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Ricky Gervais Wants You to Know the Joke Isn t Personal
The fearless British comedian aims to be the most honest he s ever been
Gavin Bond/AUGUST Pandemic highs and lows br
If someone told me as a young man, “Hey, in the year 2021, not only are you still alive but you’re famous and wealthy,” I would have said, “Wow, that’s fantastic. I’m surprised.” I never dreamt I’d live that long, and certainly not as an international comedian. But then they would say, “OK, but the bad news is, all your gigs are canceled because there’s a on,” and I’d go, “Oh, crap.” Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Life as improv
There was no path. I didn’t want to be an astronaut. I didn’t want to be a heavyweight boxer. I only knew the worst thing to be was a bore. Growing up working class in England, people would accept a fun murderer over an honest bore. So, you could either fight or make people laugh. To be funny was a social power. As the youngest of four, a laugh was a way to be heard. I could laugh my way out of any situation. Wealth is how you define it
We never had any money. My dad was an immigrant laborer from Canada. But I didn’t know I was poor because my mother knitted all my jumpers, she made our Christmas presents, did all the decorating, grew things in the garden that she then cooked. She never stopped. I always thought, Men work hard, but women work miracles. Comedy never gets old
I was a late starter and that was my savior. I feel sorry for kids who get famous at 18. That’s a ticking time bomb. I wrote the British version of The Office at 39. It came out when I was 40. Jane [Fallon, Gervais’ partner of nearly four decades] and I had been together almost 20 years. I had friends. I had life experiences. I knew who I was. I won some awards and remember sitting around in a tuxedo , drinking a glass of wine. I said to Jane, “Why didn’t I do this earlier?” She said, “Because you wouldn’t have been any good.” Bits and bytes
I’m so grateful for , especially during . The first pandemic — the plague — must have been terrible without . They would just throw you out of a window and into a barrel. ? OK. I won’t do that one.” Imagine that. Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > Leave politics out of it
I hate when I hear “left-wing comedian” or “right-wing comedian.” I think we shouldn’t know what wing a comedian is. We shouldn’t be able to tell from the jokes. People think a joke is the window to the comedian’s true soul. I pretend to be right wing, left wing, no wing if it makes the joke better. I’ll change a joke. I’ll go the opposite way and play the wrong side of the coin, arrogantly, and people get it. What’s funny about a comedian coming out and telling you exactly what he believes? Where’s the joke? Isn t it rich
It’s hard now because everyone knows what comedians earn. So, I can’t go out there and pretend I’m down in the mud with the other peasants making fun of the king. So, I try and get low status in two ways. One, I let them look behind the curtain and say things like, “When I met the queen,” or, “The first time I took a private jet, someone thought I was a cook.” I let them see that’s it not all roses. I also point out the places where they’re better off than me. I talk about being old and fat and balding, and I’ve got distended testicles, you know? Afflicting the comfortable
All I want to do now, as I get older, is either TV or stand-up. I don’t want to get more awards or get richer or play bigger arenas. I want to say, “Am I being the most honest I’ve ever been? Am I being the bravest I’ve ever been?” The more contentious the joke, the better it’s got to be. It’s got to be bulletproof. So, that’s what gives me an adrenaline rush now. How can I get everyone laughing at this? I think no harm can come from discussing taboo subjects, because I want to take the audience to a place they’ve never been before. When I start a subject and I can feel the tension in the room, I love it. It’s like I’ve gone to the gym. It’s like a workout. I take them by the hand into a scary forest and out the other side. They don’t enjoy it until the end. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. . He agreed to be on my show Extras. So I wrote the lyrics to the song I wanted him to do and sent them, and then phoned him up, and I went, “Hi,” and he went, “Oh, sorry, I’m eating a banana.” Which made me laugh so much! I also sent him an email on his birthday once. Eighth of January. He was 57. I said, “57? Isn’t it about time you got a proper job?” I signed it “Ricky Gervais, comedian, 42.” He sent a note back. “I have a proper job. David Bowie, rock god,” which I just thought was so funny. The host with the most
If you want to have an awards show, great. Do it. But if you don’t want to make it fun, don’t televise it. I try to make it a spectator sport. I know what I’m doing. These aren’t rooms full of wounded soldiers. These are billionaires and the heads of massive media conglomerates. If you can’t punch at the richest, most privileged people, who can you have a go at? The oldest joke in the book
Why was The Office such a hit? I think it’s because of empathy. We all want to be loved. We all want to be noticed. We all want to be appreciated. The mistake is when we try too hard, and that’s the comedy of it. We either watch it going, “Oh my God, I’ve done that.” Or, “Oh, thank God I’ve never done that.” Comedy is the understanding that we’re all idiots, we all do stupid things, but it’s all right. We’re all going to die someday. You have to be able to laugh at yourself. Our anthropologists think that the first joke, so to speak, was one caveman seeing another caveman hitting his head on the cave ceiling, and going, “Ow.” The other caveman laughs because he’s done it, too. He knows it hurts and he knows how it feels, but he’s also glad he’s not the idiot who just did it to himself. A mind at full throttle
At 60 I’m like an old classic car. There are a few dings and dents. A few things that need repair. But my body is just a chassis. My is what I care about. That’s what I want to . So, I learn things. I’ll find Albert Einstein on YouTube explaining the theory of relativity or I’ll listen to a about the deep reaches of space. It almost makes me forget that, when I play tennis now, my body hurts for three weeks, not three minutes. —As told to David Hochman Ricky Gervais, 60, created, writes, directs and stars in Netflix’s After Life, which will return for its third and final season in 2022. More on entertainment AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS