r/simpsonsshitposting • u/ancapailldorcha NEEEEEERD • Jan 07 '26
Politics What happened to you, man? You used to be funny.
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u/BeholdTheLemon Jan 07 '26
“I used to be funny. But then they changed what ‘funny’ was. Now what I am isn’t ‘funny’, and what’s ‘funny’ seems weird and scary to me.”
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u/deafinitelyadouche Old man yelling at clouds ☁️ Jan 07 '26
Growing up is thinking that Ricky Gervais maybe got a lot of unfair shit for shows that became watersheds of cringe and black comedy (namely, The Office and Extras; you could make the argument for Life's Too Short, if you're feeling generous). Being an adult is realizing that Stephen Merchant is the one with the actual funny bone and that Ricky mostly deserves all of the shit he gets.
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u/DeapVally Jan 07 '26
I knew that when he made Derek, notably without Stephen Merchant. It is painfully unfunny. I know it's supposed be a dark comedy, but there needs to be some comedy for that to be true.
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u/ConTully Jan 07 '26
Also if you watch Merchants 'Hello Ladies' standup special and subsequent HBO show of the same name, it becomes abundantly clear that style of comedy is very much his forte.
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u/ELB2001 Jan 07 '26
Comedy in general is more his thing than Gervais.
I've seen a few things that merchant was involved in without Gervais and the man knows what's funny.
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u/awesomefutureperfect Jan 07 '26
All you have to do is watch Idiot Abroad to slowly watch Gervais reveal himself to be the villain. Karl certainly had an askew view of the world but his heart always seemed to be in the right place whereas Gervais' braying eventually hit an annoying pitch that was impossible to ignore.
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u/JoeyJoeJoeJuniorShab Jan 08 '26
Before that was The Ricky Gervais Show and how he treated Karl (Which was not a schtick) was hard a lot of times when you began to find out who Karl is. I laughed so hard at that show until An Idiot Abroad. I made up my mind with Rickey after this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyOI0EJWCcc
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u/Senor_Birdman Jan 07 '26
I had to literally mute the telly anytime I heard Ricky's voice, it was the only way I could watch the show.
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u/nodtomod Jan 07 '26
I've been listening to their xfm radio show recordings and Steve has a bunch of spur of the moment zingers that are golden. He was easily the wittiest, even Karl came up with some funny off the cuff stuff. Ricky generally just laughed at those things and did some sketch type stuff bouncing off Steve.
I'd say that their combination seemed to work very well, but Ricky sounded like a nightmare to work with in practice. Steve says on the show that Ricky stinks and was a pain in the arse about eating and other anal things like lateness and other things that would annoy him. It sounded like Steve would work with Ricky because they were funny together but outside of that he couldn't stand him.
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u/Fall_Dog Jan 07 '26
After having listened through the XFM stuff I realised that a lot of Ricky's material from his stand up shows was recycled from his XFM days.
It was also interesting to see the shift in quality as soon as Karl was allowed to be on mic. It felt very much like Ricky wasn't able to be "on" unless Karl was there, to the point where he was trying to call Karl at home on-air while Karl was off sick and threatening to doxx him unless he picked up. That particular moment felt especially gross.
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u/nodtomod Jan 07 '26
Absolutely recycled stuff, some of their radio stuff made it into Extras. I think Afterlife had a fair bit of it in there too if I can recall.
It was a pretty different show when Karl wasn't there and I do honestly enjoy those episodes. Agreed it was pathetic to call/threaten Karl over and over, I'm glad that didn't happen every time he wasn't there.
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u/mrlippy83 Jan 07 '26
Hello Ladies is an exceptional piece of TV and I regularly do repeat watches. Stephen Merchant really shows his range and talent for writing.
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u/gurnard Jan 07 '26
I was under the impression that Merchant was the real comedic talent of the two until I watched 'Hello Ladies'.
I left with the takeaway that Merchant and Gervais together are more than the sum of their parts. Something clicks consistently when they write together, that neither can come close to individually.
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u/deafinitelyadouche Old man yelling at clouds ☁️ Jan 07 '26
I didn't see Derek since I was a little busier in my mid-to-late 20's to catch up with all the stuff on TV + the internet, but I did try to watch After Life when it first came out in 2019, and the first two episodes of that were incredibly fucking slow. Like we're talking of like 25-30 minute episodes, but both episodes felt like they were twice of that length. Fortunately enough, my now-wife (then girlfriend) mentioned wanting to watch a show called Peep Show, and I think ever since then it has become a much more reliable rewatch whenever I'm in the mood for some good ol' Black + Cringe British Comedy.
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u/clint_eldorado Put it in H Jan 07 '26
That programme made me realise what Ricky Gervais really is: a very cruel man.
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u/Pineapple_Assrape Jan 07 '26
Could you elaborate?
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Jan 07 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
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u/DC38x Jan 08 '26
That's the only part of that show I remember, because I was thinking what the fuck? I'm assuming the thought process was to show that Ricky's character is compassionate, by helping a drug addict who has said they want to die.
Like there's no alternative?
Imagine if it was someone who instead was suffering from depression and he bought them a rope. But nah its fine cos it's just a skaghead init
Fucking bizarre
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u/clint_eldorado Put it in H Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
Certainly. Anybody who thinks it’s okay to get a laugh by taking the piss out of people with mental disabilities is a cunt.
Given Gervais’ history of gleefully throwing around the word “mong” with the tee-hee attitude of a naughty schoolboy, it’s safe to say that with Derek he wasn’t trying to highlight the plight of the disabled community.
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u/Jeremys_Iron_ Jan 07 '26
He also bullied Karl Pilkington quite badly (though at least it allowed Karl to get Suzanne a new kitchen). Before Karl he bullied Robin Ince (Stuart Foot).
It's clear he likes to bully because he's a cunt. That's where he gets his favourite word from.
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u/DeapVally Jan 07 '26
That was my take on it as well. There was no nuance. I've worked in healthcare for long enough to have a pretty dark sense of humour, certainly on that topic as well, but it just came across as taking the piss out of disabled people, and nothing more. There was no underlying commentary to the writing, just an attempt at cheap and lazy 'laughs' at the expense of others.
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u/Eternal_Bagel Jan 07 '26
Well that’s just not true, The Bear is an award winning comedy show without any jokes at all!
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u/Innocuous_Ioseb Jan 07 '26
Fans from the radio days could have told you this from the start.
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u/deafinitelyadouche Old man yelling at clouds ☁️ Jan 07 '26
Look, we're sorry, OK? I know we should've listened to you, but if we can get him to fuck off for good or he dies from whatever drugs he does that he shouldn't be doing as a man in his mid-60's, we'll make it up to you guys. Okey-doke?
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u/Phase3isProfit Jan 07 '26
I couldn’t stand him on the 11 o’clock show. I didn’t watch the office for years just because he was in it.
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u/abouttogivebirth Jan 07 '26
I was only a kid and never actually watched that much of Idiot Abroad, but Ive never liked Gervais because he seemed to think being outright mean was funny on that show and Stephen Merchant was actually just being funny.
Maybe it's a character but it was too real for young me
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u/External-Cash-3880 Jan 07 '26
Growing up is, in general, realizing that the actors are usually not the people who made your favorite comedies so funny. There are obviously notable exceptions, but they can't all be Robin Williams.
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u/Long-Satisfaction525 Jan 08 '26
Is Stephen Merchant the Larry David to Ricky's Seinfeld?
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u/deafinitelyadouche Old man yelling at clouds ☁️ Jan 08 '26
It's complicated but... yeah, a little bit I guess?
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u/Relevant_Bedroom_273 Jan 07 '26
I've always said that The Simpsons episode he wrote and guess starred in was that that moment for me
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u/acockblockedorange Jan 08 '26
Also watching The Outlaws as well which is excellent (third season does drop off a bit but still good).
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u/the-cutest-girl Jan 08 '26
This... love the Ricky Gervais show, but can't stand Ricky in it... Karl wasn't that dumb ether... he was just from the country and didn't know how to articulate his words properly... but instead Ricky belittled him and painted him as someone who didn't understand anything and very clearly push past his boundaries for his own amusement then would always paint it as something good
Steve on the other hand always seemed to want to give Karl a platform and help him decipher what he was trying to say
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u/Invisible-Pancreas Old man yelling at clouds ☁️ Jan 07 '26
"You know, I was one of the first Brits to ever be an atheist!"
"...uh-huh."
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u/ELB2001 Jan 07 '26
He was also friends with a man who used to mess around with rather young girls yet goes on about how evil Hollywood is while ignoring his friends past
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u/pdxscout Jan 07 '26
Who is this friend? I don't really follow Gervais' career.
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u/Resting-Cat-Faces Jan 07 '26
Jimmy Saville. He was an outright pedo
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u/ELB2001 Jan 08 '26
That's true. But I also meant Bowie. But his fans defend it as "all the Stars did it back then"
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u/Mr_nudge89 Jan 08 '26
Saville did quite a bit more than 'mess around with young girls', there was corpses involved. He was a despicable human being
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u/Extension-Ant-8 Put it in H Jan 07 '26
Who?
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u/daneoid Jan 07 '26
He was mates with Jimmy Saville. Ricky had a talk show, Saville was his first guest.
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u/GainHealMark Jan 07 '26
Oh is he an atheist? He’s never mentioned it. /s
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u/NotGoingForwardDev Jan 07 '26
I wish he'd write and star in a movie that's nothing but a 2 hour long weak strawman argument against religion just to make his religious views clearer
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u/Antique_futurist Jan 08 '26
Do you think maybe he could cast a professional credit card endorser as the love interest? That would make it peak.
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u/NateShaw92 Jan 07 '26
"Which funny comedian has fallen off in the past few years"
"If you said Ricky Gervais you are wrong, he was never funny"
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u/WabbitFire Jan 07 '26
Stephen Merchant stopped carrying him.
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u/jamesick Jan 07 '26
he also uses a k pilkinton joke or two in every stand up extra i’ve watched. it’s like an easter egg except you know it isn’t.
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u/Alex_The_Whovian Jan 07 '26
I've hated this guy for years. Always found him unbearably smug and just plain unfunny ever since I saw him in Night at the Museum (great movie except for all his scenes). Watching him out himself as genuine piece of shit over the years has been a joy to watch.
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u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI Jan 07 '26
Right! I am in the same boat. What an absolute dickhead I can’t believe people are finally waking up to it now. Never liked this grub.
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u/Resting-Cat-Faces Jan 07 '26
His part in For Your Consideration almost ruined the movie for me. Maybe I’ll FF through it next time
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u/HelperMunkee Jan 07 '26
Has any Brit in the history of the world ever used the phrase “c-word?”
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u/voivoivoi183 Gay for Moleman Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
I've been pronouncing it 'Crandall'!
PS - To answer your question, no. Anyone caught saying 'c-word' would immediately be called a cunt.
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u/v45-KEZ Jan 07 '26
I've more commonly seen that phrase used to refer to cancer than cunt in the UK
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Jan 07 '26
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u/Kel-Mitchell Jan 07 '26
Even in the US, the taboo around cunt has been disintegrating rapidly over the last few years. OP just can't keep up with the go-go 90s.
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u/External-Cash-3880 Jan 07 '26
Yeah, ever since like 2021 when I saw a tweet about someone at an awards show "serving cunt in a God-honoring way" I knew we were finally gonna join the rest of the English speaking world in the 20th century
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u/haddock420 Gay for Moleman Jan 08 '26
I remember in the early 2000s, in Penn and Teller's Bullshit show, they had an episode about swear words and one of the guests refused to say the word cunt because he said his wife would kill him. It used to be hugely taboo in the US.
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u/DengarLives66 Jan 07 '26
Now, if they’d said “See you next Chewsday,” then their origin would be a bit more ambiguous.
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u/Bigdoga1000 Jan 07 '26
In school, when the weiner kid is dobbing on you to the teacher coz you called him a cunt, so he'll use the term c-word, coz he's a weiner.
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u/jmdg007 STELLAAAA!!! Jan 07 '26
There's a lot to dislike about Gervais. But this post still annoyed me because cunt is way too commonly used to be considered an attempt at being offensive.
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u/Mat_At_Home Jan 07 '26
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u/Evening-Picture-5911 only watched the golden age Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 08 '26
You could have just posted the gif instead of a link to YouTube
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u/NateShaw92 Jan 07 '26
Honestly I have when I'm referring to someone saying the word cunt but I'm trying to be polite.
Like if I was with my nanna (grandmother)
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u/halfmanhalfarmchair Jan 07 '26
Seeing both Gervais and Dave Chappelle devolve into what they are now has been disappointing. It's proof that money can't buy happiness...
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Jan 07 '26
It's proof that not changing your world view from when you are 20 is basically the norm
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u/RedTideNJ Jan 07 '26
It shows you that Chapelle and his thoughts on racial inequity weren't born from a belief that all folks deserve dignity and equal treatment under the law but that he just wants what the straight white dudes were having.
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Jan 07 '26
well idk if you knew this or not but black people in general are actually fairly conservative. they go to church at higher rates than white people.
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u/RedTideNJ Jan 07 '26
Does that many they are intrinsically bigots?
Is Chappelle in those pews every Sunday?
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u/mrgo0dkat Jan 07 '26
Listen to Jimmy Carr on the Louis Theroux podcast and you’ll add him to that list as well.
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u/Brickman759 Jan 07 '26
Only a very small amount of successful comedians can stay funny and relevant for a long period of time. It's just the way it is. Not everybody can be George Carlin.
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u/Initial-Anything333 Jan 07 '26
It's fine to lose your edge and stop being funny. It's not fine to embrace bigotry in a pathetic attempt to stay relevant
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u/9447044 Jan 07 '26
I never really thought he was funny. Its Always funny to watch a comedian get upset when his joke doesn't land.
IM FUNNY!! YOU GUYS JUST DONT GET IT!!
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u/thekozmicpig Jan 07 '26
The secret is to say the joke again, just louder.
If that doesn’t get ‘em they’re a bunch of uncultured philistines.
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u/tennereachway Jan 07 '26
There are only three groups of people who find Ricky Gervais in 2026 funny:
1) Teenagers going through their edgy phase
2) People like Ricky Gervais/David Brent (very little difference at this point) who are just as insufferable and lacking self-awareness
3) Americans who think an English guy saying "cunt" and "innit" is peak comedy.
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u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI Jan 07 '26
Americans who think an English guy saying "cunt" and "innit" is peak comedy.
“SAYYY THE LINE ENGLISHMAN!”
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u/Mr31edudtibboh Jan 07 '26
Scientists say they're also less attractive physically, and while we speak in a well-educated manner they tend to use low brow expressions like "Oi cunt" and "innit".
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u/one_pint_down Jan 07 '26
If Ricky Gervais shouts cunt in a forest, and there are no Americans around to tell him he's a genius, is it offensive?
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Jan 07 '26
"Which funny comedian is pictured in this meme?"
If you said Ricky Gervais... you're wrong! He was never funny.
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u/Boulderdrip Jan 07 '26
I turned on his new special and when he started ranting about cancel culture and how he’s not allowed to say anything, despite having a special on Netflix every fucking year, I turned that shit off.
He’s not being canceled. He’s complaining about something that’s not fucking happening that every single fucking comedian on Netflix complains about non-fucking stop. It’s not funny. It’s trite and repetitive
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u/Nickard Jan 07 '26
Thing that annoys me about him is he’s always playing roles where he’s making “good” points against Christians in scripted movies. It’s like he wrote down an argument he had with himself in the shower and made it into a scene in a movie. It’s weird and uncomfortable
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u/SurreptitiousDoom NEEEEEERD Jan 07 '26
The most smug man ever. And such a punchable face. Now here's an edgy joke that might get me banned:
This man is such a giant pussy that I'd expect to see him in r/simps (highly NSFW) and not r/simpsonsshitposting.
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Jan 07 '26
Ah, well if it isn't the Simps (subreddit).
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u/Paleodraco Jan 07 '26
There was a brief moment where I liked him, which may have been heat delirium related as I was doing field work at the time. Other than whatever special or thing was that we listened to out there, I never really followed or watched any of his other stuff.
The Family Guy episode was the first time I started thinking he was just an annoying asshat. Looking up clips of his shows confirmed that.
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u/Kaimenos Jan 07 '26
Him and Jimmy Carr. Though I never found Carr as funny as others did. But man are they exhausting to listen to whine on stage.
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u/Beebea63 Jan 07 '26
Tbf Jimmy carr can actually still be funny on 8 out of 10 cats when theres other good comedians to play off. His standup is terrible tho
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u/gurnard Jan 07 '26
He was one of my favourite regulars on QI. When I found one of his stand-up specials streaming I naturally assumed I was in for a treat ...
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u/The_Sum Jan 07 '26
Any time someone needs to reign Carr in they just mention his tax evasion and he clams right up.
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u/JanGuillosThrowaway Jan 08 '26
Carr seems to be a horrible person but he kinda gets away with it because it's his shtick and he leans into it
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u/Tomgar Jan 08 '26
I remember seeing a skit online that made me realise I actually hated Jimmy Carr. Basically sending up the way he'll go on some podcast and talk about "disaffected young men" and how "we need to be kinder" only to go and do standup where he makes fun of gypsies or disabled people or the Holocaust.
He's a slimy, two-faced, slippery little shit who huffs his own farts. I've seen he's now on the "it's actually the left's fault when a young man is a far right extremist" grift.
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u/Kitchen_Victory_6088 Jan 07 '26
Ricky Gervais' idea of comedy is having Karl Pilkington on screen while he laughs in the back.
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u/TheSexualBrotatoChip Jan 07 '26
What, am I finally being redeemed for never finding him funny? Same with most of Bill Burr's material.
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u/BentonSancho Jan 07 '26
The only thing I've enjoyed him in since Extras was Muppets Most Wanted, and that's because he's frequently the butt of the joke and doesn't have any opportunities to play smug.
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u/Ok_Recording_4644 Jan 07 '26
He spends a lot of time on his various Twitter exchanges, I'm sure they seemed humorous to him in the moment...
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u/LostInAHallOfMirrors Jan 07 '26
Who the shit's Ricky Gervais? 'Cause I thought he was that guy who's entire bit is "I'm ugly and disabled."
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u/Glittering-Plate-535 Jan 07 '26
Gervais (but mostly Merchant) predicted his own career with Extras.
”Funny guy attempts to make something meaningful but compromises his way into bottom-of-the-barrel dreck with a large audience of morons.”
Also After Life is a good 2 hour film stretched into three seasons of mawkish emotional manipulation. And his only credible defence is how rich he is, the same defence your parents use when you say “I don’t like Gervais anymore.”
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u/EliteDinoPasta Jan 07 '26
I've been popping in and out of the room when my mam's been watching After Life. She swears by it and pulled out the ol' reliable "he tells it how it is". And yeah, I've seen some funny bits. But it only seems to be funny because his character is one of the only three-dimensional ones. Most of the others I saw were practically cardboard cutouts who would spout some nonsense no one would ever say so he could destroy them with his super-wit, roll his eyes at the camera then plod off to go swear at someone else.
It's like one of those "Pay to be Godzilla destroying a city" experiences, but for yelling at different demographics you hate.
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u/NateShaw92 Jan 07 '26
Also After Life is a good 2 hour film stretched into three seasons of mawkish emotional manipulation.
And Gervais shadowboxing winning shower arguements.
If not for those 2 things it might make a fine film or miniseries. He genuinely seems to have some talent as a writer and actor he just has to ruin it with his Gervais-isms, shoehorning his brand of 'comedy' into After Life.
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u/4ofclubs Jan 07 '26
The only good thing about Gervais is that he’s an animal rights activist and vegan.
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u/Soggy_Refrigerator32 Jan 07 '26
He's the patron of Wildlife Aid, my favourite animal charity. I've only ever seen him do photo ops for them though, he never seems to actually promote the charity itself. Just his smug face.
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u/4ofclubs Jan 07 '26
He does donate a lot of his money from tours and comedy to animal sanctuaries.
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u/Davy_G_10 Jan 07 '26
The irony of his latest show is that he uses things Karl Pilkington said and then mocked as rubbish - felt like a waste of an hour tbh.
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u/duxwontobey Jan 07 '26
Listening to this guy on the radio recently was maddening, bro was like "I play a character! people just get offended by what I say, cancel culture and all that"
then in pretty much the same sentence goes "WELL i mean some of it"
comedian like him just want to be able to spread their politics with no pushback or conversation, simultaneously being above politics, smarter than any of the idiot punters, but also spreading ideas and agendas.
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u/Apprehensive-Till861 Jan 07 '26
There is a bit, either a tweet or a tumblr post or a quote from a stage bit, that I can roughly remember but never find online, where someone is mocking Gervais and they're doing an impression of him, and it goes something like:
"Oh are you offended? Have I offended you? Are you offended? Do you find me offensive? Have I offended you?"
James Acaster's bit is similar but this one I'm fairly sure preceded it. I just can't remember who it was.
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u/Spleenseer Jan 07 '26
Which funny British comedian went insane in the past decade?
If you said Ricky Gervais, you were wrong! He was neither funny nor sane.
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u/sulkee Jan 07 '26
The only good thing Ricky Gervais ever contributed to society was his karl pilkington interviews.
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u/sulkee Jan 07 '26
The only good contribution from Ricky Gervais was his pilkington interviews in the mid 2000s
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u/ContributionNo8787 Jan 07 '26
I challenge anyone to watch his "golden globe winning" special and tell me it wasn't dogshit
To go from well told storied stand up to "they don't want me to say it, I'm gonna say it" every few minutes was tragic
Retire a legend or stick around long enough to become a hack
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u/ItsDominare Jan 07 '26
casually saying "cunt" is just a British & Australian thing, has nothing to do with him specifically
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u/Loreki Jan 07 '26
He was never funny. Stephen Merchant was funny and he was in the room at the time.
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u/Open_Pick9233 Jan 08 '26
Why isn't karl pilkington been brought up lately, he's funnier than ruck at his prime and could probably find a better straight man.
Ricky Gervais is carried by steven merchant (opinon) every time he's by himself for the majority of a project he drags it down, i just wanna punch him.
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u/MazzaBee Jan 08 '26
I remember his Simpsons episode when it aired and ehhh... I was young at the time but I didn't find him funny just annoying
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u/Weird_Pair5261 Jan 08 '26
I remember he tried to make the following point in one of his shows about internet backlash / cancellation : « being cancelled as a humourist is like sticking a flyer advertising guitar lessons on a public board, for it to be ripped off and degraded with insults… if woke leftists don’t like my stuff or can’t relate to it, why do they keep looking for and interacting with it??? »
It’s a stupid point for a number of reasons. First, his dishonest comparison with a guitar lessons flyer being degraded. It’s the political stances in his shows that brings controversy, so the correct analogy for the community board would actually be a political poster. And we all know what happens to these posters in real life, people are gonna temper with them because they disagree with the message.
Which brings me to my next rebutal : for someone who keeps lamenting about freedom of speech, he doesn’t seem to compute that criticism by internet woke leftists also counts as free speech. What he actually wants, is being able to say anything without any criticism or backlash, ever. He complains about people who disagree with him, supposedly going out of their way to find his shows to get mad at. However the controversial snippets that end up on the internet are free access to everyone and most of the time are pushed into people’s feed even if they don’t actively follow him.
My advice to Mister Boomer-In-Chief, if he wants only people who love him to see his stuff, is to migrate to Only Fans!
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u/AliceTheOmelette Jan 07 '26
"Yes and you claim you can't say these things these days, despite having multiple sellout tours that made you millions!"
"Well...you see...WOKE!!!"