Ricky Gervais: Seven things we learned from his This Cultural Life interview
Few people in modern comedy have achieved as much as Ricky Gervais. As co-creator, and lead, of The Office he became a worldwide star, winning an Emmy and five Baftas. He’s received acclaim for his other series, including Extras, Derek and After Life.
He has also been a controversial figure, attracting mixed reviews for his stand-up material. On BBC Radio 4’s This Cultural Life, Gervais talks to John Wilson about his inspirations, the teacher who changed his life and why he welcomes people disagreeing with him. Here are seven things we learned.
1. Being the youngest taught him that honesty is funny
Gervais grew up in Reading, the youngest of four. All his siblings are more than ten years older than him, which he says helped shape his view of comedy.
I learned, particularly from my brother Bob, that you could say anything if it was meant well.Ricky Gervais
“I remember asking my mum, when I was about 13, ‘Why are my brothers and sisters so much older than me?’” he says. “She said, ‘Because you were a mistake.’ That made me laugh. I realised that honesty is funny. Everything was fun. Wind-ups. Cheeky. You didn’t hug your best friend, you insulted them to show that you liked them… I learned, particularly from my brother Bob, that you could say anything if it was meant well.”
2. He could read by time he was three
Being surrounded by older siblings made Gervais feel like “a bit of an experiment,” he says. “I remember my sister taught me to read. I could read when I was three or four, like properly. I remember at school, when a new parent came, the teacher would say, ‘Ricky, come and read this.’ In retrospect, I realise it was to make them think all the kids could read.”
3. He has an English teacher to thank for his success
At school, Gervais thought he was great at writing stories, until a teacher, Mr Taylor, told him otherwise. “My stories were really off the telly,” he says. “It was all Starsky and Hutch and Kojak put into a blender. I’d do these stories and [Mr Taylor] would say, ‘Too melodramatic. Just write about what you know.’ I’d think, ‘My story’s the best! It’s amazing!’ and then I’d get a C+.”
Fed up with mediocre marks, he decided he’d teach Mr Taylor a lesson. “My mum used to go next door to help a really old lady,” he says. “I thought, ‘I’ll show my teacher,’ so I tried to write the most boring story possible, about my mum clearing up after an old lady.” He got an A. “I remember how proud I was. I’d cracked it. Of course you write about what you know.” That lesson has informed everything he’s done since. “I only deal in realism… I don’t do high concept.”
4. Laurel and Hardy showed him the rules of comedy
One of Gervais’ biggest influences was the duo Laurel and Hardy. “It taught me about conflict,” he says. “Although they both thought they wanted the same thing, they didn’t agree on anything. It’s like the old screenwriter’s adage, ‘The cat sat on the mat. That’s boring. But the cat sat on the dog’s mat? Now you’ve got a story.’”
Laurel and Hardy have influenced most of his double acts since. “I remember one of the few notes I used to give Ashley Jensen [in the sitcom Extras] was, ‘More Stan.’ Andy Millman and Maggie were a Laurel and Hardy.”
5. He’s glad he never made it as a popstar
Gervais was in several bands before becoming an actor, most famously Seona Dancing. He was determined to be a popstar. “That was my biggest mistake,” he says. “I should have wanted to be a musician, but I did think it was about hair and cheekbones and synthesisers.”
His view of fame changed when he decided to become an actor and writer. “I thought, I don’t want to do this to wave on a red carpet and just be in stuff,” he says. “I want to write and create… If I was going to be famous, I wanted to be famous for something.”
His relationship with fame helped form the personality of David Brent in The Office. “If it wasn’t a fake documentary and David Brent didn’t want to be famous, that’s quite a boring sitcom,” he says. “But as soon as you know why he’s doing it [it works]. He wants to be loved.”
6. His comedy has faced criticism
Gervais is a hugely successful stand-up comedian, but he has often had to defend his comedy and the subjects he chooses to focus on. He disagrees that he’s doing anything wrong. “One of the many criticisms that people aim at a comedian when they do a joke they don’t like is, ‘If you joke about a bad subject, that might make people think it’s okay,’ which is a nonsense,” he says. “People joke about dark subjects all the time.”
If you do something so anodyne that nobody gives you one star or five stars, why have you done it? Who are you trying to please?Ricky Gervais
And if he some people don’t like what he does, he’s used to it. “I started with a backlash,” he says. “Everything I’ve ever done has got one star and five star [reviews], because everyone’s different. If you weren’t polarising, you’re not doing anything. If you do something so anodyne that nobody gives you one star or five stars, why have you done it? Who are you trying to please?”
7. He’s never going to change who he is
“I will keep doing my thing until no-one comes,” says Gervais. He likes doing his stand-up because everything he says is his choice. “There’s not 60 executives worrying about your stuff,” he says. “You can be as brave as you want. Sometimes it’s about bravery. Everybody’s got the right to free speech, but some people don’t want to use it because it’s too dangerous, which is fine.”
He says it’s in his nature to say what he wants. “[When a button says] ‘Do not press’, you’ve got to press the button. You’ve got to press the button.”
