Ricky Gervais has revealed he doesn’t worry about being cancelled because he can ‘justify’ every joke he tells.
The comedian, 63, told how he enjoys discussing taboo subjects in his stand-up but never fears he will be shunned by audiences for taking things too far.
Speaking on the Stick To Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, he said: ‘I’m aware of it but I can justify everything.
‘I don’t go out there and just say the first thing that comes to my head, thinking there is no consequence, I don’t do that, so I’ve got to be able to justify it. Everything I do, I’ve got to be able to go, ‘This is why it’s okay,’.
‘A lot of my stuff, because we’re dealing with taboo subjects, seems worse than it actually is. If you analyse it, it’s not that bad.
‘It’s just because you’re dealing with contentious subjects and buzz words, where people gasp, but if you look at the jokes, it’s fine.
Ricky Gervais has revealed he doesn’t worry about being cancelled because he can ‘justify’ every joke he tells
The comedian, 63, told how he enjoys discussing taboo subjects in his stand-up but never fears he will be shunned by audiences for taking things too far
‘I like doing that, I like dealing with taboo subjects because I want to take the audience to a place they haven’t been before.
‘It’s like I’m taking them by the hand through a scary forest but it’s alright in the end and we can all laugh about it. That’s what comedy’s for, to get you through scary things.’
Ricky added that he doesn’t think a person can truly be ‘cancelled’ unless they do something illegal.
He said: ‘Also, what is being ‘cancelled’? Some people didn’t like it, fine. You actually have to break the law to be properly cancelled otherwise, some people didn’t like it, that’s fine, it’s the way of the world.’
The Office star also told how he doesn’t worry about the audience not laughing at his jokes either as he sees stand-up comedy as a constant process of refinement.
He said: ‘It’s funny because when you do a TV show or a film, you have the best guests, you write it, record it, edit it, and think that’s it, and you can’t change it whereas here [standup comedy], you can change it every night, they [the audience] tell you what’s funny.
‘It’s like evolution through natural selection, if they don’t laugh you don’t do it or you make it better, and if they do laugh then you keep it.
‘Eventually, you’ve got an hour where everyone laughs at everything.’
He said: ‘I don’t go out there and just say the first thing that comes to my head, thinking there is no consequence, I don’t do that, so I’ve got to be able to justify it’ (pictured in 2022)
Ricky added: ‘You can write all the things but until you get out there, you don’t know if it’s any good. If you wrote a stage show now and went out there, it would only get a 20 per cent hit rate.
‘Whereas, going on stage every night – that’s where it happens. It either works or it doesn’t, it’s as simple as that.
‘That’s the thing about humour in general, if someone thinks you’re funny they’re right and if they think you’re not funny, they’re also right because it’s so subjective.
‘You do it for you and like-minded people. You do your thing, and you find your audience.’
Ricky kicked off his latest tour back in October, admitting at the time that he may have finally gone too far with a joke about Jimmy Savile.
The free speech comedian had crowds in stitches as he kicked off his Mortality tour earlier this week and he joked about some controversial topics beyond even what his most hardened fans are used to.
Ricky’s provocative routine received mixed reviews from critics, who branded him a ‘pub bore’ who has spent too much time online and someone who is ‘too tepid to get excited about’.
But his supporters lavished praise on the comic for a triumphant return with his opening gig at the York Barbican on Tuesday, hailing his routine as ‘brilliant’ and ‘outstanding’, with one saying they had ‘never laughed so much’.
The hour-long show includes some controversial gags, which is unsurprising given Gervais’ unapologetic attitude, with jokes about disabled children, Gandhi and another about Pakistan’s sharia laws.
But it was the comic’s unfavourable comparison between himself and Jimmy Savile that really provoked the crowd, after he claimed he was ‘way worse’ than the monster who raped and abused disabled children.
Gervais claimed the gag is ‘worst thing’ he’s ever said, which begins with him stating the obvious – people hate Jimmy Savile for getting away with his crimes, which included raping disabled children.
He then suggests this is something he would never do, before adding: ‘Which in a way makes me worse than him. At least he gave them a chance.’
This was followed by another gag about fellow British comic Rosie Jones, who has cerebral palsy. Gervais says that Jones recently received backlash from disability campaigners over the title of a documentary called ‘Am I a R****d?’.
He explained that she was told the word was not hers to use as a physically disabled person. Gervais then quips: ‘They said you’re not a r****d, you’re a s*****c.’
Another controversial line saw Gervais highlight the hypocrisy of western Liberals for failing to call out Pakistan over its sexual rights laws.
He says that in Pakistan there is a law that only permits a man to have sex with a girl after her first period.
The comic pokes fun at this with a skit about a mother telling her neighbour, who is frustratedly waiting for her daughter to mature, to pass the time by throwing homosexuals off a roof.
He ends with the punchline: ‘Liberals hate religious fascism and abuse of girls except when it’s in Pakistan.’
It is not the first time Gervais has raised eyebrows over his material.
He previously faced backlash when his 2023 show on the streaming service Armageddon featured controversial jokes about asylum seekers and terminally ill children.
He came come under fire after the clip started circulating on social media, showing the star branding sick children ‘baldies’ and asking those who requested to meet him via the Make-A-Wish Foundation: ‘Why don’t you wish to get better?’
Despite the uproar the special won a Golden Globe and went on make history by becoming the highest ever grossing comedy show, after raking in a whopping £1.41million at the Box Office for a single gig.
Gervais also came under fire for a series of allegedly transphobic gags in his 2022 Netflix special SuperNature.
His routines included saying: ‘You can’t predict what will be offensive in the future. You don’t know who the dominant mob will be.
‘Like, the worst thing you can say today, get you cancelled on Twitter, death threats, the worst thing you can say today is, ‘Women don’t have penises’, right?
‘Now, no one saw that coming. You won’t find a ten-year-old tweet of someone saying, ‘Women don’t have penises’. You know why? We didn’t think we f***ing had to!’
He also told his audience: ‘Full disclosure – in real life of course I support trans rights. I support all human rights and trans rights are human rights.
Ricky added that he doesn’t think a person can truly be ‘cancelled’ unless they do something illegal (pictured in 2022)
‘Live your best life. Use your preferred pronouns. Be the gender that you feel that you are. But meet me halfway, ladies – lose the c**k, that’s all I’m saying.’
Ricky famously caused controversy at the 2016 Golden Globes where he was accused by fans of being transphobic after he made a dig about Caitlyn in his opening speech.
He said: ‘What a year she’s had. She’s become a role model for trans people everywhere, showing great bravery and destroying stereotypes.
‘She didn’t do a lot for women drivers. You can’t have everything, can you, not at the same time.’
In February 2015, Jenner was involved in a fatal multiple-vehicle collision, in which one woman, Kim Howe, was killed. Prosecutors declined to file criminal charges in the case.
At the time, Ricky hit back at transphobic claims, he tweeted: ‘Suggesting a joke about Caitlin Jenner is automatically transphobic is like suggesting a joke about Bill Cosby is automatically racist.’
