Life's Too Short - Gervais & Merchant's latest

Originally posted by mcmahon
Another winner,only one who is Milligan,Python like.

Beg to differ.

Both Milligan (and the rest of the Goons - remember that Peter Sellers was one of them!) and Python are far, far beyond Gervais' level. In particular, both of those were masters of absurdism. Gervais doesn't do absurdism at all - all he does is playing the fool, or worse (much worse) making other people look like fools.
He appears to think that absurdism consists of saying things a normal person would not say. It does not. Absurdism consists, at the very least, of saying things a normal person would not even expect an abnormal person to say. The things Gervais says are, all too often, things middle managers do say, and their employees/subjects wish they didn't. That's not funny, and it's certainly not absurd - it's irritating.
And if this were just an act in his comedies, I could ignore it. Unfortunately, whenever he appears on any other TV show, he behaves just as obnoxiously as his comedy persona. Perhaps he's a very likable person in real life, but I've never seen him behave anything but irritatingly, both as a character and as his public self.

I'm sorry, but I just cannot find Ricky Gervais funny. He is crude, completely unsubtle, and frankly insulting to both his subjects and his audience. The best comedy these days, if you ask me, is found in topical stand-up and panel comedy. Hell, QI is funnier than Gervais, and funny isn't even its only aim. Nevertheless, it manages to make me laugh.

Richard

Originally posted by Shallow Blue
Beg to differ.

Both Milligan (and the rest of the Goons - remember that Peter Sellers was one of them!) and Python are far, far beyond Gervais' level. In particular, both of those were masters of absurdism. Gervais doesn't do absurdism at all - all he does is playing the fool, or worse (much worse) making other people look like fools.
He appears to ...[text shortened]... isn't even its only aim. Nevertheless, it manages to make me laugh.

Richard

If you want to hear a comedian, stand up type, really funny, listen to Gary Mule Deer. I listen to the comedy channel on Sirius/XM and he is one of the few who made me really laugh. One small example: Hey Uncle Bill, after you get divorced are you going to get married again? No, this time I will find a woman I hate and buy her a house🙂