Gervais's new special has arrived with frenzied media coverage about its "transphobia" and stand against P. C. culture. That's a lot of noise about something that at face value just isn't very good.
Gervais's humor is probably best in small chunks, as packaged in Golden Globes highlight clips. Here, an hour with him is way too much. He comes off as manic, constantly out of breath as he spurts out attempted joke after attempted joke.
The problem here is that Gervais relies heavily on "shock" humor, but it's of the sort we've all heard thousands of times before: a cycle of nonstop jokes about genitalia, dead babies, Nazis, and sex. This sort of humor reached its peak popularity in the early 2000s, but now it's predictable and stale. Likewise, Gervais's Izzard-esque method of rambling and undercutting his own jokes ("This won't get in the special!" "We'll cut that part out!") is hacky.
Also noticeable is Gervais's repeated mentions of his wealth. What an odd crutch. Any time he's coming near a "shocking" topic, he reminds the audience that he's rich and thus immune to criticism. I'm not sure what this is supposed to accomplish.
Gervais's humor is probably best in small chunks, as packaged in Golden Globes highlight clips. Here, an hour with him is way too much. He comes off as manic, constantly out of breath as he spurts out attempted joke after attempted joke.
The problem here is that Gervais relies heavily on "shock" humor, but it's of the sort we've all heard thousands of times before: a cycle of nonstop jokes about genitalia, dead babies, Nazis, and sex. This sort of humor reached its peak popularity in the early 2000s, but now it's predictable and stale. Likewise, Gervais's Izzard-esque method of rambling and undercutting his own jokes ("This won't get in the special!" "We'll cut that part out!") is hacky.
Also noticeable is Gervais's repeated mentions of his wealth. What an odd crutch. Any time he's coming near a "shocking" topic, he reminds the audience that he's rich and thus immune to criticism. I'm not sure what this is supposed to accomplish.