Ricky Gervais: Out of England - The Stand-Up Special (2008 TV Special) User Reviews

Fans of comedian Ricky Gervais will find his stand-up comedy special worth watching

[Nighthawk1 · 8/10 · 20 December 2008]

Ricky Gervais is the creator, writer, director, star and producer of the original BBC British Office and Extras TV series. He's featured in his own HBO stand-up comedy special called Ricky Gervais: Out of England.

I found him to be funny, even hilarious at times. Some of his jokes tend to go on too long when he should really move on to the next topic. I didn't laugh at everything he said. A lot of it was amusing though. I did laugh out loud several times. On stage Ricky Gervais presents himself in a self-effacing manner using a wide range of political, social and personal subjects in his routine. He comes across as being very sharp,intelligent and witty.

It's entertaining to watch him crack jokes in front of a crowd. The HBO stand-up comedy special Ricky Gervais: Out of England will appeal most to people who appreciate Ricky Gervais's dry British sense of humour. Fans of the talented comedian will likely find it worth watching.

Gervais Cracks Us Up And Leaves Us Smiling

[junkless · 8/10 · 18 November 2008]

There's something...different about the listening experience when a comedian projects with a British accent; somehow, it makes the story, joke or discussion seem more humorous to me. I discovered this oddity when I first heard John Cleese, but I really noticed it with Eddy Izzard. Gervais gets this added bonus to his already hilarious routine and when it's added to his physical delivery, it seems to elevate what would ordinarily be a chuckle into fullblown laughter. If there is any downside, it is that Gervais, like most modern comics, liberally uses curse words. That's a shame, since while they don't bother me at all, they do annoy some, thereby limiting the number of viewers. And frankly he doesn't need them in his show to be hilarious. Give Ricky a shot; you won't regret it.

amusingly irreverent

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 21 May 2016]

It's Ricky Gervais' first HBO stand-up special. He's still chubby at the time and there are a good deal of fat jokes. There are even more irreverent takes on an AIDS fund raising flyer, cancer kids, Rosa Parks, and so much more. He's standing in front of a lighted RICKY sign and drinking Foster. It's the Wamu Theater in Madison Square Garden. He's on a tour, sort of. It's NY and LA and missing the middle bits. The jokes are mostly amusing. I still like his joke about pissing into the sink the most. The most annoying thing that Ricky does is that he wanders around on the stage. He has a tendency to move back and forth which is distracting especially with the camera trying to follow him. This is a nice hour-long comedy for the Gervais fans.

Same Old, Same Old

[tuxlie · 3/10 · 22 November 2008]

I don't know if this was released purely for an American audience, although I suspect so. Actually I would hope so for Gervais' sake otherwise he is still doing the same jokes he was doing 3-5 years ago. When I started watching I thought it was an old show but I note the release date is 2008 so....

Released just in time for Christmas, if I had bought this I would feel ripped off, there is nothing new here,just the same old jokes you've probably heard a million times before.

They don't age well either. This has 'cash in' on his success written all over it.

Disappointing.

Mostly a disappointment with a few laughs.

[TxMike · 6 May 2009]

A few weeks ago we saw Ricky Gervais in the movie where he is a dentist that "sort of" dies after he is hit by a bus, and the result is he sees and hears dead people who cannot go to their final reward until unresolved issues each has are cleared up.

Gervais is genuinely funny in that role. So I had high expectations for this DVD from my public library.

While there are some genuinely funny moments, the whole routine contains too many sexual references and toilet humor. It seems comedians these days think they must use very off-color content to be funny. Most of it did not work for me. My wife walked away mid-way and found something more interesting to do.

Meh

[take2docs · 5/10 · 12 August 2023]

Ricky Gervais made an instant fan of many as host of the 2020 Golden Globes, in his holding a mirror up to Hollywood and the celebrities in attendance, thanks to his refreshingly candid monologue that had him putting these unjustifiably idolized celebs and insular, narcissistic glitterati in their proper place -- pilloried as opposed to pedestaled.

So it was that it made me want to check out some of Ricky's previous stand-up material but, alas, and much to my disappointment, so far I find it not as edgy and as hard-hitting as his awards show speeches.

Granted, this is only my first viewing of Gervais' several concerts and despite my being not all that impressed by it I plan on giving his other recorded appearances a look, hoping they will be better than this one.

Although I enjoyed watching this also actor in two cinematic roles -- in the movies "Ghost Town" (2008) and "The Invention of Lying" (2009) -- as far as RICKY GERVAIS: OUT OF ENGLAND is concerned, I found it rather unexceptional. Somehow I expected more from the comedian but his performance in this is lacking both in wit and Carlin-esque, seriocomic social commentary that makes certain comedians stand apart from their peers.

The problem I find with Gervais' performance in this is the amount of time he spends on autobiographical as opposed to observational comedy. Yes, he takes potshots at certain groups in society, in admirable politically incorrect fashion, but in comparison to simply strolling about the stage shooting the breeze and relating largely unfunny anecdotes, such appreciated bits are few and far between. In passing, Ricky informs the audience that he's not a political comedian. Here's one person wishing he was, what with high-profile politicians generally being the laughing-stocks they are.

There's numerous penis jokes in this, as well as potty humor...just when you thought lowbrow content would be beneath a comedian of Gervais' intellect. And what is so amusing in prosaically analyzing children's stories and nursery rhymes? Gervais seems to be in his own little world here, in somehow thinking this to be interesting and comical. There's also a fairly long and insipid segment (approximately 7 minutes) that has the stand-up comedian reading from a leaflet, one that he thinks is funny, but to me seemed mentally lazy and unoriginal on the performer's part.

Throughout it all, Ricky is shown continually fiddling with his hair, as if it were some lucky charm or a loose toupee or simply a nervous mannerism. Whatever the case, one cannot help but find it distracting if not a strong, unspoken argument for baldheadedness.

'Meh.' I've been waiting for an apt moment to use this word in a review heading and I think my one and only use of it best applies in describing this lackluster, medial performance of Ricky's. Still, I'd rather take a mediocre Gervais than a robo-comic, any day, no matter how 'funny' it might be said to be. As we enter the automated age, word is human comedians will become more and more obsolete, as increasingly censorious states look to technology to amuse the masses, via pre-approved and programmed one-liners and punch lines. One can only hope it never comes to that.