Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervaisis an English comedian, actor, director, producer, writer and former pop singer and manager...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionComedian
Date of Birth25 June 1961
CityWhitley, England
broad comedies exactly favorite focus groups guest laughter onto people stick time tracks vision watching
That's exactly what it did on BBC2. The people that get onto focus groups are force-fed big, broad comedies with laughter tracks and guest appearances. They're not going to like 'The Office' the first time they see it because they're not going to know what they're watching exactly. But if you stick to your vision and auteur it the way you think it should be done, there are enough people in the world that are like-minded and they're going to find it and it's going to be their favorite show.
hit ideas list mad months people sam scripts send sent spend spent spoke three time wrote yes
We had a hit list of people we approached, ... We told them some of the ideas we had. Because we spent such a long time writing the scripts for each episode, it would be mad to spend three months on a script for Sam Jackson, send it to him, and he goes, 'Why would I do that?' So we got a preliminary yes out of them, and then went way, wrote the ideas, spoke to them on the phone, sent them the script, and they all said yes.
office people
So what if people think 'The Office' is better than 'Extras'? I had to do them in some order.
fooling people rock roll suit
People see me in the suit and they know I'm not fooling anyone, they know I'm rock and roll through and through.
fascinated grows hope office people saying thrown together work
No one grows up saying 'I hope I work in an office one day?' And that fascinated me. People from 16 to 65 are just thrown together and that is a tantalizing mix,
enjoy people recognized understand
Because it was couched in realism, I think people recognized things. The more you understand something, I think the more you can enjoy it.
boss decent identified job loved needs people picked
We picked on something people identified with -- a decent job at work, a relationship, a boss who needs to be loved and who is going through a mid-life crisis,
thinking people fundamentals
I think the social faux par is probably what most people fear... more people fear public speaking than death and that's because we don't want to make a fool of ourselves. It's fundamental.
hate people trying
I don't feel any pressure at all because I don't care. That's an occupational hazard... but if you're doing anything of any worth, and not doing something that's safe and anodyne and trying to be populist and a national treasure, then you've got to assume that as many people hate what you do - and you - as like what you do and like you.
thinking people laughing
It's quite easy to make a load of people laugh, it's often a reflex action, but I think to make them cry is harder without manipulating them.
thinking people empathy
The most important thing in comedy - apart from empathy, which I think is important even if disguised - is surprise. I like surprising people with the fact that something's even a joke at all.
thinking people waiting
For every wacky postcard, there's a million people waiting to buy it, and for every $10 million of those things, there's one Rembrandt. Purposely, I think I want to aim at doing something that a lot of people won't like. I'm just worried that it looks like I've compared my work with Rembrandt. "Gervais says he's better than Rembrandt!".
people car office
I've worked in an office. People are sitting down doing their stuff, or pretending to do their stuff, and they're bored. I've heard a car tire screech and 30 people went to the window. That was a piece of excitement in their day, that a car might have had to stop quickly, you know. You don't need dinosaurs, you know.
dog believe people
It's a privilege to be in such a great category of people and... I don't believe in God, so I'd like to thank dogs. Dogs have given me everything.