{"id":773524,"date":"2026-07-01T15:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T15:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/773524\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T15:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T15:12:13","slug":"hes-being-lazy-now-has-ricky-gervais-lost-his-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/773524\/","title":{"rendered":"‘He’s being lazy now’ – has Ricky Gervais lost his magic?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ricky Gervais has lost his magic\u2026 he\u2019s being lazy now he\u2019s got legend status.<\/p>\n

The outspoken star is famous for creating some of the most iconic telly of this century and being one of the most exciting stand-up comics in the world.<\/p>\n

But his current output isn\u2019t exactly innovative or impressive. It\u2019s old hat.<\/p>\n

\"golden<\/p>\n

Handout\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Earlier this week Ricky tested new material at a special gig in London. It was at the Leicester Square Theatre, which holds 400 fans \u2014 far less than the crowds he plays for at arenas.<\/p>\n

I was among the lucky ones who managed to bag a ticket. But the gig wasn\u2019t everything I hoped it would be.<\/p>\n

It was a conveyor belt of gags designed to shock and appall.<\/p>\n

Topics included Jimmy Savile raping disabled children, Adolf Hitler, suicide and the N word.<\/p>\n

A lot of it was funny and well-written and the crowd lapped it up. As a stand-up gig, it was a success.<\/p>\n

But was it daring or brave or exciting? No. It was the same schtick Ricky has been doing for years \u2014 picking the most shocking topics he can think of and making jokes about them.<\/p>\n

When the vast majority of your material is on taboo or distasteful subjects, it starts to feel performative rather than daring.<\/p>\n

Shock value doesn\u2019t work when everyone knows to expect it.<\/p>\n

\"ricky<\/p>\n

Adrian Rogers\/\/BBC<\/p>\n

It feels like Ricky is more interested in courting controversy and showing off than he is in doing something fresh and exciting.<\/p>\n

His other big project is new animated series Alley Cats.<\/p>\n

When the trailer for the Netflix<\/a> show dropped this week, it divided opinion.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s about a bunch of cats who swear and talk about rude things. Who saw that coming? Everyone.<\/p>\n

Ricky\u2019s stuff is by no means bad. There\u2019s no doubt he\u2019s still entertaining. His tour will sell out around the world and Alley Cats will get bumper ratings. He\u2019ll always be a big, big star.<\/p>\n

But what about his legacy? He\u2019s no longer doing projects that stand out, he\u2019s doing the same tired old routine.<\/p>\n

His new stuff is a world away from innovative things like The Office, Extras or After Life.<\/p>\n

In fact, he doesn\u2019t even seem that keen to honour his heyday.<\/p>\n

Stars of The Office have filmed a new documentary<\/a> to mark the 25th anniversary of the show.<\/p>\n

Hollywood star Martin Freeman is involved alongside former co-stars including Mackenzie Crook. But Ricky isn\u2019t part of it. This feels like a bizarre move given The Office is his biggest success.<\/p>\n

Ricky is capable of great things. For him to waste his talent is no joke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ricky Gervais has lost his magic\u2026 he\u2019s being lazy now he\u2019s got legend status. The outspoken star is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":773525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,274541,274540,182502,181355,271073,782,274539,784,75,237154,783,274538,273948,348],"class_list":["post-773524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-collection-after-life","tag-collection-comedy","tag-collection-digital-spy-features","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-collection-the-office","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-41898a43-d022-4bb5-be31-d27678097cfb","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-hes-being-lazy-now-has-ricky-gervais-lost-his-magic","tag-sponsored-false","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/773525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}