Ricky Gervais Live: Animals

Ricky Gervais is absolutely brilliant! I first saw him in The Office, which was one of the most fantastically addicting shows I've ever watched. It was also one of the most uncomfortable shows to watch, much in the vein of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Then I saw him in Extras and by that time I was craving more. So I happened to come across this live special and was again floored at the pure comedy brilliance of this man. It's the subtleties in his humor that makes it so great. I am an American so there are a few bits that I didn't have any reference to but even those bits were hilarious just because Ricky Gervais is such a talented comedian. I can't wait to watch more of his stuff!

Ricky Gervais is a funny man. **Yes it is true.** Some people don't get the humour that he puts out. However I certainly do. If you dont like Ricky Gervais'isiss's humour then you probably wouldn't want to get to know the man better by paying lots of money to see him perform a short run comedy routine live on stage. However if you see the world as Ricky probably does, then your hard earned money is far better off with him... do want to pay and now this DVD is the only way to savour that moment... No edits, no scripts. Is this the real Ricky Gervais that we hear Stephen Merchant (co-writer for the office) in the extras of the office talking about. I for one think it is.

There are many memorable and unique gags, some jokes which have links to the office and there is a video clip shown to the audience where he gets a very respectable offer from his female ex boss.

With it seems, and ever widening exposure in the media to bestiality jokes, ala Tom Green, we see Ricky take a wholeheartedly different approach to this sorded but funny comedy subject.

I agree with other reviewers that Ricky doesn't totally gel with the audience, but that is his charm. He is doing it his way and exploring a new style of comedy which does not require him to meet Pantomime timing and audience expectations. He does say, "This is a lecture". So really it isn't meant to be comedy. It is just hysterically funny.

The best way i can describe it is very warm and cosy in a very warped kind of way, garnished with lashings of indifference. "onlyyyyyy meeeee." And if you dont like this review, well it is not your fault.

I have watched many, many different UK comedians standup routines, both live and on recording. This is far and away the funniest. Ricky Gervais, together with Jimmy Carr and Steve Coogan urinate from great heights on the average comedy of such luminaries as Harry Hill, Peter Kay and Eddie Izzard. I last remember laughing a lot like this at things like Eddie Murphy's raw decades ago. When humour is sanitised by political correctness or tries so hard to be intellectual it simply isn't funny, it self defeats its very existence. Fortunately Gervais suffers from neither. He takes the risk, IS offensive (if your an uptight person who gets offended by comedy that is) and pulls it off. I wish more comedians would ignore P.C and be as offensive as they want. I recently watched a Roy Chubby Brown stand-up routine which was awful. The fact it was overtly racist wasn't the problem, it simply wasn't funny and so got boring, I turned it off after half an hour. Had it been funny it could have been as any-ist as it liked as far as I'm concerned - IT'S COMEDY!!!. There's too many people desperately looking to be offended enabling them to preach their high moral standards for kudos in their sanitised peer group's eyes. We live in an offensive world, deal with it.

I have now watched this about 5 times and am still left with an aching belly. I had to rest 40 mins through on the first watch as it hurt so much from laughing I thought I was going to die. It's the casual don'gi'a'f*** mischievous schoolboy delivery and the excellent material that makes it a classic. If you don't pi55 yourself laughing then wonder 'how come someone hasn't noticed that you're dead?' Well done Ricky - a breath of fresh free air in an era of PC Stagnation - Thx

Ricky Gervais has a style of humor that is simply unique. While it doesn't always work, I was laughing a majority of the time. The people that are complaining about the things he talks about should realize you are not the target audience. The way I see it, if you offended by jokes about religion, bestiality, etc. then you really aren't a fan of comedy and should stick with Bill Cosby (still very funny though). No, Ricky's humor is for the warped people out there like me that see the humor in everyday life, no matter how sick or disgusting. Not everything in life is all cute and cuddly and neither is it in comedy. I also enjoyed the fact that he did what he wanted on stage and that it was up to you to decide whether it is funny or not. Humor is a very subjective thing, but if you liked him in the Office you will probably like this DVD.

Finally saw Ricky Gervais first stand-up special and despite a rocky start (not the hilarious video, I'm talking of the stand-up proper), only rocky because as an American, I didn't get all the name-dropping. But after that I've never laughed so hard at a stand-up special. Take that Eddie Izzard! Ricky stays mostly on the animal kingdom, but takes detours into the Bible, bestiality, Nazis, homosexuality, Stephen Hawkings, Anne Frank and the internet with great comic timing. Ever since "The Office" I actively try to seek out each and every thing Mr. Gervais has done, be it skits, stand-up, printed or TV interviews and I have yet to be disappointed. So if you have a chance to see this brilliance, please do.

My Grade: A