Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Gervais is a funny one (funny in both senses, I guess, although much more hit-and-miss when it comes to funny-haha). I remember really liking The Office, although I never watched it religiously and I dunno how well it would stand up on being watched again today, especially after getting on for a couple of decades of 'cringe-com' - Peep Show and more recently Fleabag over here, or Curb, Stateside. I liked Extras, too, the times I saw it. He's definitely much more likeable when he's taking the piss out of himself rather than other people.
However, there's something about him I really don't like. I think it's the fact that, as himself rather than as a character, he wants to be the sort of person who laughs at David Brent, but at the same time, and perhaps more than he'd like to admit or even realise, he fundamentally is David Brent. I caught a bit of one of his stand-up shows on TV years ago and he started with a series of potshots at Jim Davidson, who'd played the same venue the night before, and by extension Davidson's [thick, racist, uneducated] audience. Some of which, I admit, was quite funny - but then he's just flattering both himself and his audience, which is pretty cheap. Then he spent the next ten minutes milking the inherent comedic potential of the word "spastic", which felt like a real case of wanting to have his cake and eat it. I've got much the same impression of Frankie Boyle.
And speaking of Curb, he came across as totally unbearable when he was a guest on that show - unbelievably smarmy and sycophantic, both cringing and cringe-inducing. Which may have been the intended effect, I dunno, but it was neither endearing nor particularly funny.
However, there's something about him I really don't like. I think it's the fact that, as himself rather than as a character, he wants to be the sort of person who laughs at David Brent, but at the same time, and perhaps more than he'd like to admit or even realise, he fundamentally is David Brent. I caught a bit of one of his stand-up shows on TV years ago and he started with a series of potshots at Jim Davidson, who'd played the same venue the night before, and by extension Davidson's [thick, racist, uneducated] audience. Some of which, I admit, was quite funny - but then he's just flattering both himself and his audience, which is pretty cheap. Then he spent the next ten minutes milking the inherent comedic potential of the word "spastic", which felt like a real case of wanting to have his cake and eat it. I've got much the same impression of Frankie Boyle.
And speaking of Curb, he came across as totally unbearable when he was a guest on that show - unbelievably smarmy and sycophantic, both cringing and cringe-inducing. Which may have been the intended effect, I dunno, but it was neither endearing nor particularly funny.
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