Ricky Gervais tonight

SantaClaus

Gervais' latest stand up on Netflix wasn't his best but I still prefer it to anything put out by the self righteous, 'punch up' comedians who populate BBC panel shows.

shine166

SantaClaus said:

Gervais' latest stand up on Netflix wasn't his best but I still prefer it to anything put out by the self righteous, 'punch up' comedians who populate BBC panel shows.

Gave up in them a long time ago. Check out Theo Von and Shane Gillis, two American comedians who are v funny.

Southendaddick

Not sure Gervais is a great stand up doesn’t really suit him although no issue with his agenda especially when it annoys Frankie Boyle 

People get passionate about comedy and it makes me laugh, most have an agenda whether it’s semi racist anti Tory anti woke etc

Pick and choose you will soon know which ones aren’t funny outside of their own personal agenda

Friend Or Defoe

Dippenhall said:

CAFCsayer said:

Thought Supernature was brilliant, new one was alright... tried a bit too hard at being offensive for the sake of being offensive

Don't know about you but his "offensive" Golden Globes performances are hilarious.

Calling out hypocrisy and virtue signalling by amoral Hollywood stars with humour is fun entertainment because there is a germ of truth in the jokes.  Just because a joke causes discomfort to the listener doesn't mean it's offensive.

His joke about the kid and the wanking adult I found kept up the discomfort in my mind too long - but that's not being offended.

I think that's his style, causing discomfort, not offence, plus fighting against the tide of the chronically offended, the self appointed arbiters of what can be joked about.

Golden globes was probably his career highlight.

SporadicAddick

SantaClaus said:

Gervais' latest stand up on Netflix wasn't his best but I still prefer it to anything put out by the self righteous, 'punch up' comedians who populate BBC panel shows.

Radio 4's 6.30pm "comedy" is 100 times worse with one or two exceptions (Fags, Bags and Mags and "Ed Reardon").

It is often so unfunny that it's embarrassing and you actually feel sorry for the people that write it - they are clearly deluded and any genuine laughter can only come from relatives and very close friends that evidently make up the live audience.. 

cafctom

The Office is one of the very, very few shows that is a perfect 10/10 from start to finish. 

valleynick66

meldrew66 said:

valleynick66 said:

meldrew66 said:

Clem_Snide said:

Saw Ricky do a Work in Progress show at a 200 seater venue (Kings Place) last night. I am not the biggest fan of his stand up, but he was genuinely hilarious away from the arena setting. Lucked out getting a ticket. He tends to 40/50 of these sorts of shows before starting an arena tour. If you can get a ticket I'd recommend it. Only £15 as well.

Out of genuine interest, where do tickets for WIP like these go on sale?

I keep an eye on the Leicester Square Theatre - various comedians there and sometimes the better known ones.

https://www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/whats-on/

Have seen Stephen K Amos and Simon Brodkin both here.

Great, thanks. I'm quite 'deal' savvy when it comes to tickets but this is a new one on me. Cheers for sharing.

As an example @meldrew66 Micky Flanagan popped up on their site today. 

bigstemarra

SporadicAddick said:

SantaClaus said:

Gervais' latest stand up on Netflix wasn't his best but I still prefer it to anything put out by the self righteous, 'punch up' comedians who populate BBC panel shows.

Radio 4's 6.30pm "comedy" is 100 times worse with one or two exceptions (Fags, Bags and Mags and "Ed Reardon").

It is often so unfunny that it's embarrassing and you actually feel sorry for the people that write it - they are clearly deluded and any genuine laughter can only come from relatives and very close friends that evidently make up the live audience.. 

I think that it has become known as 'clapter'.  Jokes are eschewed in favour of stating 'right on' viewpoints, so as to signal their virtue to the audience, who then clap back to show that they agree, also signalling their virtue to each other.  Such self-congratulatory 'aren't we all wonderful, tolerant, intelligent people' circle jerks became standard practice on the Now Show and other such BBC radio comedy outlets, which is why the audience have switched off in droves.  It certainly stopped me tuning in.

Some of the comedians involved in the above actually used to be funny and still can be peripatetically, but as with the rest of the output of the BBC, it is all so consistently one sided and there are clearly sacred cows (which are often so ridiculous and self-regarding that they scream out to be mocked) which are not allowed to be brought up, yet alone joked about.

Gervais has and can be brilliant.  There were a few stand out jokes from his latest special that made me laugh out loud, but they were few and far-between.  They were padded out by insufficiently well honed material and rambling, self-indulgent diversions which often became, frankly, boring - which is criminal offence for a comedian.  I don't think he put sufficient thought or effort into the show, and the highlights could have been condensed into a five minute video.  It's probably time that he gave it a rest for a while, maybe even permanently if he can't be arsed any more, which is largely the impression that I got.  I got the same vibes from the final series of Afterlife too; rehashed ideas, by the numbers.

Maybe it's time to enjoy your retirement, Ricky.

SporadicAddick

bigstemarra said:

SporadicAddick said:

SantaClaus said:

Gervais' latest stand up on Netflix wasn't his best but I still prefer it to anything put out by the self righteous, 'punch up' comedians who populate BBC panel shows.

Radio 4's 6.30pm "comedy" is 100 times worse with one or two exceptions (Fags, Bags and Mags and "Ed Reardon").

It is often so unfunny that it's embarrassing and you actually feel sorry for the people that write it - they are clearly deluded and any genuine laughter can only come from relatives and very close friends that evidently make up the live audience.. 

I think that it has become known as 'clapter'.  Jokes are eschewed in favour of stating 'right on' viewpoints, so as to signal their virtue to the audience, who then clap back to show that they agree, also signalling their virtue to each other.  Such self-congratulatory 'aren't we all wonderful, tolerant, intelligent people' circle jerks became standard practice on the Now Show and other such BBC radio comedy outlets, which is why the audience have switched off in droves.  It certainly stopped me tuning in.

Some of the comedians involved in the above actually used to be funny and still can be peripatetically, but as with the rest of the output of the BBC, it is all so consistently one sided and there are clearly sacred cows (which are often so ridiculous and self-regarding that they scream out to be mocked) which are not allowed to be brought up, yet alone joked about.

Gervais has and can be brilliant.  There were a few stand out jokes from his latest special that made me laugh out loud, but they were few and far-between.  They were padded out by insufficiently well honed material and rambling, self-indulgent diversions which often became, frankly, boring - which is criminal offence for a comedian.  I don't think he put sufficient thought or effort into the show, and the highlights could have been condensed into a five minute video.  It's probably time that he gave it a rest for a while, maybe even permanently if he can't be arsed any more, which is largely the impression that I got.  I got the same vibes from the final series of Afterlife too; rehashed ideas, by the numbers.

Maybe it's time to enjoy your retirement, Ricky.

For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not Ricky Gervais.

JamesSeed

cafctom said:

The Office is one of the very, very few shows that is a perfect 10/10 from start to finish. 

Massively popular, but also oddly marmite. It’s basically cringe comedy - I know plenty of people who just don’t get it. And it seems to appeal to men more than women? I could be wing, but that just based on people I know. 
I like it, but my son made me watch the US version which I think was an improvement, after starting off as a straight copy. 

PaddyP17

JamesSeed said:

cafctom said:

The Office is one of the very, very few shows that is a perfect 10/10 from start to finish. 

Massively popular, but also oddly marmite. It’s basically cringe comedy - I know plenty of people who just don’t get it. And it seems to appeal to men more than women? I could be wing, but that just based on people I know. 
I like it, but my son made me watch the US version which I think was an improvement, after starting off as a straight copy. 

I'm not surprised a show that fails the Bechdel test is not as popular among women. (NB In this instance I'm not trying to use this metric about The Office to cast aspersions on Gervais and his character; this is just a fact of the show. Parts of it are objectively hilarious.)

I've already stated my opinion on Gervais in this thread, so I don't really have a desire to go too far down that route when posters will come along and label me "so predictable" without actually engaging with my opinion, and just leveraging ad hominem attacks to thus discredit me. I think he started out with some stuff that people hadn't really done before, and his XFM show was something I listened to with incredible regularity. I don't think he has adapted his style in the intervening years with any particular finesse, and his caustic reactions to any criticism or controversy, for me, shows the mask slipping.

SELR_addicks

Gervais was never particularly funny with his stand-up. He's always been a semi-decent writer (who becomes a great one with Stephen Merchant). 

Any comedian that makes certain jokes to 'make a point' rather than for comedy value usually aren't very funny. 

Friend Or Defoe

JamesSeed said:

cafctom said:

The Office is one of the very, very few shows that is a perfect 10/10 from start to finish. 

Massively popular, but also oddly marmite. It’s basically cringe comedy - I know plenty of people who just don’t get it. And it seems to appeal to men more than women? I could be wing, but that just based on people I know. 
I like it, but my son made me watch the US version which I think was an improvement, after starting off as a straight copy. 

Take away Dwight Schrute and the American version is an awful show.

lolwray

PaddyP17 said:

JamesSeed said:

cafctom said:

The Office is one of the very, very few shows that is a perfect 10/10 from start to finish. 

Massively popular, but also oddly marmite. It’s basically cringe comedy - I know plenty of people who just don’t get it. And it seems to appeal to men more than women? I could be wing, but that just based on people I know. 
I like it, but my son made me watch the US version which I think was an improvement, after starting off as a straight copy. 

I'm not surprised a show that fails the Bechdel test is not as popular among women. (NB In this instance I'm not trying to use this metric about The Office to cast aspersions on Gervais and his character; this is just a fact of the show. Parts of it are objectively hilarious.)

I've already stated my opinion on Gervais in this thread, so I don't really have a desire to go too far down that route when posters will come along and label me "so predictable" without actually engaging with my opinion, and just leveraging ad hominem attacks to thus discredit me. I think he started out with some stuff that people hadn't really done before, and his XFM show was something I listened to with incredible regularity. I don't think he has adapted his style in the intervening years with any particular finesse, and his caustic reactions to any criticism or controversy, for me, shows the mask slipping.

I think that's very comment as an artist I think he's become a little predictable ..needs a new angle 

valleynick66

https://x.com/lsqtheatre/status/1755534179373047998?s=46&t=XKP2ZTnCO-QQ08I1djLdeQ

More dates at Leicester Square