Conan O’Brien, Ben Stiller, Ricky Gervais, and more discuss the legacy of This Is Spinal Tap — and talk the mockumentary’s impact on generations of comedy — in a new mini-doc pinned to the sequel’s upcoming arrival.
The aforementioned trio, as well as the Roots’ Questlove (who camoes in the sequel) and comedian Nate Bargatze, all reminisced about the first time they watched the Rob Reiner-directed 1984 classic.
“I was 19 and it kind of rocked my world,” Stiller said, while O’Brien remembered, “I’m in college. We hear about this movie. We have to see it. It was revelatory.” Gervais added, “A friend of ours had a bootleg. It immediately became my favorite comedy film of all time, and still is.”
“There’s something that’s so grounded about Spinal Tap that you could have something that’s ridiculous, and funny, but is also very real. The mockumentary became a form that inspired so many movies and TV shows,” Stiller said. O’Brien reinforced, “There’s a whole generation now that’s grown up on The Office, Parks and Rec, all these shows that used the documentary-style, deadpan, awkward pauses.”
The Office was first created in the U.K. by Gervais before the American version arrived years later. Gervais was not shy about admitting that Spinal Tap inspired his groundbreaking series.
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“I stole that for The Office. I loved the fact that I was doing what Spinal Tap did,” Gervais said in the mini-doc. “I just had to make it look like one of those documentaries on the tellie. And it’s funny that I stole that from America and then I sold it back to them like it was my idea.”
After the interviewees all shared their favorite This Is Spinal Tap scenes, they looked forward to the decades-in-the-making sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, out September 12. “I would say it’s the perfect time for Spinal Tap 2 because it’s fantastic that 40 years have gone by,” O’Brien said. “I’m fascinated to find out where they are now.”