Ricky Gervais
- 63 years old
- English
- Actor, writer, director, executive producer and stand-up comedian
Press clippings Page 13
Robin Ince: A Waste of Offence
I have known Ricky Gervais for almost 30 years. I have toured with him, written with him and been the bearer of the brunt of the practical jokes required to alleviate him of his tour boredom (hung up on coat racks, buried on beaches, covered in make up)... Anti trans punchlines seem to have become highly profitable and it ignores the dehumanising effect on a swathe of already marginalised people. I think Ricky believes it is just him being a "naughty boy". I believe it makes him a pin up and role model for the alt right (which is sadly just the mainstream right nowadays) and, whether he likes it or not, a useful ally in the culture war.
Robin Ince's Blog, 26th May 2022The increasing importance of trans-skeptical comedy
Now that sex-based rights are countercultural, they need all the help they can get.
Madeleine Kearns, National Review, 26th May 2022Comedy isn't cosy or comfortable - don't try to cancel Ricky Gervais
I watched Gervais's Netflix special. It didn't seem to me that he was mocking trans people. He was actually making a pointed and funny observation about our evolving concept of what the definition of a woman is. The joke, in other words, was on us. That's why Gervais is different from comedians from the Seventies and Eighties such as Bernard Manning and Jim Davidson, whose comedy felt laced with genuine bigotry.
Sarfraz Manzoor, Evening Standard, 26th May 2022How Ricky Gervais's pop star past explains the spiralling quality of his comedy
Controversial but boring, SuperNature plays all the old stuff.
Tom Nicholson, Esquire, 26th May 2022With Ricky Gervais's new special, Netflix yet again suffers transphobic fools
Does Netflix even care that Ricky Gervais's SuperNature is rife with transphobic TERF ideology?
Aja Romano, Vox, 26th May 2022James Acaster clip resurfaces after Ricky Gervais special
"Trans people will all be checking their privilege on the way home, thanks to you, you brave little cis boy," Acaster quipped.
Ellie Harrison, The Independent, 25th May 2022Ricky Gervais can't be a trans ally while he continually makes lazy 'jokes' at our expense
This conversation about Gervais isn't the real conversation I think we should be having. We should be focusing on how trans people have to wait years for their first Gender Identity Clinic appointment with the NHS. Or how the UK has slipped down on an annual ranking of LGBT+ rights across Europe, dropping 10th to 14th. The LGBT+ rights group IGLA claimed our drop was due to 'widespread political and media anti-trans sentiment'. If we must talk about Ricky Gervais, he has always been marmite and that's fine.
Esme Lord, Metro, 25th May 2022Ricky Gervais is no 'transphobe'
Gervais might be privileged - he joked about that as well in his set - but he uses his position to speak truth to power. Trans activist ideology has run unchecked for too long, and it is time to call it to account.
Debbie Hayton, The Spectator, 25th May 2022Ricky Gervais says new Netflix comedy SuperNature is not anti-trans
Ricky Gervais said his jokes on stage do not reflect his own personal views.
Sky News, 25th May 2022Ricky Gervais can't even handle a trans woman's joke about him
In a classic case of "can dish it out but can't take it", Gervais hastily blocks anyone who mocks him on social media. Especially trans folks who have their own share of jokes about Gervais.
Chelsea Steiner, The Mary Sue, 25th May 2022