaining'." Gervais then performed that laugh he does when he and his company are in agreement - like he gets something and so does the other person, and they're sharing in the funny thing Gervais has said. Except Shandling wasn't in on this. He hadn't provoked Gervais' choice of this topic, he wasn't agreeing with Gervais' right to claim this as his territory. One thing for Larry David to make that remark himself, but it's not Gervais' story to tell. Why was Gervais retelling this story as a precursor to prod Shandling into discussing Jewishness or Jewish humour?
Essentially: "Do you agree with Larry David that Jewish comedy is 'a lot of complaining'?" when he should have allowed the conversation with Shandling to emerge organically and be entirely about Shandling's own priorities and self-identification, rather than Gervais' whims and assumptions about what those would be.
It was off from Gervais, and it did indeed suggest some form of discomfort. Not antisemitism, but a desire to make Jewish humour a subject of discussion and treat it as his trademark 'awkward humour' when it's not his place to do so. Incredibly misguided, and again more fuel to the entire fire that he's just out of his depth most of the time when it comes to understanding boundaries and what taboos are fair game for comedy.
Quote from: checkoutgirl on June 02, 2022, 11:20:21 PMGervais was really feeling his oats after getting on like old pals with Larry David and David Guest and was probably thinking "watch and learn son, watch and learn" going into this interview. And then just hits a brick wall with Shanders.
Heh. Pride cometh before a fall.
David Guest?
Quote from: Menu on June 02, 2022, 11:53:50 PMDavid Guest?
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/AshamedYearlyCormorant-size_restricted.gif)
That was one of the strangest, and most irritating, bits of television I've ever seen.
Anyway I've realised Checkoutgirl means CHRISTOPHER Guest.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 02, 2022, 10:41:05 PMIt's been a long time since I've seen it, but my memory is that Shandling was transparently dumbfounded at Gervais' childishly basic take on 'uncomfortable' humour.
Haven't seen it in years either but I think there was a point when Shandling challenged him (or at least brought the subject up) about the insensitivity in Extras of Gervais's character dressed as a Nazi soldier laughing at someone with cerebral palsy (played by Francesca Martinez (who has CP)), given the Nazis' T4 programme that euthanised disabled people.
Hard to tell if Gervais was aware of the implications or not at the time.
Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on June 02, 2022, 10:19:17 PMYeah, it probably is just a bit of improvised shtick. That sudden frosty silence is a good piece of radio, though. Dead air at its best.
If it's the same moment I'm thinking of, you can hear Merchant say "yeah I'm just not in the mood..." before the music fully cuts in.
Quote from: Ferris on June 03, 2022, 02:36:05 AMIf it's the same moment I'm thinking of, you can hear Merchant say "yeah I'm just not in the mood..." before the music fully cuts in.
He does say something inaudible right at the end but I'm still pretty sure it's still part of the fun. Gervais is doing his turning-a-switch-on-and-off-while-Les-Dennis-gets-his-cock-out fumbling schtick. I don't think he'd be doing that in an actual tense moment.
That said, I'd be interested to hear the next bit.....
Sounded genuine enough to me, and I have to question the comedic value of it. Who'd get a chuckle out of that? Plus the preceding silence is palpably frosty.
Who knows? I'd be surprised if it was some overly-clever meta-humour for the benefit of a tiny audience though.
That Shandling interview was like watching a Zen master toying with a student.
I have been rewatching Larry Sanders. It is typical to talk about the U.K. Office as an exception to the Gervais rule, which I subscribe to- it's very good. However, Sanders even compared to The Office is just a level above in its observance of how humans interact- it's beyond Gervais by miles and miles. And it suggests that Shandling, as well as his writers, are peerless in studying human intentions- which is why I suspect our Ricky got such short shrift in that interview there
I mean, Gervais is basically Hank isn't he
Quote from: Menu on June 03, 2022, 02:52:28 AMHe does say something inaudible right at the end but I'm still pretty sure it's still part of the fun. Gervais is doing his turning-a-switch-on-and-off-while-Les-Dennis-gets-his-cock-out fumbling schtick. I don't think he'd be doing that in an actual tense moment.
Yes there are some ruffling paper noises too which are just for awkward sound effects, and what Merchant mumbles at the end is part of the performance as well.
Very interesting that people are taking it at face value, though. I never knew anyone would, but I've always heard it in the context of the entire episode rather than a clip.
Quote from: mr. logic on June 03, 2022, 04:41:33 AMI have been rewatching Larry Sanders. It is typical to talk about the U.K. Office as an exception to the Gervais rule, which I subscribe to- it's very good. However, Sanders even compared to The Office is just a level above in its observance of how humans interact- it's beyond Gervais by miles and miles. And it suggests that Shandling, as well as his writers, are peerless in studying human intentions- which is why I suspect our Ricky got such short shrift in that interview there
There's a bit in the Shandling interview where he is remarking to Gervais about the nature of fame. He says that the result of your work is not who you are, and you can't get caught up in it, and that those who are famous and yet still want more are generally not the funniest people.
This is shortly after Gervais did one of his tedious "ironic" mentions of the amount of awards he wins.
Anyway, Shandling just nails him with that whole analysis. He smirks and makes it
very clear he is talking specifically about Gervais the whole time. And he was absolutely right. Gervais has always had this desperate desire to be famous - with no real love for the art of comedy - and it's been to the detriment of his art.
Here's Shandling's explanation:
https://youtu.be/PJthU3_CuiM
I could be wrong, but just get the sense that he's backtracking here, for some reason.
It's fair enough that he didn't want to manifest as a cunty responder to everyone favourite tubby funster.
Quote from: Ferris on June 03, 2022, 02:36:05 AMIf it's the same moment I'm thinking of, you can hear Merchant say "yeah I'm just not in the mood..." before the music fully cuts in.
Think it might be "just... it's not... I'm not... I'm not an invalid... 🎶
take me out🎶".
enjoyed that interview. god gervais is SUCH a cunt
Quote from: neov1974 on June 02, 2022, 08:00:55 PMthe thing with Gervais is how empowered he has been by the wider world
Any and all of Merchant, Pilkington, Davis, cast of the Office etc etc etc would have been insane not to ride the wave that Gervias found himself on.
I don't think any of it really reflects badly on themselves, Merchant (particularly) and Pilkington managed to stay on the surfboard and ride it home, everyone who came later can be forgiven for having realised that there's gold in them thar hills too, and Gervais is this bizarre and horrific passport to it.
The problem here is that it really diminishes the importance of Merchant, or indeed Pilkington. And we know that Merchant clearly brought the pathos and reeled in Gervais' worse instincts, whereas Pilkington provided Gervais with material that he's now spent twenty years regurgitating. Gervais just wanted more and more fame, while simultaneously projecting that onto Susan Boyle, Kim Kardashian, reality TV stars in general etc. It was obviously Gervais who made the second series of Extras so nauseatingly full of auto-fellatio, and the more fame and control he attained, the worse their actual comedy became.
What people tend to forget now is that David Brent wasn't even the big breakthrough part of The Office... Tim and Dawn were.
Quote from: Barry Admin on June 03, 2022, 08:25:48 AMquote author=Barry Admin link=msg=4936618 date=1654241148]
What people tend to forget now is that David Brent wasn't even the big breakthrough part of The Office... Tim and Dawn were.
Anyone who remembers the UK Office in context is in a tiny fraction of his current fanbase. And he's spent 20 years rewriting history with his misunderstanding of the show and erasing of absolutely all former colleagues' contribution to his success
I think Gervais and Merchant already started to rewrite and rebrand Brent as soon as the first series DVD when they were making the documentary for it. In that, they talk about how Brent isn't nasty and doesn't mean any harm he's just a buffoon.
Where as if you actually watch the first series Brent really is horrible and fairly nasty. He's bad tempered, thin skinned and arrogant and sexist and racist.
It's all hilarious , I think The Office series 1 in particular is close to perfect, but it's interesting how the rewriting began almost immediately.
Quote from: phes on June 03, 2022, 08:32:30 AMAnyone who remembers the UK Office in context is in a tiny fraction of his current fanbase. And he's spent 20 years rewriting history with his misunderstanding of the show and erasing of absolutely all former colleagues' contribution to his success
I keep meaning to learn a bit more about graph databases so an interesting use case might be the cast of The Office (UK) with edges as who has worked with whom (in different capacities). Be interesting to see the connections.
Sorry for ruining this thread and all of CaB with this post.
Quote from: Barry Admin on June 02, 2022, 11:21:12 PMYou don't know that for sure, and we shouldn't be presuming new posters are trolls just because they like Gervais, or whatever. There should be more diversity of opinion on here, not less.
I agree completely, but it's really quite shocking to me sometimes to see how people who dare challenge the CaB consensus are dealt with, or just ignored altogether.
And there IS a CaB consensus around many things - it's unhealthy and often it's tiresome.
Quote from: Des Wigwam on June 03, 2022, 09:26:51 AMI keep meaning to learn a bit more about graph databases so an interesting use case might be the cast of The Office (UK) with edges as who has worked with whom (in different capacities). Be interesting to see the connections.
Sorry for ruining this thread and all of CaB with this post.
I don't know, this reads like one of the most CAB posts I've ever read
When hes getting off on the wrong foot with Shandling, he very deliberately touches him on the upper arm. I fucking hate it when jerks do that and had the exact same "don't touch me" reflex he did when I watched it. Gervais acts like a fucking ape throughout, poking and baring his teeth and his shrieking cackle. I wouldve chased him out of my house with a broom before he shat on my carpet.
Quote from: Barry Admin on June 03, 2022, 07:35:28 AMThere's a bit in the Shandling interview where he is remarking to Gervais about the nature of fame. He says that the result of your work is not who you are, and you can't get caught up in it, and that those who are famous and yet still want more are generally not the funniest people.
This is shortly after Gervais did one of his tedious "ironic" mentions of the amount of awards he wins.
Anyway, Shandling just nails him with that whole analysis. He smirks and makes it very clear he is talking specifically about Gervais the whole time. And he was absolutely right. Gervais has always had this desperate desire to be famous - with no real love for the art of comedy - and it's been to the detriment of his art.
That might explain the laziness of the modern Gervais output such as your Derek's, your Afterlife's and your Netflix specials and it might be Gervais true talent. To create something that is not too shoddy to be universally panned but not so good that it is a great work of art, he has to hit that sweet spot where he is lazy enough to not put in too much effort but has to be good enough to get noticed by enough people who don't know better in order to keep the fame machine working. If this is the case, and the word IF is doing a lot of work here, then this might be the true genius of Ricky Gervais.
Quote from: TommyTurnips on June 03, 2022, 12:02:43 PMThat might explain the laziness of the modern Gervais output such as your Derek's, your Afterlife's and your Netflix specials and it might be Gervais true talent. To create something that is not too shoddy to be universally panned but not so good that it is a great work of art, he has to hit that sweet spot where he is lazy enough to not put in too much effort but has to be good enough to get noticed by enough people who don't know better in order to keep the fame machine working. If this is the case, and the word IF is doing a lot of work here, then this might be the true genius of Ricky Gervais.
Yeah, agreed. He's always excelled at marketing himself, that's his actual skill.
Extras became all about "the legacy", and using the actual show to build him up as some kind of comedy legend, which was largely done by shitting on eveyone else as being inferior. He would start banging on about how edgy he was and that kind of thing. Also told a lot of bullshit lies about how he wanted small audiences to love their stuff, and that they weren't interested in having mass appeal.
This is around the time he started comparing his shows to Seinfeld and Larry Sanders, and would evoke Laurel and Hardy. Then he claimed that he and Merchant would move into drama and write "the British version of The Sopranos." LOL.
It was all about marketing and creating a kind of aspirational image, which people have bought into. Really, he's just bland and anodyne - comedys answer to Coldplay or Razorlight or whoever. His fans love to buy into the idea that he's an edgy, subversive comic, though.
It's David Guest.
Quote from: DigForVictory on June 03, 2022, 08:52:07 AMIn that, they talk about how Brent isn't nasty and doesn't mean any harm he's just a buffoon.
Where as if you actually watch the first series Brent really is horrible and fairly nasty. He's bad tempered, thin skinned and arrogant and sexist and racist.
And a lot of people (Youtube commenters, yes, I
know) take the "Brent is OK really, he just wants to be accepted") line as fact. Gervais' BS seems to have stuck.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 03, 2022, 06:46:46 AMYes there are some ruffling paper noises too which are just for awkward sound effects, and what Merchant mumbles at the end is part of the performance as well.
Very interesting that people are taking it at face value, though. I never knew anyone would, but I've always heard it in the context of the entire episode rather than a clip.
Oooh do you remember what happens in the next bit?
Quote from: DigForVictory on June 03, 2022, 08:52:07 AMI think Gervais and Merchant already started to rewrite and rebrand Brent as soon as the first series DVD when they were making the documentary for it. In that, they talk about how Brent isn't nasty and doesn't mean any harm he's just a buffoon.
Where as if you actually watch the first series Brent really is horrible and fairly nasty. He's bad tempered, thin skinned and arrogant and sexist and racist.
It's all hilarious , I think The Office series 1 in particular is close to perfect, but it's interesting how the rewriting began almost immediately.
Brent is definitely nasty - but no more so than anyone else on the show. I remember Parky introducing Gervais onto his chatshow by saying RG played "The Office monster David Brent" - and maybe it was that kind of description the writers were pushing back on. Brent's not a monster, he's just a frustrated narcissist who wants to be on the telly. I think the genius of the character is partly that it was prophetic of what the next two decades would spawn in terms of vain reality show celebs etc.
Quote from: Menu on June 04, 2022, 01:00:55 AMOooh do you remember what happens in the next bit?
Full episode is here:
I'd love to fire a white-hot ball bearing* into that mouth.
*Not a euphemism.
but I'd spunk in it if that was my only option.
https://youtu.be/meNeuHKSOpw
Quote from: neardark on June 04, 2022, 12:03:14 PM
Either the title of that video is consciously clickbaity, or a purported fan of the Gervais/Merchant radio show doesn't understand the very concept of two people raising their voices and having a pretend row about something unimportant for comic effect.
The comical aspect is Merchant slamming the brakes on his 'anger' in order to calmly spell "REM' and 'superwoman'. Something you wouldn't do if having a real argument. And that's it.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 04, 2022, 12:37:51 PMEither the title of that video is consciously clickbaity, or a purported fan of the Gervais/Merchant radio show doesn't understand the very concept of two people raising their voices and having a pretend row about something unimportant for comic effect.
The comical aspect is Merchant slamming the brakes on his 'anger' in order to calmly spell "REM' and 'superwoman'. Something you wouldn't do if having a real argument. And that's it.
Nah, sounds real to me.
Well, it isn't.
It can't be real because he calmly spells out the letters...
No one's seen that video of that BBC geezer screaming at the scientologist then
The only times he gets genuinely furious is when Karl owes him 15p.
Of course it's not bloody real. They're comedians having a pretend argument for the purposes of entertainment.
The whole thing, all one and a half minutes of it, is based on a deiberately trivial and muddled bone of contention. They're angrily falling out over something that doesn't matter, that's the point.
R.E.M. covered a song called Superman by '60s bubblegum group The Clique. Merchant insists that R.E.M's version was retitled Superwoman. It wasn't, and Merchant presumably knows that. But he clings on to this assertion because it's sometimes funny to be steadfastly wrong on purpose.
And from thence the humour arises.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 04, 2022, 12:37:51 PMEither the title of that video is consciously clickbaity, or a purported fan of the Gervais/Merchant radio show doesn't understand the very concept of two people raising their voices and having a pretend row about something unimportant for comic effect.
The comical aspect is Merchant slamming the brakes on his 'anger' in order to calmly spell "REM' and 'superwoman'. Something you wouldn't do if having a real argument. And that's it.
But they both look so dreamy there, with their shades and designer stubble.
Stephen Merchant is fully aware that R.E.M. didn't change the title to Superwoman.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 04, 2022, 12:37:51 PMEither the title of that video is consciously clickbaity, or a purported fan of the Gervais/Merchant radio show doesn't understand the very concept of two people raising their voices and having a pretend row about something unimportant for comic effect.
Sounds like here hehe 😌
Quote from: Dr Rock on June 04, 2022, 05:55:27 PMThe only times he gets genuinely furious is when Karl owes him 15p.
It was 50p to be fair to him.
Article just come out wherein Stephen Merchant says there's no beef between him and Gervais, they're not estranged and he states that Ricky makes bolder comedy than he...look forward to the comments saying he must be lying 😄
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/stephen-merchant-interview-outlaws-ricky-gervais-b2088205.html (https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/stephen-merchant-interview-outlaws-ricky-gervais-b2088205.html)
hehe!
Although tbf the part concerning a recent Tweet he made wherein he called shows that have a bit where someone watches videos of a departed relative or friend to convey they miss them the lowest form of storytelling, and then insists it wasn't a dig at Afterlife does seem a bit hard to believe 😄 surely even if he hasn't seen it he'd at least have a vague idea of the premise/content?
Hehe!
Quote from: Replies From View on June 04, 2022, 12:37:51 PMEither the title of that video is consciously clickbaity, or a purported fan of the Gervais/Merchant radio show doesn't understand the very concept of two people raising their voices and having a pretend row about something unimportant for comic effect.
The comical aspect is Merchant slamming the brakes on his 'anger' in order to calmly spell "REM' and 'superwoman'. Something you wouldn't do if having a real argument. And that's it.
That's quite funny. I wish they'd stuck to doing radio.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 04, 2022, 09:18:43 AMFull episode is here:
Could you just tell me? I've got to get up in the morning. Although I assume they're getting along fine after the song otherwise you would have said so. I do enjoy their shows though - there's a parallel universe where they took over from Adam and Joe in about 2010 and everyone on here still loves Ricky Gervais.
He's hired 10 security guards according to the Mirror. 10. Cunt thinks he's the President of the USA.
"Comic Ricky Gervais has hired bodyguards for stand-up gigs after being accused of poking fun at transgender people in a TV show.
The star caused uproar with comments made in Netflix one-off special Supernature last week.
Now Gervais, 59, has recruited 10 security staff given their first outing at a low-key warm-up appearance this week for a potential series of gigs.
A source said he couldn't "take any chances" following a stage attack on US comic Dave Chapelle, 48, last month at the Hollywood Bowl after his own Netflix special last year was accused of being transphobic."
What a load of bollocks.
Hahahaha what a fucking lame-o
"A source said he couldn't 'take any chances' following a stage attack on US comic Dave Chapelle, 48, last month at the Hollywood Bowl after his own Netflix special last year was accused of being transphobic thread on a forum for failed comedy writers."
Quote from: Cold Meat Platter on June 05, 2022, 12:40:09 AMHe's hired 10 security guards according to the Mirror. 10. Cunt thinks he's the President of the USA.
"Comic Ricky Gervais has hired bodyguards for stand-up gigs after being accused of poking fun at transgender people in a TV show.
The star caused uproar with comments made in Netflix one-off special Supernature last week.
Now Gervais, 59, has recruited 10 security staff given their first outing at a low-key warm-up appearance this week for a potential series of gigs.
A source said he couldn't "take any chances" following a stage attack on US comic Dave Chapelle, 48, last month at the Hollywood Bowl after his own Netflix special last year was accused of being transphobic."
What a load of bollocks.
Why is he listed as 59 there, when he's 60 (and will be 61 in 3 weeks time)?
Interesting
(https://i.imgur.com/YeLrl30.png?1)
He's just another right wing cunt these days, isn't he? Bullies people while claiming to be bullied. Fuck Richard Gervais.
He's doing the cool look again.
Ironically I'm sure.
Quote from: Ferris on June 05, 2022, 01:57:04 AMWhy is he listed as 59 there, when he's 60 (and will be 61 in 3 weeks time)?
Bet he rang up and said "put late 50s".
Quote from: Des Wigwam on June 05, 2022, 09:42:49 AMBet he rang up and said "put late 50s".
'Gervais mused'
Quote from: Cold Meat Platter on June 05, 2022, 02:03:42 AMInteresting
(https://i.imgur.com/YeLrl30.png?1)
Smoldering into the camera.
Is this really what Gervais wanted?
Funnily enough I can see Stewart Lee devising a show that examines the narratives that Gervais is now following/initiating, but somehow feel that Gervais himself will be too much of a coward to speak against the right-wing mob now defending him.
From Gervais it'll be: "Yeah that's what I said, it's what I predicted - all 'boo hoo' from the transgendereds" rather than "Actually I wasn't saying all the right-wing fucks are right. You've misunderstood my irony as well, so get back in your box".
"Irony being misunderstood" (psst: it's not actually irony) is only an "issue" when it's people complaining about him on Twitter. Not when the "misunderstandings" are feeding into him being a millionaire.
10 body guards? Oh no, if anything his act is going to get more fearless and confrontational!
It's not looking good for us snowflakes.
I hope they all beat up the cunt
Quote from: Cold Meat Platter on June 05, 2022, 02:03:42 AMInteresting
(https://i.imgur.com/YeLrl30.png?1)
Only a certain type of man can successfully pull off a black velvet jacket.
Ricky Gervais is not that type of man.
Desperate stuff.
He looks like he's about to pull the correct playing card from behind the photographer's ear.
Fucking hell he looks sexy there, and doesn't he know it
Quote from: frajer on June 05, 2022, 12:45:49 PMHe looks like he's about to pull the correct playing card from behind the photographer's ear.
Yes, that's doing a velvet jacket wrong. If you look like The Doctor you're doing it right.
Who was Derek offending (to the point of necessitating armed security)? Is there a militant wing of the Carehome Worker's Union?
Fat bankers and people who want to steal from their Alzheimers nans
If he really wants to feel safe he should hire security guards who identify as attack helicopters!!!!rofl!!!
Who said that? Oops, I'm getting cancelled....
Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on June 04, 2022, 06:22:51 PMR.E.M. covered a song called Superman by '60s bubblegum group The Clique. Merchant insists that R.E.M's version was retitled Superwoman. It wasn't, and Merchant presumably knows that. But he clings on to this assertion because it's sometimes funny to be steadfastly wrong on purpose.
And from thence the humour arises.
Ah, I think the title printed on the CD said 'Superwoman' but it was 'Superman' everywhere else on the packaging.
(If anyone has made a duller first post on this site I'd be fascinated to know. Hi, by the way. Stay tuned for more of this A1 content)
Chalk me up for the 'Superwoman' bit being a performance, but the 'pick on an invalid' and punch clips being genuine.
I listened to all the radio shows and podcasts as they first came out, and one thing that became crystal clear was that you never, ever insulted Steve. Richard Herring even now still refers to his interview with Merchant as one of his worst* podcasts, after he mildly criticised Extras series 2.
However, Merchant seems to be fine making fun of himself/playing the awkward loser; cf. 'Hello Ladies'.
*High bar, amiright folks?!?
Quote from: Thosworth on June 05, 2022, 02:43:56 PMChalk me up for the 'Superwoman' bit being a performance, but the 'pick on an invalid' and punch clips being genuine.
I listened to all the radio shows and podcasts as they first came out, and one thing that became crystal clear was that you never, ever insulted Steve. Richard Herring even now still refers to his interview with Merchant as one of his worst* podcasts, after he mildly criticised Extras series 2.
However, Merchant seems to be fine making fun of himself/playing the awkward loser; cf. 'Hello Ladies'.
*High bar, amiright folks?!?
I remember an awkward bit where herring says "you're better at comedy than Ricky Gervais aren't you?" And merchant says "no". It was herring being a bit shit as much as Merchant being humorless imo.
Just rewatching that ep now and Herring's stand up / audience latter was so shite. Just charmless bullying with no genuine wit. That seems to be his whole style. Say something nasty but do a giggle at the same time so it's all okay.
Quote from: Thosworth on June 05, 2022, 02:43:56 PMone thing that became crystal clear was that you never, ever insulted Steve
Karl did about 50 times, as did Ricky. What are you talking about?
Quote from: checkoutgirl on June 05, 2022, 03:04:57 PMKarl did about 50 times, as did Ricky. What are you talking about?
I mean it was 20 years ago, but I'm pretty sure there was a definite line they clearly weren't to cross. If I'm misremembering, I'll fully accept I'm wrong - I could re-listen to the whole lot, but my ever expanding pile of media I absolutely have to get round to means it's unlikely.
they weren't allowed to 'ave a go at the eyes, cause that is a stigmatism he had since the age of 7.
Verging on two hours of insults here.
Different insults for different...needs.
Quote from: willbo on June 05, 2022, 06:59:22 PMthey weren't allowed to 'ave a go at the eyes, cause that is a stigmatism he had since the age of 7.
But Ash Atalla's disability was perfectly fine?
Edit: They did actually mention Merchant's eyes on The Office and maybe that's what you were quoting.
Quote from: neveragain on June 05, 2022, 07:34:31 PMBut Ash Atalla's disability was perfectly fine?
Edit: They did actually mention Merchant's eyes on The Office and maybe that's what you were quoting.
It is a quote from The Office:
Quote from: The Bumlord on June 05, 2022, 07:32:59 PMVerging on two hours of insults here.
Different insults for different...needs.
I stand fully corrected and withdraw my claims.
Wow, ran the gamut of emotions there. Got all excited to see Gareth bounding about and shared his happiness, enjoyed the rest, but Tim giving another look to camera at the end just made me sigh. I think it really underlined how limited and repetitive Gervais' shtick is, and how he hasn't developed or stretched himself at all in the last 20 years.
Edit: to be fair, I can't even be bothered to watch that thing with the dead wife, but it does seem it's at least a bit different in format.
Quote from: Blue Jam on June 05, 2022, 12:39:52 PMOnly a certain type of man can successfully pull off a black velvet jacket.
Ricky Gervais is not that type of man.
Makes him look like a cruise ship magician who drives a Saab
Quote from: willbo on June 05, 2022, 06:59:22 PMthey weren't allowed to 'ave a go at the eyes
That was 50% of what they had a go about.
Quote from: checkoutgirl on June 05, 2022, 10:18:16 PMThat was 50% of what they had a go about.
you can't say that on the radio though! How did they get away with it?
Quote from: willbo on June 05, 2022, 11:25:44 PMyou can't say that on the radio though! How did they get away with it?
Tin pot radio station.
Quote from: dead-ced-dead on June 05, 2022, 07:41:33 PMIt is a quote from The Office:
Gareth looks destroyed during that awkward exchange. Like his mum and dad are fighting.
Dawn looks lovely.
Tim looks fucked.
Quote from: Barry Admin on June 05, 2022, 07:56:20 PMWow, ran the gamut of emotions there. Got all excited to see Gareth bounding about and shared his happiness, enjoyed the rest, but Tim giving another look to camera at the end just made me sigh. I think it really underlined how limited and repetitive Gervais' shtick is, and how he hasn't developed or stretched himself at all in the last 20 years.
Come on, that's a good scene. Just because Gervais is shit now, doesn't mean he was shit then.
Quote from: Menu on June 06, 2022, 02:01:58 AMCome on, that's a good scene. Just because Gervais is shit now, doesn't mean he was shit then.
I said I mostly enjoyed it, or meant that. It just reminded me at the end how he couldn't do anything good after it.
Quote from: Barry Admin on June 06, 2022, 02:25:07 AMI said I mostly enjoyed it, or meant that. It just reminded me at the end how he couldn't do anything good after it.
I agree with that. Became hackneyed very quickly.
I really enjoyed The Office, but I do think it's a little over-rated. I liked the character of Keith very much.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 07, 2022, 12:53:12 PMI really enjoyed The Office, but I do think it's a little over-rated. I liked the character of Keith very much.
Keith may be the least talked about aspect but it's absolutely a key to why it works.
"Here where it says to describe your skills, you've just put 'accounts'."
"Yeah."
I remember at the time Big Keith was one of the standout bit parts, after the main cast - the appraisal, the Scotch egg(s), "it's the end of the financial year, and spirits are in the sky", "good?"/"S'alright", just lots of little nuggets that stood out from the others, and he was maybe the only character who couldn't give a fuck about his job and never really tried to accommodate Brent.
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on June 02, 2022, 10:50:21 PMI'm the one who called you a troll, because you are.
Just catching up on some of the previous posts. Is there any particular reason you've decided to not be particularly accommodating to me? Have I offended you or something? It certainly wasn't my intention.
Hey Stacylumps, are there any comedians you like who don't tell 'edgy' jokes? Everyone has their tastes, just wondrin.
Quote from: Dr Rock on June 07, 2022, 05:21:45 PMHey Stacylumps, are there any comedians you like who don't tell 'edgy' jokes? Everyone has their tastes, just wondrin.
Sure. I was raised on the classics by my dad, so still a big fan of Charlie Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy. Love Jim Carrey for films, Stew Francis, Stewart Lee for stand-up, Vic & Bob for TV.
^ which name did you CaBers raise an eyebrow at in the above list?
Stewart Lee
Quote from: Stigdu on June 07, 2022, 06:30:20 PMSure. I was raised on the classics by my dad, so still a big fan of Charlie Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy. Love Jim Carrey for films, Stew Francis, Stewart Lee for stand-up, Vic & Bob for TV.
Any opinions on the Goodies?
Quote from: Jake Thingray on June 07, 2022, 09:49:43 PMAny opinions on the Goodies?
Sorry, I've not really seen much with them in. I might have watched one or two things but that would have been in the mid-80s and I don't remember anything of them. :)
"Mr. Spock?"
"Sir, we are being probed."
Poor old Ricky just can't catch a break:
Ricky Gervais faces backlash from ghost hunters after joke about afterlife in Netflix show Supernature (https://www.getreading.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/ricky-gervais-faces-backlash-ghost-24161510?IYA-mail=344acf41-810d-4cab-8b45-caf0d469dfe7)
Ughhh just imagining his response to that
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on June 08, 2022, 03:27:54 PMUghhh just imagining his response to that
I'm imagining laughing at a weak joke he makes to show us just how unbothered he is.
That somewhat plays into his hands, no? People who believe in an afterlife are not a minority group that's constantly bullied by the mainstream rightwing media. It's not punching down to say you don't believe in ghosts. In this instance, people emerging to make that complaint are feeding conformation bias and giving ammunition to those who wish not to be called bigoted for being transphobic.
Quote from: dead-ced-dead on June 08, 2022, 03:56:02 PMI'm imagining laughing at a weak joke he makes to show us just how unbothered he is.
How can he be so sure there's no heaven when he hasn't even been there?
Quote from: dead-ced-dead on June 07, 2022, 01:31:28 PMKeith may be the least talked about aspect but it's absolutely a key to why it works.
"Here where it says to describe your skills, you've just put 'accounts'."
"Yeah."
That whole scene is one of the few bits where Brent isn't trying to show off or compete with someone as well, Keith's half-arsing his appraisal because he doesn't seem to give a shit but Brent's being patient and giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Quote from: Ascent on June 08, 2022, 03:20:06 PMPoor old Ricky just can't catch a break:
Ricky Gervais faces backlash from ghost hunters after joke about afterlife in Netflix show Supernature (https://www.getreading.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/ricky-gervais-faces-backlash-ghost-24161510?IYA-mail=344acf41-810d-4cab-8b45-caf0d469dfe7)
Reaching Craig Ovens levels of desperation in his PR drive now.
QuoteRicky Gervais jokes he'll have his fans 'reported for hate crimes' for laughing at his new material
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/news/ricky-gervais-armageddon-jokes-b2096948.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1654721841
https://www.theonion.com/marilyn-manson-now-going-door-to-door-trying-to-shock-p-1819565904
His act can't really respond to audiences/media because he only does it 3 times at the millennium dome, films it for netflix, then calls it a day. If/when people point out it's shit, well doesn't matter the run's over now.
If he was on the circuit, he'd play 100+ shows a year so any tabloid attention could be incorporated same day. As it is, he has to (get a team of people to) write a new show to include his weak "hate crime" response line there.
Side note - does this mean he's embraced his new audience of daily mail/"political correctness has gone mad" types?
Smug look, back to lecturn, sip of beer.
I had a weird dream last night: I saw a Grange Hill DVD for sale, but for some reason the front cover was a close-up of Ricky Gervais as Derek, so I was wondering why the front cover of a Grange Hill DVD would have a close-up of Ricky Gervais as Derek on it, but then I looked a bit closer and actually it was a close-up of Zammo from the end of that episode where we find out he's a junkie. Not Ricky Gervais as Derek.
TELL ME WHAT IT MEANS, CaB.
I can do, but you won't like it.
Quote from: Spudgun on June 11, 2022, 09:53:38 PMI had a weird dream last night: I saw a Grange Hill DVD for sale, but for some reason the front cover was a close-up of Ricky Gervais as Derek, so I was wondering why the front cover of a Grange Hill DVD would have a close-up of Ricky Gervais as Derek on it, but then I looked a bit closer and actually it was a close-up of Zammo from the end of that episode where we find out he's a junkie. Not Ricky Gervais as Derek.
TELL ME WHAT IT MEANS, CaB.
You've gone bananas.
Just to say watched this Friday night, well when I say watched I mean put it on for 20 mins and then switched it off because of how utterly shit it was.
Terrible, I mean before we even go into the hatefulness, it's just lazy, dull and terminally unfunny. I thought there might be a bit of dark edginess that might rouse a giggle, but no, it's just him repeating rightwing view points like a goateed Piers Morgan trying his hand at stand up.
Tragic.
Quote from: Spudgun on June 11, 2022, 09:53:38 PMI had a weird dream last night: I saw a Grange Hill DVD for sale, but for some reason the front cover was a close-up of Ricky Gervais as Derek, so I was wondering why the front cover of a Grange Hill DVD would have a close-up of Ricky Gervais as Derek on it, but then I looked a bit closer and actually it was a close-up of Zammo from the end of that episode where we find out he's a junkie. Not Ricky Gervais as Derek.
TELL ME WHAT IT MEANS, CaB.
I had a dream that Steve Bannon was sitting in my living room watching the new Gervais stand up and I just stood there loudly belittling the show and him for watching it and he just sat there stony faced, staring at the telly.
Later on a got on a bus and some of Steve Bannon's radicalised youths threatened me with a knife so he'd got his revenge I suppose.
Quote from: DreadedScotsman on June 13, 2022, 01:25:25 PM(https://i.imgur.com/00LJduU.gif)
(https://i.makeagif.com/media/5-23-2016/R-pXXe.gif) (https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/gif/whats-an-elf-the-office-bbc-R-pXXe)
Quote from: Ferris on June 09, 2022, 01:41:01 AMHis act can't really respond to audiences/media because he only does it 3 times at the millennium dome, films it for netflix, then calls it a day. If/when people point out it's shit, well doesn't matter the run's over now.
That's not quite true, when I saw him do Humanity at the Apollo he was doing a residency there for several weeks (presumably also doing other cities!) - although it is true with any Netflix / DVD that by the time it's seen in a recorded version, the show is at least a year or two old.
Also, Humanity was almost entirely made up of him settling his various Twitter beefs. I have no doubt that his next show will include a very long bit about the non-existent controversy over his Netflix special, during which he will compare himself to Dave Chappelle and how hard done by they both are.
Has there really been any controversy though? He's tried to stir it up himself by saying 'ooh I bet I'll get cancelled for this' at the exact same time as counting the money Netflix are giving him. The people who like him lapped that shit up, and the people who don't like him don't watch it. Did anything actually change?
That's kind of my point - he's not on the circuit doing 150 shows a year so if he wants to respond to the controversy of his Netflix special (that he drummed up himself for PR), he has to get an entirely new show written and produced because his short runs are already finished.
I was exaggerating how few live shows he does for a laugh, but not by much.
Quote from: DreadedScotsman on June 13, 2022, 01:25:25 PM(https://i.imgur.com/00LJduU.gif)
Quote from: thelittlemango on June 14, 2022, 10:06:24 AM(https://i.makeagif.com/media/5-23-2016/R-pXXe.gif) (https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/gif/whats-an-elf-the-office-bbc-R-pXXe)
(https://imgur.com/6gMLnYF.gif)
David Lynch leaves thread inspired.
Quote from: Ferris on June 14, 2022, 08:50:56 PMThat's kind of my point - he's not on the circuit doing 150 shows a year so if he wants to respond to the controversy of his Netflix special (that he drummed up himself for PR), he has to get an entirely new show written and produced because his short runs are already finished.
I was exaggerating how few live shows he does for a laugh, but not by much.
Very early in my stand-up appreciation days, I saw him do Science live about a year before the DVD came out. The DVD was
exactly the same. I know this isn't a problem exclusive to Gervais, but with all the apparent ad-libs and responding to the audience reactions, it did somewhat ruin the magic for a nascent stand-up fan - not to mention making me feel cheated for having spent 40 odd quid on a ticket to see the same thing from the nosebleeds (this was the Hammersmith Apollo, one of the worst places to watch stand-up in general). I imagine he just writes a script and goes with it, knowing his audience will always play along, but it's a bit like playing a video game when you're overleveled and know all the glitches.
Of course, I feel incredibly spoiled now to have seen people like Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, pre-doom Louis CK and Doug Stanhope practicing new material at the comedy clubs here, and then comparing that with what they settle on when they finally release it officially. I wish the UK had a similar scene - there are so many great comics there, but it's so much more rigid and theatrical. I know some comics do "work in progress" type shows, but even they're actual "events" which sell out quickly and have a bit of an audience expectation as opposed to, say, Bill Burr dropping in unexpectedly to try 15 minutes in between a couple of no-namers - and sometimes fucking up. I think it's important to see that, too.
The closest I got was perhaps seeing Jerry Sadowitz in various pub lofts and theater cellars, but that's partly because you know you'll never see that show again. I was at one of the shows he filmed for a DVD at the Leicester Square Theater (Mother's Day 2011, I believe), but it predictably never saw the light of day.
Sorry ... Ricky Gervais, you say? That mumbled quote from Chris Rock during the embarrassing "Talking Funny" thing summed up his stand-up career perfectly: "You already had an audience".
YouTube algorithm gave me this today:
Had a mate look after my kids the other week whilst me and my wife enjoyed a rare night out.
Came home to discover that he had watched the new Gervais thing on MY Netflix account. FUCKING HELL, no doubt that's fucked my algorithm and I'll be recommended Gervais content up to the point they roll me into a coffin.
HEY TURNSTYLE, DO YOU FANCY WATCHING DEREK?
I'll be honest, I'd have been happier to return home that night to find out he'd done my kids in or summat.
Anything but sully my algo.
He sullied me fucking algo!
Just give it a thumbs down/"not for me", job's a good 'un.
Yep an easy fix
You can remove things from your viewing history on the Neflix website, if you'd rather do that. But a thumbs down probably does more good.
I'd ring Netflix and explain what's happened.
Or just watch a load of Tig Notaro specials to balance out the algo.
Take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be mostly sure, mostly.
Quote from: turnstyle on June 22, 2022, 01:33:18 PMHad a mate look after my kids the other week whilst me and my wife enjoyed a rare night out.
Came home to discover that he had watched the new Gervais thing on MY Netflix account. FUCKING HELL, no doubt that's fucked my algorithm and I'll be recommended Gervais content up to the point they roll me into a coffin.
HEY TURNSTYLE, DO YOU FANCY WATCHING DEREK?
I'll be honest, I'd have been happier to return home that night to find out he'd done my kids in or summat.
Anything but sully my algo.
He sullied me fucking algo!
Hope you like comedy speacials where some out of shape white bloke has caution tape around his mouth on the front cover
Quote from: PlanktonSideburns on June 22, 2022, 04:28:30 PMHope you like comedy speacials where some out of shape white bloke has caution tape around his mouth on the front cover
Wait, that out of shape white bloke could be me!!! Finally, representation in the media.
Cheers for the suggestions mates. I've thumbed down the Gervais special, and packed my kids off to an orphanage, just to make sure it doesn't happen again.
it's weirdly hard to hate this man no matter what crap he spews out with how many hours, days, years of enjoyment ive got from the xfm shows
Yeah but when you realise his main contribution to those hours of material is a loud laugh, it gets easier. Almost everything else was provided by Karl and Steve.
Nah, I think he was genuinely funny back then. But I don't find it too hard to hate his output nowadays.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 20, 2022, 11:58:27 AMYouTube algorithm gave me this today:
Comic Police,
Arrest this man, he
Was lazy,
And uninspired.
I won't ask you your age, these days they throw you in jail if you ask someone their age
30 seconds of drivel later
What's your age darlin, let's fuck
Quote from: Replies From View on June 20, 2022, 11:58:27 AMYouTube algorithm gave me this today:
It's got Jeremy Kyle in it! You can't perpetuate this type of shit about how
you can't say anything these days because of cancel culture, when you killed one of your guests Alan Partridge-style, yet still have a fucking media job.
Quote from: bgmnts on June 22, 2022, 04:36:07 PMYeah but when you realise his main contribution to those hours of material is a loud laugh, it gets easier. Almost everything else was provided by Karl and Steve.
it wouldnt be the endlessly replayable trove of comedy without ricky's nonsense scenarios, hysterical laughter/rage and vocal affectations ("froggy froggy sez buy it!" "the clue changes everrrrryyy timeee!")
for a period of time gervais was one of the funniest people in britain. a lieral hell would be the xfm shows w/ no gervais and merchant exclusively telling anecdotes about being bad with woman or hating the homeless/fat people
I've been listening to the podcast Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend again because Stephen Merchant was on it a few weeks back. He mentions Gervais a lot and is keen to stress how nice he was to fans asking to pose for selfies. It's a bit of a contrast to the one with Gervais where he comes across as surprisingly self-aware but doesn't mention Merchant once.
Merchant also gives a lot of credit to the writers of the US Office, heh.
Stephen Merchant's a nice enough bloke. I saw him in The Cinema Store in Covent Garden Many years ago and asked if he minded my partner taking a photo of me with him. I'm 6 foot, and he absolutely TOWERED over me.
Well, you wouldn't want to mock the disabled
....
......
y'know
.......
...
Trying to draw up a Gervais timeline. Anything else?
David Brent from the Office pretends to be David Bowie
David Brent from the Office chooses the music to This Life
David Brent from the Office is an emotionally stunted edgelord ranting unfunnily before Ali G came on
David Brent from the Office is David Brent from the office
David Brent from the Office bullies a working class man on the radio.
David Brent from the Office is an actor now for some reason and unsure whether he's the sensible one or the one who laughs at gays and disableds
David Brent from the Office laughs at a dwarf whose life is shit.
David Brent from the Office pretends to be a *redacted*
David Brent from the Office's wife is dead and he's a dick about it.
Interspersed through this is David Brent from the Office recycles Stewart lee material/David Brent from the office vs. the imaginary creationists/ David Brent from the Office vs. the wokeflake cucktards/ David Brent from the Office reads out some tweets/ David Brent from the Office can't improvise for toffee/ David Brent from the Office has collaborator amnesia
EDIT: Oh aye, David Brent from the Office tells playground jokes and then laughs like a cunt
when is he going to bite the bullet and come out as asexual?
I suspect this is the crux:
(https://i.imgur.com/l5bhWkj.png)
Quote from: Cold Meat Platter on June 23, 2022, 04:34:24 AMTrying to draw up a Gervais timeline. Anything else?
David Brent from the Office pretends to be David Bowie
David Brent from the Office chooses the music to This Life
David Brent from the Office is an emotionally stunted edgelord ranting unfunnily before Ali G came on
David Brent from the Office is David Brent from the office
David Brent from the Office bullies a working class man on the radio.
David Brent from the Office is an actor now for some reason and unsure whether he's the sensible one or the one who laughs at gays and disableds
David Brent from the Office laughs at a dwarf whose life is shit.
David Brent from the Office pretends to be a *redacted*
David Brent from the Office's wife is dead and he's a dick about it.
Interspersed through this is David Brent from the Office recycles Stewart lee material/David Brent from the office vs. the imaginary creationists/ David Brent from the Office vs. the wokeflake cucktards/ David Brent from the Office reads out some tweets/ David Brent from the Office can't improvise for toffee/ David Brent from the Office has collaborator amnesia
EDIT: Oh aye, David Brent from the Office tells playground jokes and then laughs like a cunt
That looks fun! Let me try!
David Brent from The Office creates a multi-award winning TV show with his mate Steve.
David Brent from The Office donates £5,000 Comic Relief prize to MacMillan Nurses.
David Brent has helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for animal charities all around the world whilst promoting their causes.
David Brent makes a hilarious comedy about his mate Warwick and his ridiculous mishaps.
David Brent has almost zero fans on the Cook'd and Bomb'd forum, but I really don't think he cares.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 23, 2022, 07:58:35 AMDavid Brent from The Office donates £5,000 Comic Relief prize to MacMillan Nurses.
Heh, he's a multimillionaire, that's the equivalent of me chucking my 7p change in the bucket at the offie.
Quote from: itsfredtitmus on June 22, 2022, 06:00:45 PMit wouldnt be the endlessly replayable trove of comedy without ricky's nonsense scenarios, hysterical laughter/rage and vocal affectations ("froggy froggy sez buy it!" "the clue changes everrrrryyy timeee!")
for a period of time gervais was one of the funniest people in britain. a lieral hell would be the xfm shows w/ no gervais and merchant exclusively telling anecdotes about being bad with woman or hating the homeless/fat people
a liberal hell?
Quote from: Stigdu on June 23, 2022, 07:58:35 AMThat looks fun! Let me try!
David Brent from The Office creates a multi-award winning TV show with his mate Steve.
David Brent from The Office donates £5,000 Comic Relief prize to MacMillan Nurses.
David Brent has helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for animal charities all around the world whilst promoting their causes.
David Brent makes a hilarious comedy about his mate Warwick and his ridiculous mishaps.
David Brent has almost zero fans on the Cook'd and Bomb'd forum, but I really don't think he cares.
" Life's Too Short" being described as ' hilarious', there.
Needed what the kids call "scare quotes" to indicate that it's only what the Radio Times thinks.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 23, 2022, 07:58:35 AMThat looks fun! Let me try!
David Brent from The Office creates a multi-award winning TV show with his mate Steve.
David Brent from The Office donates £5,000 Comic Relief prize to MacMillan Nurses.
David Brent has helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for animal charities all around the world whilst promoting their causes.
David Brent makes a hilarious comedy about his mate Warwick and his ridiculous mishaps.
David Brent has almost zero fans on the Cook'd and Bomb'd forum, but I really don't think he cares.
he also did the dance at live aid or something
Quote from: Stigdu on June 23, 2022, 07:58:35 AMDavid Brent has almost zero fans on the Cook'd and Bomb'd forum, but I really don't think he cares.
That's probably true if he hasn't seen it but all evidence of his behaviour on social media suggests he would care very much.
David Brent has quite a few fans here. Ricky Gervais, especially after The Office, for me after Extras, has very few fans. Cos he went shiiite.
Get the guitar
Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on June 23, 2022, 09:12:30 AMGet the guitar
what if he said get the guitar like play a record
Quote from: Stigdu on June 23, 2022, 07:58:35 AMThat looks fun! Let me try!
David Brent from The Office creates a multi-award winning TV show with his mate Steve.
David Brent from The Office donates £5,000 Comic Relief prize to MacMillan Nurses.
David Brent has helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for animal charities all around the world whilst promoting their causes.
David Brent makes a hilarious comedy about his mate Warwick and his ridiculous mishaps.
David Brent has almost zero fans on the Cook'd and Bomb'd forum, but I really don't think he cares.
You stopped doing the "from the Office" suffix from the third one on.
Two decent efforts and then just resting on your laurels.
Quote from: Mobius on June 23, 2022, 09:05:17 AMhe also did the dance at live aid or something
Diana memorial gig.
It's what she would have wanted.
The conceit of being a disrespectful presence at a Princess Diana memorial concert is a good one.
The problem I have with Gervais, beyond my subjective view that his comedy has gone shite, is that he's adopted an establishment narrative with some kind of awful virtue signalling that he's doing the right thing for the best people.
It seems to have its roots in his "I'm an atheist... so crucify me" posturing. As if it's incredibly risky to be an atheist in the 21st century. The fact he deems it a worthy target reveals the truth of where he spends his time: wallowing in the opinions of people who bicker in YouTube comment sections and Twitter.
So his view of trans issues, for example, is completely defined by that lens, and his posturing tells us he thinks he's simultaneously a victim (he's maintaining his "crucify me" persona) and a lone warrior against the corruption of truth and common sense by non-sequitur spouting straw men.
The most exhausting aspect of this is seeing how it's been embraced by the media that should have been the true target all along. Sometimes you hear people making parallels with Brass Eye, but no, the target of Brass Eye was largely the media systems that direct and control the narratives, not the hysteria of trolls (who are presumably teenagers dicking around and most people try harder to simply ignore) confusedly bundled with actual disenfranchised minorities saying things nobody actually says.
In not one of his interviews has Gervais pointed out that the likes of Jim Davidson and all the right wing media have actually misunderstood his irony. If he had some balls he'd state that. He'd say they're the targets, not the minorities they want to join him in bashing. Instead he's shown he's a coward by agreeing with them and their perspective on whatever issues he thinks he's raising.
His one issue is only that he's been attacked, by the way. It always was, back when he was being such an enormous knob on Twitter with the justification that he was doing research for a new project. He's been unfairly hounded by internet trolls. Anyone who can side with him on that point will get his approval, regardless of the other social or political issues that are dragged in and can be made to appear synonymous.
It goes somewhat unmentioned that all of the issues that actually concern Gervais would go completely away if he just walked out of the area where the internet trolls live.
Quote from: Jumblegraws on June 23, 2022, 09:32:41 AMYou stopped doing the "from the Office" suffix from the third one on.
Two decent efforts and then just resting on your laurels.
You have me there, sir. Dagnabbit!
It's actually Oliver Hardy that Gervais tries to channel.
the Diana gig was a strange one. I dunno why he couldn't have just started talking to the crowd, asking them where they were from or what-not. He's a radio host isn't he?
Quote from: turnstyle on June 23, 2022, 09:37:25 AMDiana memorial gig.
It's what she would have wanted.
He did 'the Brent dance' in 2005 at Live 8, two years before the Diana Memorial gig.
"Right, one time EVER. I'll never do this again."That declaration is what makes his Diana concert Brent dancing, time-filling doubly cringeworthy. For a man who roundly derided recurring catchphrase comedy, he had hoisted himself by his own petard.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 23, 2022, 10:30:16 AMSo his view of trans issues, for example, is completely defined by that lens, and his posturing tells us he thinks he's simultaneously a victim (he's maintaining his "crucify me" persona) and a lone warrior against the corruption of truth and common sense by non-sequitur spouting straw men.
I think it might be simpler than that. He has a pattern of laughing at people or groups who are different from him. In some cases, he feels it's wrong, so he falls back on an "irony" defence. But it's essentially 1970s playground name calling. In his well-documented behaviour on Twitter, and towards people he works with, he has consistent form as a playground bully.
Quote from: Brundle-Fly on June 23, 2022, 12:35:11 PMHe did 'the Brent dance' in 2005 at Live 8, two years before the Diana Memorial gig.
"Right, one time EVER. I'll never do this again."
That declaration is what makes his Diana concert Brent dancing, time-filling doubly cringeworthy. For a man who roundly derided recurring catchphrase comedy, he had hoisted himself by his own petard.
He obviously hasn't been pulled into that against his will, though. I doubt anyone in that crowd even said "do the dance" and if they did, and he had different material, he would have ignored it.
"Doing the dance" was clearly part of his set at that time, tied into a routine of pretending he was under duress.
The worst bit about this is how he clearly doesn't give a shit about being heard over a massive tannoy going back so far. After the second row everyone would have heard "hur burble burble wurble burble burb", and you can see it in their puzzled faces. His delivery is shite - it's rushed and mumbled.
Quote from: Replies From View on June 23, 2022, 01:26:24 PMHe obviously hasn't been pulled into that against his will, though. I doubt anyone in that crowd even said "do the dance" and if they did, and he had different material, he would have ignored it.
"Doing the dance" was clearly part of his set at that time, tied into a routine of pretending he was under duress.
I agree it looked staged, but that's fine. Sometimes you have to give what the public want, especially with a crowd that haven't come to see you. I can't imagine the Brent dance was ever a regular part of his stand up shows though.
His joke about 'Blair and Bush quadrupling their donations so you can all go home' seemed miscalculated, because for a split second this announcement gave everybody a rush of positivity only for that warm feeling to be shat on immediately by Gervais's brand of cheeky cynicism. Mel & Griff's comedy policemen at Live Aid had it spot on.
I honestly don't think the audience would have heard that much of it; don't worry.
But you're right - being able to hear it, the joke was misjudged. It was the kind of routine that might have benefited from being practiced in front of smaller audiences first, but Gervais was never that kind of stand-up comedian.
I like to think of the time when Ricky is in the audience at the NTA's having just lost out an award he was desperate to win to Mrs Brown's Boys and gives a little salute when Brendan O'Carroll tells him how amazing he is.
#sadnessinhiseyes
Quote from: Stigdu on June 23, 2022, 07:58:35 AMDavid Brent from The Office donates £5,000 Comic Relief prize to MacMillan Nurses.
David Brent from The Office talks to Jimmy Saville from Jim'll Fix It about nurses' attractiveness and concludes "most of them are fucking pigs"
Quote from: Mr Farenheit on June 25, 2022, 10:23:59 AMDavid Brent from The Office talks to Jimmy Saville from Jim'll Fix It about nurses' attractiveness and concludes "most of them are fucking pigs"
That's one nasty nonce right there.
I had a Cosplay event a few years back, so I ordered a Jimmy Saville 2-piece golden tracksuit from Amazon.
They sent the correct adult sized top but I had to squeeze into a child's bottom.
My favourite thing Gervais is when he searches for himself on Twitter and then sets his followers on any little accounts that criticize him.
#kindnessismagic #youhavetherighttobeoffended
Quote from: Stigdu on June 25, 2022, 02:02:27 PMThey sent the correct adult sized top but I had to squeeze into a child's bottom.
<Tumbleweed.gif>
Quote from: QDRPHNC on June 25, 2022, 02:27:42 PMMy favourite thing Gervais is when he searches for himself on Twitter and then sets his followers on any little accounts that criticize him.
#kindnessismagic #youhavetherighttobeoffended
What's the matter guys; too
challenging for ya!! (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=adh0KGmgmQw)
Quote from: QDRPHNC on June 25, 2022, 02:27:42 PMMy favourite thing Gervais is when he searches for himself on Twitter and then sets his followers on any little accounts that criticize him.
#kindnessismagic #youhavetherighttobeoffended
I once retweeted a Limmy review of After Life, and was blocked by Ricky 7 minutes later, having never interacted with Ricky or his fans before. I've got about 40 followers so no idea how he stumbled across it..
Quote from: Stigdu on June 25, 2022, 02:49:46 PMLeast I'm trying!
I thought your joke was pretty good, tbf.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD_x0bNXIAQ68_M?format=jpg&name=small)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD_x0ksXEAAudHY?format=jpg&name=small)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD_x0q6XoAgUMiF?format=jpg&name=small)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD_x0xSXMAEWZjQ?format=jpg&name=small)
Quote from: Stigdu on June 23, 2022, 07:58:35 AMDavid Brent has almost zero fans on the Cook'd and Bomb'd forum, but I really don't think he cares.
There are a lot of things that David Brent from the Office doesn't care about. For example, insulting people with learning difficulties, their friends and families.
Of course, David Brent from the Office is a rich and successful man, and is not obliged to care about anything except whatever it is that keeps the money rolling in. But fame, wealth and success are not the only metrics on which someone can be judged, and having those things does not grant one immunity from criticism if one has a fucked-up moral code.
Quote from: Ray Travez on June 27, 2022, 04:16:59 PMThere are a lot of things that David Brent from the Office doesn't care about. For example, insulting people with learning difficulties, their friends and families.
Of course, David Brent from the Office is a rich and successful man, and is not obliged to care about anything except whatever it is that keeps the money rolling in. But fame, wealth and success are not the only metrics on which someone can be judged, and having those things does not grant one immunity from criticism if one has a fucked-up moral code.
So, nothing from the other guy's list then? Amazing.
imagine a house key appearing at his navel and splitting all the way up to his chin from the inside out and a load of growling angry hair climbing out
It comes across like you're surprised that Gervais is unpopular on a comedy forum. Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick on this point, but if not I'm baffled as to why.
He's made some brilliant comedy in the past, but has spent the past twenty years knocking out the laziest rubbish - and revelling in how lazy it is - while being as obnoxious about the nature of comedy, and as dismissive of comedy fans (unless they like his stuff), as possible.
The best you can reasonably expect from a forum of comedy nerds is that they'd be frustrated that he's no longer trying to make anything good. If you're less charitable, he's treating the art that so many people on this forum love so much, and treating it with disdain. So of course he's unpopular on here - even aside from the fact that he's gradually outed himself as a cunt more generally, he's everything that a comedy nerd would and should hate.
He's a lazy, downward-punching, obnoxious hack who treats the art with no respect. He has no obligation to treat it with respect of course, but it's completely obvious why he would be hated by the majority of comedy nerds, isn't it?
Quote from: Utter Shit on June 27, 2022, 04:32:21 PMIt comes across like you're surprised that Gervais is unpopular on a comedy forum. Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick on this point, but if not I'm baffled as to why.
He's made some brilliant comedy in the past, but has spent the past twenty years knocking out the laziest rubbish - and revelling in how lazy it is - while being as obnoxious about the nature of comedy, and as dismissive of comedy fans (unless they like his stuff), as possible.
The best you can reasonably expect from a forum of comedy nerds is that they'd be frustrated that he's no longer trying to make anything good. If you're less charitable, he's treating the art that so many people on this forum love so much, and treating it with disdain. So of course he's unpopular on here - even aside from the fact that he's gradually outed himself as a cunt more generally, he's everything that a comedy nerd would and should hate.
He's a lazy, downward-punching, obnoxious hack who treats the art with no respect. He has no obligation to treat it with respect of course, but it's completely obvious why he would be hated by the majority of comedy nerds, isn't it?
No, not surprised at all. I know (since a few weeks ago when I felt like Ray Liotta in Goodfellas and the entire population of the Ricky Gervais discussion thread were jumping on me like "WHY IS RICKY GERVAIS FUNNY?? WHAT THE *FUCK* IS SO FUNNY ABOUT HIM??") most people on here think like that. I'm not trying to persuade anyone otherwise. Not everyone on the planet thinks like that, though (as I'm sure you're obviously also aware). :)
Quote from: Stigdu on June 27, 2022, 04:46:14 PMNo, not surprised at all. I know (since a few weeks ago when I felt like Ray Liotta in Goodfellas and the entire population of the Ricky Gervais discussion thread were jumping on me like "WHY IS RICKY GERVAIS FUNNY?? WHAT THE *FUCK* IS SO FUNNY ABOUT HIM??") most people on here think like that. I'm not trying to persuade anyone otherwise. Not everyone on the planet thinks like that, though (as I'm sure you're obviously also aware). :)
OK, but this is a comedy forum, full of nerds with a love of comedy and particular ideas of what good comedy is. There has to be a reason why a group of disparate people who all have different comedic interests have all (or almost all) arrived at the thought that Gervais is dreadful, doesn't there?
Quote from: Stigdu on June 27, 2022, 04:46:14 PMthe entire population of the Ricky Gervais discussion thread were jumping on me like "WHY IS RICKY GERVAIS FUNNY?? WHAT THE *FUCK* IS SO FUNNY ABOUT HIM??") most people on here think like that.
This is bollocks mate.
Quote from: Utter Shit on June 27, 2022, 04:55:06 PMOK, but this is a comedy forum, full of nerds with a love of comedy and particular ideas of what good comedy is. There has to be a reason why a group of disparate people who all have different comedic interests have all (or almost all) arrived at the thought that Gervais is dreadful, doesn't there?
Mate it's just funny have a laqer and a wank.
Quote from: phes on June 27, 2022, 05:00:21 PMThis is bollocks mate.
OK, a slightly hyperbolic observation but it happened nonetheless. I took a week off from here as I had people calling me a troll and others calling for people to block me. Was pretty depressing, to be honest.
Hey - I'm sure he must have his detractors - don't we all - but he makes me laugh, and I appreciate the stuff he does for animal charities. If people want to call him a cunt, then that's their prerogative!
Sorry - was supposed to be quoting two different people there but not sure how to do it.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 27, 2022, 05:13:19 PMOK, a slightly hyperbolic observation but it happened nonetheless. I took a week off from here as I had people calling me a troll and others calling for people to block me. Was pretty depressing, to be honest.
Perhaps an insight into how others must feel when a celebrity is given millions of dollars and a global platform to insult and belittle them.
Quote from: QDRPHNC on June 27, 2022, 05:20:04 PMPerhaps an insight into how others must feel when a celebrity is given millions of dollars and a global platform to insult and belittle them.
Perhaps. Although to be fair, I'm not rich, a celebrity, nor have I been given a global platform. I did feel quite belittled, though. Anyway, moving on...
Almost.
I wonder what views Stigdu has on performers who were frequently reviled on here almost as much as Gervais at the same time, such as Julia Davis and the whole wave of self-consciously "dark" comedy (Nighty Night was fawned over by much the same sections of the media who'd just stopped banging on about The Office), Richard Ayoade and the Garth Merenghi's Darkplace lot, dislike of whom on here dated back to their remarkably entitled and immodest attitude when still in the Cambridge Footlights; and the Mighty Boosh (also Noble and Silver, who never made it).
Quote from: QDRPHNC on June 27, 2022, 05:03:03 PMMate it's just funny have a laqer and a wank.
I should have included
Balls of Steel.
Quote from: Jake Thingray on June 27, 2022, 06:16:45 PMI wonder what views Stigdu has on performers who were frequently reviled on here almost as much as Gervais at the same time, such as Julia Davis and the whole wave of self-consciously "dark" comedy (Nighty Night was fawned over by much the same sections of the media who'd just stopped banging on about The Office), Richard Ayoade and the Garth Merenghi's Darkplace lot, dislike of whom on here dated back to their remarkably entitled and immodest attitude when still in the Cambridge Footlights; and the Mighty Boosh (also Noble and Silver, who never made it).
I couldn't really answer you, I'm afraid... I know who Julia Davis is, but haven't seen her in anything I can remember. I've never seen Darkplace. I know Ayoade from The I.T. Crowd, but that's the only thing I've seen him in (and yeah, I think it's quite funny but not brilliant). I've not seen The Mighty Boosh either. I'm afraid I don't watch much TV at all. Like literally 2 or 3 programmes a year.
Quote from: Stigdu on June 27, 2022, 05:13:19 PMHey - I'm sure he must have his detractors - don't we all - but he makes me laugh, and I appreciate the stuff he does for animal charities. If people want to call him a cunt, then that's their prerogative!
My instincts are to be on your side and let you have your say but you're even starting to test my patience now with this. What does the above even mean? It's so nothingy. We get it, some people like Gervais, some people are rightly sick of him. Let's move on and actually have a discussion with some interesting points.
I prefer your dad joke about squeezing into a small child's anus presumably with your penis.
fucking hell is this cunt still going?
Quote from: Stigdu on June 27, 2022, 04:23:06 PMSo, nothing from the other guy's list then? Amazing.
I reply to whatever points interest me enough to comment, as does anyone else. Your logic appears to be, I should reply to someone else's post because I've psychically anticipated that that is what you are truly interested in. Can you see the flaw in this?
Your two-line sarcastic reply to a reasoned argument makes me think that you're not worth engaging with.
However, since you requested it, here is something from, as you put it, "the other guy's list"-
Quote from: Cold Meat Platter on June 23, 2022, 04:34:24 AMDavid Brent from the Office is an emotionally stunted edgelord ranting unfunnily before Ali G came on
And here is my comment-
"I agree."
Quote from: Stigdu on June 27, 2022, 04:23:06 PMSo, nothing from the other guy's list then? Amazing.
HOW FUCKING DARE YOU ASSUME MY GENDER GET THE HERETIC BURN HIM
EDIT: it has been pointed out to me that I have the male gender symbol in my profile but, hand on heart, I genuinely thought that was supposed to be a quest marker.
yeah, the quest is up and to the right
just waiting for this thread to end so i can watch the Ali G interview
Genuinely think this and and the glinner thread should be banned and deleted.
It only brings out the worst in people.
I remember when this place were all fields, and we'd slag off 22 year old girls just starting out in comedy.
Quote from: Excellent_Biscuits on February 15, 2013, 01:32:48 AMI remember when this forum used to moan about comedy.
You've come full circle!
Haha fuck a duck! What do I do now? Start again?
Quote from: g0m on June 28, 2022, 12:07:29 AMyeah, the quest is up and to the right
proof that every penis is a Tory
I came across a clip from After Life the other day of a theatre director doing some shtick about playing disabled people. Talking about Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot, and not knowing "what was up with him", and a Rain Man reference. I was staggered just how fucking creaky and dated it all felt. Such lazy, reheated shit, it shows Gervais' total lack of evolution or imagination.
Quote from: BritishHobo on June 29, 2022, 11:33:36 PMI came across a clip from After Life the other day of a theatre director doing some shtick about playing disabled people. Talking about Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot, and not knowing "what was up with him", and a Rain Man reference. I was staggered just how fucking creaky and dated it all felt. Such lazy, reheated shit, it shows Gervais' total lack of evolution or imagination.
Fucking hell really? 30 year old references, maybe even longer.
Gervais genuinely hasn't evolved at all, he's still stuck in about 2003. And they would have been creaky mega old cliched references even then.
As a man in tune with the times, Ricky Gervais is like that scene in Red Dwarf series 8 (broadcast in 1999) where everyone comes on in slow motion dressed as Dwayne Dibbley and the Reservoir Dog music cuts in.