• Ricky-Gervais
• Michael-McIntyre

Ricky Gervais

Few entertainment figures are more prominent in today's Britain - and indeed, across the world - than Ricky Gervais. As the star of hit television shows "The Office" and "Extras," he became a household name, and, in recent years, he has vaulted from the small screen to the big with appearances in films like "Ghost Town" and "Night at the Museum." Gervais' distinguished acting career has earned him a multitude of awards, including seven BAFTA awards, three Golden Globes and two Emmys. He has also found acclaim as a pop musician, and continues to perform stand up comedy for packed houses across the globe.

BIOGRAPHY.

Ricky Dene Gervais was born on the 25th of June, 1961, the son Jerry and Eva Gervais. Jerry, Canadian by birth, emigrated during the second world war to the town of Whitley, in Reading, Berkshire, and it was in this community that Ricky was raised. He and his three siblings enjoyed what Gervais has referred to as a "normal and happy childhood." The Gervais children generally got along well with their parents and each other. Jerry and Eva were candid, approachable parents. Gervais has noted that, from the early going, humour was prevalent in the household, helping to cushion any tensions that might arise between family members: "Like the Waltons," he observed in a 2005 interview, "we made fun of each other a lot."

Gervais began his schooling at Ashmead school. In 1979, he enrolled at University College London, where he eventually decided to study philosophy. It was while in school at UCL that Gervais first met Jane Fallon, who would eventually become his partner of a quarter-century.

In 1983, during his final year of school, Gervais teamed up with friend and classmate Bill Macrae to form the pop group Seona Dancing. The duo recorded a single album. Two of the songs, however, became minor hits, with "Bitter Heart" reaching no. 79 on the U.K. charts. Although Seona Dancing disbanded soon after UCL's graduation in 1984, Gervais has remained active in the music business as a producer and promoter.

Gervais worked as a radio personality for Xfm from 1984-1988, eventually leaving when the station was acquired by the Capital Radio group. It was during this time that he first met Stephen Merchant, who worked as his assistant at Xfm (Merchant, along with Karl Pilkington, would eventually join Gervais to produce "The Ricky Gervais Show," a podcast that debuted to unprecedented acclaim in 2006).

After departing Xfm, Gervais worked as a composer and music adviser throughout the 1990's, contributing sketches to, among others, the BBC drama "This Life." But it was in 2001 that Gervais received his big break when he and Merchant launched the workplace mockumentary "The Office." For this project, Gervais acted jointly with Merchant as writer and director, and lent his acting talents to the portrayal of pompous general manager David Brent. Although "The Office" struggled to find viewership during its first season, By the end of 2004 it had become wildly successful, inspiring spinoffs in France, Germany, Brazil and (in 2005) the United States.

Gervais used his success on "The Office" as leverage in creating "Extras," also a hit. Riding a tide of critical and popular acclaim, he launched his first stand-up comedy tour ("Animals") in 2003, and published a book (Playfully entitled "Flanimals") in 2004. By this time, Gervais' appeal had begun to trickle across the Atlantic (thanks partly to the U.S. version of "The Office"), and starting in 2005, he was offered several small parts in U.S. films like "Valient" and "A Night at the Museum."

And Gervais isn't going away. Buoyed by the success of "Ghost Town," his first starring turn in a motion picture, he has plans for several more in the works.

TOUR INFO.

Gervais has a large following as a stand-up comedian, both in Britain and across the world. His first forays into the craft, in the late 90's, met with lukewarm reviews and lackluster attendance. At the 2001 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, however, he met with great success and enjoyed rave reviews from critics and fans. That festival, held at the Cafe Royal, also included Stephan Merchant and other high-profile names. Bolstered in part by the success of "The Office," Gervais' career as a touring comedian began to flourish in the following years.

In 2003, Gervais swept across the UK with two separate stand-up tours, "Animals" and "Politics." The former, Gervais' first full-length solo comedy act, revolved (with many digressions) around the animal kingdom. It also introduced the public to Gervais' trademark style of blending racy humor with polite British sensibilities. "Animals" showed at the Bloomsbury theater in London for two weeks. "Politics," predictably, centered around the workings of government. Both acts began with a short film starring Gervais.

"Animals" and "Politics" were smash hits, selling out night after night, and both were recorded for release to DVD. The success of the shows set the stage for the third of Gervais' themed routines, entitled "Fame." This last show did not launch until 2007, and anticipation was high. The opening run, in Glasgow, sold out in under an hour, and Blackpool was forced to add additional performances to the tour.

"Fame," as might be expected, utilizes celebrity culture as fodder for comedy. The show drew controversy when it premiered, with some groups taking offense to a joke involving the 2006 murders of five prostitutes in Ipswich. Admitting that his edgy humor may have indeed crossed the line, Gervais apologized later that year, saying, "I do want people to know that that happened five years ago and is not related to anything now. That is the problem with comedy, a joke that is funny today can be a terrible faux pas tomorrow."

"Gervais has crossed the pond on several occasions to perform stand-up in the United States. In 2007, he headlined twice at New York City's TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, and performed as part of David Bowie's High Line Festival in May. These performances, coupled with the release of "Ghost Town" in 2008, have done much to increase Gervais' celebrity in the U.S.

"Gervais is currently hard at work at developing a new show, entitled "Science," which will premier in August at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow.

AWARDS & CRITICAL RESPONSE.

"The many varied aspects of Gervais' career have received varying levels of acclaim. Seona Dancing, the pop ensemble formed with UCL classmate Bill Macrae, flew generally under the radar despite moderate sales success. What few reviews of the band's discography remain are generally favorable. Everything2.com has this to say: "It's standard New Romantic fun, and it's pleasantly surprising to find that it's not too bad at all."

"Gervais' first television role, as a host on "Meet Ricky Gervais" (1998) on Channel 4, was universally panned by critics and has been repeatedly mocked by the comedian himself. On the show, Gervais played a bizarrely offensive version of himself, a character whom many critics found distasteful. He has since lamented using his own name on the show, saying that many viewers did not realize that his character was not espousing his true beliefs.

"The Office," of course, was Gervais' breakthrough television hit, and enjoyed monumental acclaim from critics and viewers alike. Although several spinoffs have been produced in the U.S., Brazil and elsewhere, the original version remains popular worldwide and retains a 9.3/10 rating on movie site imdb.com.

"Extras," Gervais and Merchant's follow-up to "The Office," was well-received. Though its viewership never achieved the levels of its predecessor (or the worldwide appeal), critics gushed over the celebrity-ridden sitcom. "It's got edge galore," penned Tom Shales, of the Washington Post, "but it's the kind that sneaks up on you and proves again that Gervais has the subtlest kind of brilliance, hard to categorize but easy to enjoy." Lee Siegel, of The New Republic, wrote simply that "Extras" was "...the most brilliant show on television."

"Animals," the first of Gervais' trio of themed stand-up acts, received mixed reviews, although this did nothing to prevent its amassing the comic a large and eager fan base. Ian Hislop of BBC World began his review of "Animals" thus: "He obviously had cobbled the show together and it looks like it... I cannot see why he is on stage." Ekow Eshun had this to say: "I don't think he entirely succeeds. The best moments are the moments when he digresses somewhat from animals, what David Attenborough left out and you get a sense there of who he is, what he's interested in, the things that make him laugh, rather than him trying to make other people laugh."

"Politics" and "Fame" were better received, with many critics feeling that Gervais had finally caught his stride. "For a man who once gave up stand-up because it was just too hard," Ben Jeffrey of BBC News wrote regarding "Politics," "Ricky Gervais gives a convincing impression of a comic who has found his feet on the stage." "Fame" was showered with even more acclaim. As Dominic Maxwell noted, "Strip away the play-acting and Gervais doesn’t actually have much to say about fame. But the play-acting is the point, and it’s brilliantly done: his mastery of a crowd is at times awesome. And while he may overestimate the fun to be had from flaunting his prosperity — Glasgow went quiet at the mention of seven-figure house prices — the moral underpinning here is firmer than his casually transgressive delivery suggests."

"Ghost Town," Gervais' first starring turn on the big screen, received rave reviews and currently sports an 84% approval rating on rottentomatoes.com.

Gervais has received a variety of awards for his work as an actor and writer. From 2002 - 2004, he won BAFTA awards for Best Comedy Performance and Best Sitcom each year, all for "The Office." He has also won four emmys and three Golden Globe awards for his work on "The Office" and "Extras." Some of his minor awards include five British Comedy Awards, two Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, and one Peabody.

MATERIAL.

Although Gervais has utilized a broad base of material for his work as a writer, actor, and stand-up comic, his basic strategy for generating laughs has remained more or less constant. He seems most comfortable when anchored to a solid theme, over which he can perform freewheeling, far-ranging and fantastic comedy. In "The Office," this anchor was workplace drudgery. In "Fame," it was the culture of celebrity, and, in particular, the juxaposition of Gervais' celebrity and his sense of self. In "Animals," this anchor was... well, animals.

One noteworthy aspect of Gervais' style is the diversity of media by which he presents his material. Gervais, besides acting and doing comedy, is an award-winning screenwriter, successful author, and the helmsman for the most-downloaded podcast in history. Even his stand-up routines feature multimedia components, most often short films. This unique presentation helps Gervais stand to the fore amongst contemporary humorists.

Gervais has also, at times, employed a guerrilla style of comedy aimed at lampooning public figures and eliciting laughs on a global scale. In 2008, for example, upon hearing that American heiress Paris Hilton had purchased a home in the London, Gervais penned a letter to President Barack Obama, urging the president to order her back stateside. "...It has come to my attention that [Paris Hilton] has bought a house in North London a few miles from me, and is out and about ingratiating herself with the Great British public," one portion of the letter read. "Mr President. We are not stupid. This is clearly a retaliatory strike for Posh Spice moving to LA." The letter made waves on both sides of the Atlantic, although Mr. Obama did not respond.

With two smash TV shows, several books, three sellout comedic tours and a hit film under his belt (not to mention the internet under his thumb), there seem to be no limits to Ricky Gervais' future. For now, fans have his upcoming tour, "Science," to look forward to. Gervais and his longtime collaborator, Stephan Merchant, are also working on a new film called "Cemetery Junction."

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