Stephen Merchant
Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchantis an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office; co-writer and co-star of Extras; and co-host of The Ricky Gervais Show in its radio, podcast, audiobook, and television show forms. The Ricky Gervais Show in radio form won a bronze Sony Award...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionComedian
Date of Birth24 November 1974
CityHanham, England
ability amuse funny good report school side tries
I just always remember there being an ability to amuse schoolmates. Not in a kind of 'dance-around-at-the-front-of-the-room-with-his-trousers-off' way, but probably with a sardonic quip. I remember getting a school report that said something like, 'Steve's good, but he tries to see the funny side in everything.'
bang funny good great imagine
I don't know if I'm embarrassed because I think it's a funny show, but I could imagine there being a snootiness about it, but I do find 'The Big Bang Theory' very funny. I think that's a good show. I think it's fun, I like the actors; I think they're all doing a great job.
bristol came chance funny grew john near smart super tall
John Cleese was a big hero of mine. He grew up in Weston Super Mare near Bristol where I grew up; he was always very tall and gangly, but he was smart and used his physicality in a very funny way. I used to think, 'Well he came from Weston and he did it, so there's a chance for me.'
abstract buying car detach funny objective reason saying seems sort stage talking word
The reason I keep talking about a wife and saying the word 'wife' on stage is because it seems a funny word to me. The more you say it, the more it seems to detach from that person and become this sort of abstract thing: that you would set out to find a wife, that it would be an objective like buying a new car.
character david hate people ricky worse
If we put the real Ricky on screen, with all his neuroses, it'd be worse than (his character on The Office) David Brent. People would hate him.
maybe mind perhaps sort veneer whereas
Maybe there's a sort of veneer of optimism about U.S. comedy, whereas perhaps in England, we don't mind ending it on a sourer note.
book nelson reality remarkable second tv year
It was remarkable that the second best-selling autobiography of the year was Nelson Mandela, and the No. 1 book was (UK reality TV star) Jordan, who didn't even write it.
felt people woody
My heroes - people like Woody Allen - were stand-up comedians. Therefore, I always felt I should give it a go.
fan hits physical
I've always been a fan of physical comedy. It kind of hits you in a different way; it bypasses the intellect and hits you in the gut.
rejected women
Things don't get better when you become well known or go on TV. I'm just being rejected by a better class of women.
becomes concern knew others people
When we did 'The Office,' no one knew who we were, so it was easy to champion us; you could own us. Once you become successful, people don't have that any more, so it becomes more polarised. Some people want to champion you, and others want to slag you off. It doesn't concern me.
comedian met people stuff
When I was a teenager, I met a comedian who I admired, and he was very rude to me. That's why when people come up to me I try not to be rude. I don't want to name who he is, but it really put me off watching his stuff since.
idle job life moment player proper quite time university video weird
I used to be quite a big video game player at university and post-university in that weird moment in life before you have a proper job and you've got a lot of idle time.
bbc honestly people time warren
People think all fame is the same, but being on BBC Two from time to time does not make you Warren Beatty. I honestly can't impress that upon people enough.