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I I had high expectations when I heard the news Ricky GervaisNetflix’s new stand-up comedy blockbuster is called die. Ideas from the sharp comedy minds behind Genius TV, e.g. office and Additional features Applied like a scalpel to the deepest problems of the human condition seems to hold a wealth of promise. The reality is that a series of mundane gripes peppered with controversy-baiting is far more straightforward.
Some of history’s greatest comedians explore meaning and laughter from the topic of our inevitable mortality, from George Carlin’s timeless routine to a two-minute warning for us all. Norm Macdonald objects to talking about ‘fighting cancer’ rather than just getting sick and dying. Gervais, 64, explores grief in his series After life. But if he has anything new to say about this darkest and most profound subject, this special offers no evidence of it. exist diedeath is almost an afterthought.
Gervais said the same thing toward the end of his hour-long set, noting, “It’s not about death, it’s about life.” Specifically, though, it’s about Gervais’ life as a wealthy and respected stand-up comedian, which largely involved settling the petty grievances of those who made annoying noises in his presence and establishing straw men for critics, allowing him to assume the role of a noble defender of free speech.
He opened this particular one, as he did end of the world two years agopointing out how “all the complaining” and calls to “ban it” succeeded in getting his show to No. 1 on Netflix. later, He’s referring to his pretended “elitist” attempts to silence him. It’s worth remembering that, in addition to its huge ratings and millions of ticket sales, end of the world Won the Golden Globe Award for Best Stand-up Comedy. die Already nominated for next year’s award. Gervais recently received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Are these elitists in the room with us, Ricky? Continuing to spout off the supposed threats of cancel culture after so much success sounds a lot like the very thing Gervais claims to abhor: playing the victim.
As for diethis new set is unlikely to elicit as many complaints as the 2022 supernaturalan LGBTQ+ charity described it as “dangerous, anti-trans rhetoric disguised as a joke”. To his credit, perhaps he recognized James Acaster’s viral comments mock him for making trans community the subject of so many jokeshe managed to get through this whole new hour without returning to the subject.
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Instead, the talking points he used to stir up controversy in this outing were so outdated they might have been antiques. There’s a whole convention of using “gammon” as a black-letter substitute for white people and telling black people they can’t say that word, which feels really old. I’m sure Gervais would argue that the joke isn’t about racism but about double standards, but for it to work you have to completely forget the history of black lettering. Gervais calls on us to judge him by the language he uses, but then he happily ignores the wider historical context himself in the hope of getting an awkward laugh.
Gervais himself was not a racist, he clearly wasn’t. What’s more, his jokes on the subject lack any nuance. At one point he argued that social justice warriors simply reflected the values of their time, saying: “People will say things like: ‘Oh, I’m anti-racist.'” Yeah, well done, we all are. We know that’s the case now. ” In a world where everyone actually agrees on anti-racism, he might have a point, but in this imperfect world, there’s nothing you can do but say, “Um, have you been watching the news lately?” “What else can you say?
There are parts die Really shines. Gervais’s portrayal of Stephen Hawking in Epstein’s Island is poignant and poignant, and his performance leaves a wonderful physical mark from his days as David Brent, whether he’s impersonating a prison rapist so old that even prison rapists no longer find him attractive, or showing us how he sucks cock hungrily in hell (after having seen it). The Exorcist) is based on the idea that as hellish jobs go, there are bound to be worse ones.
Nothing, in die, Very much in a self-reflective way. Gervais repeatedly said during his performance that it was “my most honest and candid performance to date,” but there was little material to back this up. Maybe he meant A “behind the scenes” look at his hosting of the Golden Globes This mostly boils down to Alan Partridge-esque anecdotes about the grumpy lawyer who insisted on pointing at his crotch and making a poo-poo sound when he said the word “minge.” Needless to say, he had the last laugh.
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There’s a small section about telling reporters he wanted to be fed to lions at the London Zoo when he died (he didn’t actually), and a few complaints about the pain of getting older, but overall it’s fair to say that there’s less thought given to his actual mortality than in end of the world. At the time, he reflected: “We’re all going to die. We all know we’re going to die, we’re all going to die,” but insisted he refused to plan a real funeral because: “Fuck my legacy. You can’t plan your legacy.” Gervais was one of the funniest comedy writers Britain has ever produced, but judging from this material, he really wasn’t kidding about not caring about his legacy.
exist dieIn his most heartfelt moment, Gervais said: “No matter which side of the political fence you’re on, we should all agree that free speech is still a very good thing.” Free speech is indeed a great thing, and Gervais was richly rewarded for using it. He even managed to make a plug for his vodka brand before the show ended. He’s won awards, been celebrated around the world and, as he likes to remind us, made a lot of money and now lives in a mansion. But what good is free speech if you have nothing worth saying?
Deadly is now on Netflix