TVSquad

No, I don't think he's like David Brent here. I think that a lot of what Gervais says when he's being Gervais is difficult to convey effectively in print. His delivery is so much a part of what he says--you can see it in the Merchant-Gervais interviews on "The Office" S1 DVDs. He seems to really like it when people take the piss out of him, and to like taking the piss out of himself.

But that's difficult to convey in print. So, I wouldn't worry. Go back to thinking about global warming!

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you think too much

just enjoy one of the few great minds out there.

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I've gone from being a big Ricky Gervais fan to a big Stephen Merchant fan.

Part of that is because I really didn't like the way Ricky conducted himself on the podcast - he comes off as arrogant, and barely gives poor Carl Pilkington a chance to explain himself before tearing him to shreds. He seems like a bully.

On top of that, he really IS a real life version of David Brent. Or, more accurately, I think David Brent is a fictionalized version of Ricky Gervais. That's not to say Gervais isn't funny, he's very funny, but he's been living off the same schtick for 4 years now.

Stephen Merchant, on the other hand, succeeds wildly at being the quiet "Straight Man" to Gervais. It's his reactions to Gervais that create the comedy, and I have to assume it's his contributions to The Office that made it above and beyond the best show on TV in the past 10 years.

That said, I'll still take Ricky Gervais over most other comedians 9 times out of 10, I just wonder if he isn't a tad overrated.

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Jay - I see your point where there are a couple of David Brent-isms, and he might have come off as a bit boorish - just a bit! - here & there, but it wasn't the *whole* of the interview. And I think Karen is right in saying that RG's humor and sense of self doesn't always translate well in print. Actually, I appreciate his blunt honesty and lack of faux humility!

Plus he's an Arrested Development fan (I didn't know this) so in my book he has a free pass to be the biggest ass**** ever! :D

And don't worry about global warming either - we'll all be long dead & gone before Nebraska has beach-front property! ;)

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I'm with Andy G. from listening to the podcasts and radio shows it's clear Merchant is the true unsung funnyman of the two.

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Ricky Gervais and Global Warming are the same thing: hot air. In fact, Ricky Gervais is global warmig. He's a great big hole in the ozone layer, and he's getting bigger causing desertification and melting ice.

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He was pretty funny last month on Daily Show. Cracked me up, actually. Though I do think he's kind of a jerk, he still makes me laugh. On the other hand, I did get rather sick of his shtick after a while.

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I was studying in London last fall and saw Gervais do stand-up while there, and he did the exact same routine (part of it) on the Daily Show. The whole thing, the mannerisms, all of it was scripted (by him, not Jon). Not a criticism, actually more of a compliment. When I saw the show, there was a lot I thought was ad libbed that turned out to have been entirely planned. Even interaction with the audience.

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I am a big fan, but there is something a little off in that interview. He really does come accross as a bit of an arrogant windbag in that inteview, being seemingly a bit too fond of himself.

The Stephen Merchant interview (http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/?p=3066) which deals with much of the same stuff, seems to do so in a much more intelligent, mannered and light-hearted way.

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Just a side note to Andy G and Harry: If you get the opportunity, see Gervais's pair of one-man shows called "Animals" and "Politics"(you can find them via torrent servers). They show how funny he can be on his own.
I do agree that he was a bit relentless in picking on Karl Pilkington, but that--in the same way the Brent was a jerk--is part of the shtick.
And I've also become a Steve Merchant fan, especially from watching the Extras series.

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As a Brit who is apparently supposed to treat Gervais as the comedy second-coming (every time I insist to my British friends that the US version of The Office has now surpassed the UK version, I sense I'm one step away from exile), I've been having this same conversation with quite a few people in the past few weeks.

Gervais has done a series of 'Ricky Gervais Meets...' interviews, and so far he has met Larry David, Christopher Guest and Garry Shandling. The Guest and Shandling shows aired over the holidays, and I was interested to watch them as these are two of my most admired comedy minds, and both of them are notoriously elusive.

Gervais spectacularly dropped the ball on both occasions. With Guest, he became an embarassingly OTT Spinal Tap fanboy, asking really quite boring and pointless questions, quoting the movie back to Guest, and having the audacity to compare The Office to Spinal Tap (I'm sorry, they're not even in the same league). With Shandling...well, it was just a train wreck.

The problem with Gervais is that he's milking his success. Right now he's a one-hit wonder. I've heard that he and Merchant have signed a drama deal with HBO, so I'm waiting for that to see if he's got any kind of range whatsoever, or if he's just getting the adulation while he can. People are so quick to hail someone a genius nowadays, but it will be the body of his work over time that will show whether Gervais has the comedy chops to stand with the Guests and Shandlings of this world.

For the record, I agree with others here....I get the feeling that Merchant is the true talent in the outfit. The more I see of Gervais, the more I am convinced of that fact. He should cut down on the public appearances and playing on his image in the media. Genuine talent doesn't tend to need to do that.

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I cant believe all you people, there was NOTHING on TV close to what Ricky (and Merchant) did on 'The Office'.
Albeit, Larry David (not so much Seinfeld) did stuff that was similar, but he was basing all that on personal life experience, whereas Ricky invented a whole new character and wrote from that character's viewpoint.

What they did was revolutionary and changed the face of comedy as we know it. For that reason alone he deserves a great deal of slack!

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The hot air emanating from Ricky Gervais is causing the ozone to thin. That's the extraodinary claim he makes.

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Its always poplular to attack those people who are famous for doing good work. It only takes time for someone to start it off be others follow. Ive followed Gervais here in Britain for years..his radio show his tv stuff and the podcasts.
Im my opinion he comes across as a normal bloke who has been lucky enough to be successful and its taken years of patiencae and graft to get it.
He doesnt take and crap from people but take a lot of flack at the same time...He invented Brent sso of course there is a lot of him in there.

He also hasnt sold out, doesnt do tv adverts that could make him tonnes of cash.

He is alwso very self deprecating and has that Britich sense of humor that a lot of people outside the UK take and egotastic and full of himself.

As with his shows..you either like him or not ..and you either get him or ..

I get him...there should be more like him in the industry.

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I'm going to ignore this article and the comments and talk about something else since you're all mental.

I thought the shout-out to Patrice O'Neal and Sarah Silverman was pretty cool. Ricky Gervais has good taste in comedians. I didn't see a mention of Jay Black or the random weirdos on TVSquad, though, but that must have just been an oversight.

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Jay, I don't know if you're still reading comments on this post, but I just came across an interview that Alan Sepinwall did with Gervais, in which he comes across--even in print!--much better than he does in the one you cite:
http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2007/01/talkin-comedy-with-ricky-gervais.html

I'll say again that I think he was probably just taking the piss in the interview you read, and it just didn't come across well in print.

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