Showing up the world
REFRESHING: A SHOT IN THE ARM FOR COMEDY WHICH TELLS IT LIKE IT IS Gervais special airs his contentious views on a woke world.
He is the least politically correct and un-woke stand-up comedian in the universe and he is thankfully hilarious. Because Ricky Gervais tells it like it is, and his humour includes some of the real issues that society faces, no matter how frivolous or dark they are. He provokes, makes you laugh, and makes you think. Nobody does funny like Gervais does.
Gervais’ latest stand-up special was released on Christmas Day in 2023. It’s called Armageddon and rightly so. Because in more ways than one, it flattens every other funnyman special that the streaming service has served up for some time.
Done with the drowsy cookie-cutter stand-up shows? Then tune into Gervais.
Armageddon is 60 minutes of a man, a stage, minimal lighting, and satire more beautiful than a Van Gogh painting. It’s not for prudes, it’s not for cancel culture social media scrollers and it’s certainly not for children. Gervais’ razor-sharp wit cements his comic ability as one of the best of our time. He pulls no punches and doesn’t tiptoe around issues; he just smashes them harder. Something few, if any, other funnymen have been able to achieve.
Gervais leaps off a bridge from the get-go and machine-guns through the show, bulleting everything from cancel culture to gender identity, family gatherings, age and mortality and, in the bigger picture, how all of these themes contribute to doomsday and the end of humanity. Modern society is oversensitive, he says, and he runs several laps around the issue with biting social commentary wedged between the punchlines.
Nothing is sacred to Gervais, and he peels back 21st-century sugarcoating to expose the wokedrenched society that much of the Western world has become. Some of the skits are downright cruel and can make you squirm in your seat. He drives home some harsh realities. Armageddon, along with the two other Gervais specials available on Netflix, 2018’s Humanity and the 2022 Supernature, share several common denominators.
Gervais’ aversion to some of the nuances of modern cultural phenomena, a fine grip on issues of the day and the interjection of philosophical thoughts between jokes and skits. His ability to make the lines three-dimensional, as he moves about and adds physicality to the language, is phenomenal.
It is so incredibly refreshing to see someone on stage, dressing up social commentary in a provocative and hilarious manner that not only leaves you rolling on the floor with laughter but imparts lingering thoughts about what the world is coming to, sparks ideas and thinking beyond just making a joke for funny’s sake.
It felt, while watching, that some of the moments in the show were completely ad-lib, filling in the blanks in a stream of consciousness that comes naturally to Gervais.
When he delves into really sensitive topics, Gervais expertly crafts precursors like “this is not an essay about [topic]” or “I was going to do this…” then relates the content and tails it with “but of course I didn’t do it…” It’s simply beautiful to experience.
If you’re someone who identifies as a kettle or blowfish, a sensitive soul who would rather crochet in the corner than participate in the real world, or if you’re a cancel bunny who trashes anyone who differs from your convictions, this show is at your expense. So maybe give it a miss.
Apart from Gervais, the last comedian whose satire was so brilliantly sculpted between wit and a grinning place was South Africa’s red-headed protest playwright Ian Fraser.
His Grahamstown standup shows had equally as much squirm value with relevant social commentary woven into every aspect of the performance.
Hats off to Netflix whose otherwise very woke-infused releases, comedy or not, had the gonads to commission and serve Gervais’ standup.
It’s a privilege to enjoy his show because as Armageddon’s theme subtly insinuates, social hegemony fuelled by a few loud voices on social media may end up outlawing anyone who dares to have an opinion of their own.
He says modern society is oversensitive and then runs laps around the issue