Can someone please explain how a talent-free dumbass like Ricky Gervais is successful? Is there some kind of social program in England to promote mediocrity?
Can someone please explain how a talent-free dumbass like Ricky Gervais is successful? Is there some kind of social program in England to promote mediocrity?
Gervais is cleverer and more talented than he lets on. That’s really about it.
He projects this image of a guy who thinks he’s smarter than he is. It’s a weird act and a lot of people get confused by his success as a result.
I can guarantee that the irony of him being a celebrity talking out against celebrities talking out is not lost on him.
If Gervais is acting dumb, then he’s brilliant. But why does he “act” the same way, no matter if it’s a TV role, Presenter on an awards show, or just him hanging out on a Podcast or something.
Is he like a professional wrestler doing Kayfabe?
What is even the difference between a stupid man and a clever man method acting an idiot?
Lots of comedians have a similar gimmick. Steve Carell is great at it, which is probably why he was so good at the same role that Ricky had on The Office. Norm MacDonald was famous for being too smart and hiding it, but he did it slightly differently.
Maybe the closest other person I can think of to Ricky Gervais’s method is Zach Galifianakis.
As for why he always acts the same way, that’s exceptionally common for comedians. They just turn some switch to “on” and that’s how they act. For an extreme example, think Gilbert Gottfried. He always acted the same, with the same voice, whether it was a role or just him hanging out, but it wasn’t his normal voice. He did that voice whenever he was making any appearance. If you look, you can find occasional clips of him using his normal voice. There’s one from the Howard Stern show where he left them a voicemail.
I think most comedians, when they turn that switch to “on”, they just become a more extreme version of their own personality.
Gervais didn’t start out pursing comedy as a career. He got into it rather late. And I think that strongly affects his persona, as well.
For a comedian, it’s pretty easy to tell if you’re paying attention. The clever man will think of something funny that other people wouldn’t think of, but the content may be stupid. The stupid man will say stupid jokes that everybody else was thinking at the time.
Clever or not, Gervais is still an arsehole.