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Schweiz (Deutsch)Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Posted: Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - 02:46
Surely there have to be some other Ricky Gervais fans on the board.
He created the original British version of the Office, which was hilarious.
His follow up series, Extras, is probably my favorite show of all time. Joke after joke non-stop for 12 half hour episodes and one incredibly moving 1 1/2 hour special to wrap things up.
He also did several podcasts with the co-creator of both series, Steve Merchant, and their idiot friend Karl Pilkington, who is one of the most interesting human beings to ever live.
I urge everyone to check all 3 of these things out (in that order) if you haven't before. British humor isn't for everyone, but Ricky is the one true crossover. His humor can appeal to anyone. He also has a movie he wrote, directed, and starred in called the Invention of Lying coming out this month.
PLEASE check him out. I may have posted a thread similar to this one in the past with little to no responses. So I'm stressing this point again.
Replies for this Board Topic
big time fan here pardner.
Did you see they have an Office reunion show coming up? Should be good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEXckzQGHWE
He's got a couple new movies coming up too that look funny.
Trailers for Invention of Lying and Cemetery Junction both on his homepage
http://www.rickygervais.com/
And did you see this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfLEOMo3hl8
All of his standup DVDs are hilarious as well.
Hehehehehe, ya, I'm obsessed.
--
We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams.
~Willy Wonka
LOVE him - was a big fan of The Office on BBC before it came stateside and was happily surprised that Steve Carrell, et al. have been able to capture the spirit that Gervais and his writing partner Stephen Merchant brilliantly created. I loved "Extras" too - the episodes with Kate Winslet, Daniel Radcliffe and Orlando Bloom were my favorites. I think it's really interesting how he only did 2 seasons for both of those shows when they easily could have been extended for more. Seems really smart - always leave them wanting for more.
Did you see the movie he made w/ Tia Leone? The name is escaping me right now, but it was a bit of a departure for him. Still very funny - mostly black comedy - but very sweet and touching as well. I was happy to see him expand into a more mainstream American market but still maintain his "edge."
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Will you forget when we have paid our debts,
who did we borrow from, who did borrow from?
I don't like to watch many things over and over, but I will with Gervais's work. The Orlando Bloom episode is one of my favorites as well. Can't wait for the new movie!
Jennifer, I am so pissed I didn't know you when I lived in Kansas City, I feel like we would have been fast friends. You need to come to NYC.
The Orlando Bloom episode was the first one I saw, and every single time I see it (it's numbering in the dozens now), I absolutely die when he's looking through the tabloids, trying to act nonchalant about named one of the sexiest men alive and when he rips on Johnny Depp, it's hilarious.
Man. Now I really want to watch that, YET AGAIN.
--
Will you forget when we have paid our debts,
who did we borrow from, who did borrow from?
I just spent a little time reading this and now I am convinced my early birthday present to myself (less than 7 shopping weeks left, folks) is going to be the Extras DVD set.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Extras#Episode_1
"Oh f*** off, I'm Clive Owen, that's mental!!"
--
Will you forget when we have paid our debts,
who did we borrow from, who did borrow from?
I love Ricky, Steve, and Karl! I get positively giddy when they release a new podcast/audiobook. Anyone interested in checking out their old stuff from their original XFM radio show should check out pilkipedia.co.uk. There you will find hours of downloads (free and legal). Some of the best moments from those shows were repeated in subsequent podcasts, but there are some hidden gems.
heids- the movie you are thinking of is Ghost Town, which was really enjoyable. I didn't catch it right away, as I tend to steer clear of the romantic comedy genre, but I was pleasantly surprised when I got around to seeing it.
Also, Stephen Merchant used to have a show on BBC 6 Music, which was a great showcase of new and old music with some of the Steve magic from the podcasts thrown in. The back catalog of shows is featured on the above website, but I think the show is supposed to come back eventually (after they complete the movie they are working on), so check it out if you like his humor!
I think my favorite Gervais moment is in The Office when they have somebody to come in and train on customer service or something like that. The speaker asks Gervais to role play that he is a customer at a hotel with a complaint. As they start their dialogue, Gervais becomes increaslingly irritated that he is not the center of attention and says"THERE HAS BEEN A RAPE!" to steal the scene. If you haven't seen the show, I am sure this sounds really stupid and distasteful. But it's his character's penchant to make everyone uncomfortable that is so hilarious and I doubt many actors could pull that off and still be funny.
I know Heids, I know. Someday!
I think my favorite extras episode is the one with Chris Martin. Not only does his impression of Ricky "Are we having a laugh!?!" crack me up every time, but some of Ricky's finest acting ever is when he shows up on set for Ricky's sitcom and in character, Ricky goes "It's only Chris Martin, from Coldplay! What're you doing in a factory in Wiggin, it's MENTAL" When he says the word mental he gives the slightest look the camera and is just obviously very upset that his sitcom is being taken out of his hands.
And don't get me started on the end of the Christmas Special. Makes me well up every time. If you don't remember what I'm talking about, here's a link :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQAr_AjZt-E
Even those who aren't already fans or familiar with Gervais should be able to connect with most of what Ricky says here.
His absolute cluelessness of the offensiveness of his comments is one of the funniest parts of the show. It's also one of the aspects that forces me to watch the show through my shirt, because I get SO uncomfortable when people are embarrassing themselves, even if it's fictional characters on TV.
David: "Dutch girls must be punished for having big boobs." Now you do not punish someone, Dutch or otherwise for having big boobs.
Gareth: If anything they should be rewarded.
David: They should be equal.
Gareth: Women are equal.
David: I've always said that.
David: There are limits to my comedy. There are things that I'll never laugh at. The handicapped. Because there's nothing funny about them. Or any deformity. It's like when you see someone look at a little handicapped and go "Ooh, look at him, he's not able-bodied. I am, I'm prejudiced." Yeah, well, at least the little handicapped fella is able-minded. Unless he's not, it's difficult to tell with the wheelchair ones. Just give generously to them all.
David: Some of you seem to have got off on the wrong foot with me. You didn't like some of the jokes I told earlier. You've got to chill out, yeah, trust me, this is what I do, alright? You will never work in a place like this again. This is brilliant. Fact. And you will never have another boss like me. Someone who's basically a chilled out entertainer.
David: And that’s not going "Ooh, look at me today, I’m entertaining whilst saving lives aren’t I brilliant?", it’s going "If you think I’m brilliant, then give generously and help save these guys who are starving, but are also brilliant"-not as entertainers, a lot of them can’t even speak English, but you know don’t give them their own game show, but save them from dying at least.
David: Life is just a series of peaks and troughs. And you don't know whether you're in a trough until you're climbing out, or on a peak until you're coming down. And that's it you know, you never know what's round the corner. But it's all good. "If you want the rainbow, you've gotta put up with the rain." Do you know which "philosopher" said that? Dolly Parton. And people say she's just a big pair of tits.
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Will you forget when we have paid our debts,
who did we borrow from, who did borrow from?
OMG. My face hurts. I swear, if everyone could "get" this stuff, the world would be a better place.
I don't have much to say about him. I LOVE him. I have all of his podcasts
He's wonderfully talented.
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"Hell has no fury like a woman; happy, scorned, or otherwise"
I actually own the book "The World of Karl Pilkington".
i love Karl
he makes me laugh more than ricky sometimes!
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"Hell has no fury like a woman; happy, scorned, or otherwise"
Love Ricky Gervais. hilarious and brilliant.
--
I wanna have friends that I can trust,
That love me for the man I’ve become, not the man that I was.
jrlooney,
Have you seen all of that Office Retrospective? It was broken up into six parts and put on YouTube. I never thought that I would say this for any reason, but Matthew Perry was right on! I also will keep the Office and Extras on as comfort food, and not really even watch, but just listen and it's comforting for some reason. I had said that to others before who looked at me like I was crazy. It's nice to know I'm not the only one.
I havent seen the Retrospective yet - but now i know what i'll be doing on my lunch break
and i agree with you - that end of the Christmas Extras was heart wrenching - especially when you had watched the whole series up to that point.
Oh and did you see the clip with Gervais and Elmo?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUB7zTOpYaY
--
We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams.
~Willy Wonka
Yeah, Ive seen the Elmo clip, but I could watch that endlessly. There's also a HILARIOUS video of him on a private jet with Louis CK after shooting the Invention of Lying. Louis starts to develop a sort of turrets during the turbulence, and some of the things he says are hilarious. You can tell they both are really nervous but are just trying to laugh their way through it. Louis CK is another of my favorite comedians.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NcYXdc-KxE
surreal-ly (is that a word?) funny. I had a flight like that through a severe thunderstorm, but without somebody to laugh with. Overhead bins shaking so hard they were popping open, all the lights going off and on. My legs went out from under me when I stood up to leave the plane, it took me an hour to stop shaking.
We have also discussed being "those people" that fly separately so that somebody would be left to raise the kids. It's amazing that I fly at all, as paranoid as I am.
I'm hooked. I have never seen The Office, British, or American. Any recommendations where to start? I've been hearing forever about how great Gervais is and had never checked him out.
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"We try to not be afraid to let the song become what it’s supposed to,” says Seth, “and to not be held within the bounds of people’s expectations because we are who we are, and we get to decide what we’re supposed to be"
start with British Office, season 1. The American version is funny too, but you might as well start with the best! Warning: I actually did pee my pants watching it once.
Linda, if you don't have it already, sign up for netflix (I think you get a two week trial free, and if not, let me know b/c I think that part of my membership includes a code to give friends if they want to get a free trial). Anyway, go on and put "The Office: Series 1" and "The Office: Series 2" and "The Office Special" (that's the BBC version) in your queue. I think you can watch them instantly on your computer, or you can get the DVDs delivered. Either way, it's about 10-15 half-hour episodes and the series finale special is an hour, I think. If you can, kick out the husband and the kids and watch them all in one weekend (probably aiming high there, but I'm single and don't even have cats anymore, so I'm able to devote time to such mindless pursuits). Anyway, they are heavenly. You will find it difficult to stop watching, and you'll be sad when it's over.
--
Will you forget when we have paid our debts,
who did we borrow from, who did borrow from?
thanks, i'm on it. been wanting to try netflix anyway!
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"We try to not be afraid to let the song become what it’s supposed to,” says Seth, “and to not be held within the bounds of people’s expectations because we are who we are, and we get to decide what we’re supposed to be"
I totally love Netflix. It's so freaking expensive to go to the movies here, so we don't get to the theater much, but we love to rent on demand movies and go through our netflix queue pretty quickly.
In fact, I'm going to start a thread now to see what's in everyone's queue.....
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Will you forget when we have paid our debts,
who did we borrow from, who did borrow from?
Netflix is a godsend! I rented the British Office through Netflix way back in 2004 and ended up buying the DVD before I made it through the series. The first time through, I liked it, but on the 3rd or 4th viewing is when I really GOT it. There's so many layered jokes in that series, it's crazy. Linda, if you like the Office, don't hesitate to check out Extras, either. On the whole, I think I may even like it better than the Office, but only slightly.
Edited to add : I can't believe no one has mentioned this yet! :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrXphTNs10E
I just found the clip from the episode of The Office I mentioned earlier in this thread. I will be wasting a little more time watching some others now!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nyCIqJP_4s
haha ya the airplane vid is hilarious.
"I had a flight like that through a severe thunderstorm, but without somebody to laugh with" - cookhouse
Hahahahhahaa me too - even had a kid on the flight that screamed out "We're all gonna die!!!" ahahahaahhaha it was awful!
The dance scene gets me every time too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kry53iHR7w
Stirred - he has 4 stand up DVDs that you can also get on Netflix and they are well worth watching. So so funny.
--
We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams.
~Willy Wonka
oh god oh god - and this one too!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZISiSCGaN0
MUWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH. eczema!
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We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams.
~Willy Wonka
LOVE Gervais. Both "Extras" and "The Office" are delightful.
Speaking of British comedies, has anyone watched "Spaced" with Simon Pegg?
Gervais kills me. If you start whining about something at my house, you're liable to have somone sing to you ....
"Little Fat Man who's sold his soul..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv6mEv_rDdE
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"A wasted life is worst realized when there's time to do something about it"
I got the Extras box set this weekend, and what a glorious way to spend a gorgeous long weekend - holed up in the apartment, air conditioner on, snuggled up on the sofa, watching TV and cracking up with my boyfriend. Such a good show.
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Will you forget when we have paid our debts,
who did we borrow from, who did borrow from?
Sorry, I had to resurrect this thread.
Does anyone find themselves using Ricky Gervais-isms and really weirding people out. On the podcasts he'll always say "babyyyyyyyy" just really drawing out the last syllable. As in Ricky responding to Karl : "Not true, babyyyy" It's weird but funny and has worked its way in to my vernacular.
Ricky's wit is right up my alley. I always assumed he might be kind of an ass, but I've seen a couple of interviews where he is gracious and humble.
Yes. I use RG-isms too much. Especially, and most obviously, "Are you 'avin' a laugh?"
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"one with Earth and one with God"
I just watched seasons one and two of Extras this past weekend. They were absolutely amazing. I might give them a second go around before I return them to the library. I wish there was more!
Alyx,
Have you watched the Christmas special yet? It's feature length, and a beautiful closer to an even more lovely series.
I haven't! It's on a Netflix queue so I have to patiently wait.. wah. I'm even more excited to see it now after it's been so highly talked about.
You are in for a pleasant surprise. I loved the series, but that special is something, well...special. Ricky's speech at the end is a tearjerker for me every time.
I'll be sure to have the tissues ready! I'll report back with how many tears I shed once I get to see it
As promised, here's my report after seeing the Extras special:
That girl is WAY too good at looking sad and pathetic. Also, I had tears welling up during his little speech on Big Brother. That was some good stuff!
Alyx,
Glad you enjoyed it! I just went to see his latest film, The Invention of Lying, and it made me cry like a little baby. Such a good film. Not for you if you are easily offended by the concept that religion is man-made, however. I would try to enjoy it despite my religious beliefs, if I were you, but many critics have not been able to agree.
I've been wanting to see it! I'm glad to hear that it's actually worth seeing. I was really surprised that Ghost Town, however cheesy it was, was actually really enjoyable. I'm officially a Ricky fan and proud of it! My boyfriend and I were talking up Extras to his parents this weekend and they decided that we need to have a marathon come Thanksgiving day. Talk about the best Thanksgiving ever.
Too bad this isn't on HBO - I bet Ricky would rock it up:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/tvblog/2009/10/nbc-taps-ricky-gervais-f...
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I just want my life to be true
Just want my heart to be true
My friend is his biggest fan. she got us both tickets to see him at carnegie hall in NYC next week. I really like him but she LOVES him. I'm so glad we're going.
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- Jane
Speaking of HBO, there's an animated series based around the podcasts they've done, premiering on HBO in January or February 2010. Should be great! I can't wait to see fully animated Karl!