Ricky Gervais is a name synonymous with controversy, his comments from the 2010 Golden globe awards shocked many in the industry who were used to a softer sense of humour from the hosts of previous years. Gervais was blasted for being too offensive and harsh with his jokes and observations concerning Mel Gibson’s drinking habits and writers in Hollywood getting “Too much credit”. At the end of the globes in 2010 Gervais said on stage that he wouldn’t be hosting them again but he was back for a second, third, and fourth time in 2011, 2012 and most recently this year with even more quips, this time concerning Robert Downey Jr and Charlie Sheen’s drug and drink habits as well as referring to Bruce Willis as “Ashton Kutcher’s dad”.
With his wit sharper than ever, you would expect Ricky to have been doing some stand-up comedy on the side but he hasn’t been on the stand-up show circuit for quite some time now with his last proper stand-up routine being six years ago in 2010. In the meantime, Gervais has been busy writing and performing in several hit shows such as Derek, a mockumentary set in a care home and The Ricky Gervais show, a late night animated talk show starring Ricky, Karl Pilkington, and Stephen Merchant. Another big distraction from working on the stand-up material is the fact that Ricky has been working on writing and directing a new film about his character David Brent from The Office.
Last week Gervais announced that this year he would be making a return to stand-up comedy with some shows booked in London to test out his new material in May with some of the cast members from Derek although with a lot of movies and shows being worked on and directed by him it looks doubtful that there will be any more than some taster shows until next year.
