Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes

dilemna

As the presenter poking fun at the nominees and winners was he having the only laugh?

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Showbi ... rchresults

Ollieda

I think some of his things were funny. At no point did I think that he was out of line and his jokes were just hurtful comments. I guess its a case of each to his own.

Look at the reaction of celebs in the audience, when the jokes not on them the majority of them are laughing and enjoying it.

mr_poll

You get what you pay for - if you hire a close to the bone comedian then thats what he will do.

This is especially true if you spend 3/4 years stroking an ego that is far greater than his talent buying his comedy shows, using him as a vehicle in mediocre films (although I think GhostTown was harshly judged - that lying film was awful) and essentially creating a monster who feels he is untouchable.

toontra

mr_poll wrote:

You get what you pay for - if you hire a close to the bone comedian then thats what he will do.

This is especially true if you spend 3/4 years stroking an ego that is far greater than his talent buying his comedy shows, using him as a vehicle in mediocre films (although I think GhostTown was harshly judged - that lying film was awful) and essentially creating a monster who feels he is untouchable.

I agree completely. He's a very minor talent - a mildly irritating tw@t who plays mildly irritating tw@ts. More businessman than comic/actor.

daviesee

These people are generally right up themselves and are surrounded by people who would like to join them. They don't know how to handle someone not being a suck up any more.

If you hire a sarcastic comedian what do you expect?

Doesn't mean he was funny 100% but some hit the target........

gethmetal

I'm inclined to think he's a quality comic who has exceeded his limits - I think he's a shite actor. There's many who have not been stopped by that though.

Crapaud

toontra wrote:

mr_poll wrote:

You get what you pay for - if you hire a close to the bone comedian then thats what he will do.

This is especially true if you spend 3/4 years stroking an ego that is far greater than his talent buying his comedy shows, using him as a vehicle in mediocre films (although I think GhostTown was harshly judged - that lying film was awful) and essentially creating a monster who feels he is untouchable.

I agree completely. He's a very minor talent - a mildly irritating tw@t who plays mildly irritating tw@ts. More businessman than comic/actor.

+1 A one trick pony.

Can't say I've ever found Gervaise funny. I can remember seeing him on a late night Channel 4 prog with Daisy Donovan and some other bloke and he was bollocks. It's for that reason I've never watched The Office - possibly the only person in the UK who hasn't.

gethmetal

Crapaud wrote:

toontra wrote:

mr_poll wrote:

You get what you pay for - if you hire a close to the bone comedian then thats what he will do.

This is especially true if you spend 3/4 years stroking an ego that is far greater than his talent buying his comedy shows, using him as a vehicle in mediocre films (although I think GhostTown was harshly judged - that lying film was awful) and essentially creating a monster who feels he is untouchable.

I agree completely. He's a very minor talent - a mildly irritating tw@t who plays mildly irritating tw@ts. More businessman than comic/actor.

+1 A one trick pony.

Can't say I've ever found Gervaise funny. I can remember seeing him on a late night Channel 4 prog with Daisy Donovan and some other bloke and he was bollocks. It's for that reason I've never watched The Office - possibly the only person in the UK who hasn't.

"The 11 O'clock Show"

I thought he was great then. Abrasive as...

Where is Daisy Donovan now?

dilemna

Given that he was lauded in America even more than here perhaps some of his remarks were a little ....... unwise. He definitely had a good chew of the hand that feeds him. Maybe he will come to regret his remarks and returns to being a chubby annoying ......... I wonder if he actually spoke to anyone about what he was planning to say? But then subtlety never was his style, a pity really, as then he would be genuinely funny. Maybe it was Stephen Merchant who was the real comedic talent of the partnership that was the success of The Office and Extras.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/ar ... nding.html

Steve Carrel - David Brent in America looked like he was going to deck Ricky Gervais. Not a lot of love there.

Tom Hanks' and Tim Allen's summing up of Gervais' performance was pretty succinct and to the point. I bet Gervais never works again in America. Blacklisted.

Unbelievable. He may as well have pulled the self destruct cord.

dilemna

gethmetal wrote:

Crapaud wrote:

toontra wrote:

mr_poll wrote:

You get what you pay for - if you hire a close to the bone comedian then thats what he will do.

This is especially true if you spend 3/4 years stroking an ego that is far greater than his talent buying his comedy shows, using him as a vehicle in mediocre films (although I think GhostTown was harshly judged - that lying film was awful) and essentially creating a monster who feels he is untouchable.

I agree completely. He's a very minor talent - a mildly irritating tw@t who plays mildly irritating tw@ts. More businessman than comic/actor.

+1 A one trick pony.

Can't say I've ever found Gervaise funny. I can remember seeing him on a late night Channel 4 prog with Daisy Donovan and some other bloke and he was bollocks. It's for that reason I've never watched The Office - possibly the only person in the UK who hasn't.

"The 11 O'clock Show"

I thought he was great then. Abrasive as...

Where is Daisy Donovan now?

Yeah as may be, there is a time and a place. I think Gervais made a major mis-calculation failing to appreciate who his audience really were, insulting the great and the good and anyone else he could think of. Perhaps he realised he wasn't going to make it big in America and just decided to go out like a spoilt teenager. F*uck 'em he probably thought. I have still done what I believe in made lots of money, I'm not going to change for anyone not going to be a sycophant sort of attitude which went down like a lead balloon except Lead Balloon with Jack Dee really was rather funny.

Crapaud

gethmetal wrote:

"The 11 O'clock Show"
I thought he was great then. Abrasive as...

Where is Daisy Donovan now?

That's the one!!!

I don't know what Daisy's up to now. Ian Lee seems to have disappeared too.

There's a big difference between abrasive and funny.

(I may be prejudiced here as one of my last bosses was a dead ringer for Gervaise and he was an unfunny, egotistical, embarrassing pr!ck too. From what I hear of Gervais' David Brent character, Gervaise seems to have nailed him there as well.)

*AL*

daviesee wrote:

These peopl
e are generally right up themselves and are surrounded by people who would like to join them. They don't know how to handle someone not being a suck up any more.

+1

I can take or leave Mr Gervais.
On this occasion I thoroughly applaud the man for telling Hollywood excatly what he thinks of them and being paid handsomely to do so.

RichN95.

dilemna wrote:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/ar ... nding.html

Steve Carrel - David Brent in America looked like he was going to deck Ricky Gervais. Not a lot of love there.

Tom Hanks' and Tim Allen's summing up of Gervais' performance was pretty succinct and to the point. I bet Gervais never works again in America. Blacklisted.

I wouldn't take any of that particularly seriously. The Daily Mail wrote almost the exact same article after last year's Golden Globes.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1244230/Golden-Globes-Critics-maul-tastless-unfunny-host-Ricky-Gervais.html

It includes a bit about Steve Carell being somehow outraged. I forget if that's the fourth or fifth time he's been 'upset' by Gervais at an awards ceremony.

And Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are just joking around. They both spent most of their time at the after show party with RG having a laugh.

lemoncurd

Golden Globes?

Who watches this shite?

Anonymous

I don't like his humour, I don't need a comedian to have humour that seems snidey and mean, just make me laugh.

On the other hand, who gives a stuff if he offends Hollywood et al, Golden globes, whatever.

daviesee

Crapaud wrote:

Can't say I've ever found Gervaise funny. I can remember seeing him on a late night Channel 4 prog with Daisy Donovan and some other bloke and he was bollocks. It's for that reason I've never watched The Office - possibly the only person in the UK who hasn't.

There are two of us. At least.

Disclaimer:- I have never watched a full episode. I gave up after 10 minutes of one episode. It does give me some basis for the decision though. Completely non-funny.

upperoilcan

As above tried to watch the orifice but just couldnt take to it,

It seems the the chubby cheeky chappy clearly thinks he's a lot more "Hollywood" than he actually is............

rick_chasey

It's tradition that the host pokes fun at the guests, to put a little perspective on the whole mutual felation that occurs at these award ceremonies.

Gervais was just a little shocking, and at times tasteless.

I enjoyed it myself, because it's very well done, and smarter then it first appears, but the #1 skill in my job is felationship management so that may be why.

Ollieda

I didn't see what he said as shocking, as i've already stated but admitedly americans as a whole aren't as self-deprecating as us so it may have gone down worse there.

As for him never working in america again, seems a bit of an overeaction at the moment. Many people in america liked what he said and there's still a market for him. Robert de Niro being one of them - a man who commands great respect and power in the film industry and even owns / runs his own fairly major film festival in Manhattan.

Pross

I'm a big fan of The Office and Extras and think Gervais is a good writer of observational comedy as well as playing obnoxious characters. However, I've started getting the feeling the latter skill is more a case of him being that way himself. As himself I've found him becoming more tiresome and offensive as his ego has become more massaged. My brother-in-law and his wife walked out not long into one of his stand up shows despite having paid a fortune for tickets and travel as his routine involved quite a few tasteless jibes at the expense of disabled people.

Crapaud

Pross wrote:

I'm a big fan of The Office and Extras and think Gervais is a good writer of observational comedy as well as playing obnoxious characters. However, I've started getting the feeling the latter skill is more a case of him being that way himself. As himself I've found him becoming more tiresome and offensive as his ego has become more massaged. My brother-in-law and his wife walked out not long into one of his stand up shows despite having paid a fortune for tickets and travel as his routine involved quite a few tasteless jibes at the expense of disabled people.

It's my perception that creatively offensive jokes seems to be what passes for comedy among many modern stand-ups.

cedar404

I remember the first time I heard him.

He got a slot on the Mary Anne Hobbes Breezeblock show on Radio 1 (what a fooking great show that was) back in about 97/98.

I was a bit weirded out by Mary Anne saying there would be a short break in the music whilst new guest Ricky Gervias did his thing, I believe his opening line was:

Aren't M-People really shi.t

Legend.

Tom Butcher

I think he's funny - that opening monologue wasn't him at his best - a bit too obvious - but still amusing. Quite liked The Office, didn't get into Extras, like his standup.

I doubt he'll have done quite as much damage to his repution as some say - in my experience it's a bit of a myth that Americans lack a sense of humour.

Stewie Griffin

They knew what was going to happen, thats why they gave him the job again after he did exactly the same thing last year.

I blame Gervais for paving the way to James Corden being on TV far too often. Gavin and Stacey was brilliant but Im sick and tired of seeing this unfunny fat blob being paid wheelbarrow loads of money for some very ropey old rope.

napper

There was a comment beneath a Times article on Gervais, a couple of years ago, by an old school/college mate of his who said that what you see in the Office is what he is for real - ie. a jerk!
The guy is past sell-by, and milking what he can, badly. I put him in the same category as Russell Brand- talentless trash.
Difficult to understand why so many people rate him.

Martincan

I'm a fan of his. Like Stewie said, all of the event organisers new what he was going to do as he had openly admitted this to the media leading up to the Golden Globes. It just depends on the types og comedy you're into. Like Frankie Boyle, he likes to go right to the edge and push the boundaries.

Verbal

I heard this analogy of his performance the other day which I think sums his perfomance up: "Don't invite a shark to swim in your paddling pool and then complain when it bites one of the kids."

The GG organisers are probably loving all the publicity they're getting which is no doubt why they hired him in the first place.

As for Steven Merchant, he was there as he helped Gervais write some of the jokes.

Le Commentateur

dilemna wrote:

As the presenter poking fun at the nominees and winners was he having the only laugh?

He was simply playing the traditional comic role of court jester, poking fun at the royalty of Hollywood by saying things that the assembled members of the sycophantic court there could never dare themselves.

The point at which he was supposed to have received a back stage reprimand to tone things down was rather like in Shakespeare's King Lear, where the Fool is threatened with a whipping for speaking the truth too clearly in his jesting.

bompington

I wouldn't object too much to the offensiveness - if it was at all funny. But the digs were all a bit blunt and lacking in wit.

bompington

I wouldn't object too much to the offensiveness - if it was at all funny. But the digs were all a bit blunt and lacking in wit.

dabber

For me it was a dig at those seriously up themselves by someone who is equally up himself.

Although I enjoyed "The Office" I don't find him funny in anything else he has done.... especially standup.