SubscribeI’ve been a fan of Ricky Gervais since Channel Four’s The 11 O’clock show, where he made being un-PC such an art form. Even closer to the bone though, were a series of shorts for now departed UK:Play satellite channel, which seems to be forgotten even on the web. They got comedians to act as video DJs and one of Ricky’s best skits involved a black guy in a wheelchair – ‘Hey, that’s worth more than your benefit’ Ricky complained when he bumped a pot plant – that should not have been funny. Dangerous comedy because some people will think Ricky speaks some higher truth, while others (like me, I guess) laugh at the thought some people think he speaks a higher truth.
Anyway. I mention this because Dave Windass of Killing Time is staking an early claim to forecasting the Ricky backlash and seeing as there’s a certain inevitability about backlashes, I thought I’d join in. The thing is, Ricky’s a bit of a one trick pony. I saw his cameo in Spaced, recently (pre-dates even the 11 O’clock show) and it was David Brent in a call centre. And he’s a writer with just one voice. The Office captured an all too real experience for many of us, but listen to the characters and everyone sounds like David Brent at some point. That said, if there’re a tickets going for a one man show, I’m there!
