Animals

Title: Animals
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Stand-up, Comedy
Starring: Ricky Gervais

I’d probably be one of the first people to point out that I thought ‘the office’ was overrated, and aware of the ego problems he developed as a result I was apprehensive as to watching this, but this – his first live stand up on DVD – came off as rather surprising. Between the often flat, scripted jokes that come complete with the generic ‘look for the audience for the applause and laughter to end,’ feeling one step from a sitcom’s laughter track, arose a very ‘rambling man’ approach; with what seems like perhaps only 30 mins of material and almost twice that of him telling amusing anecdotes from his childhood or things he found when researching the show.

His subject matter touches a fine line between ‘edgy’ and simply going too far – if you are to touch on difficult subject in a humourous manner, then you had best be sure that the jokes don’t fall flat. Commenting that Hawking should ‘stop being a smartass and take a walk,’ or criticising ‘Anne Frank’ for a lack of sequel just shows poor taste. His humour at times feels like that of a child, simply swearing as a joke, and once again his ego makes itself known with the incessant mentioning of his two BAFTA’s, and even a few minutes devoted to ridiculing the critics against his 3rd season.

Despite these issues, they present in the minority and many of the subjects chosen feel as though they were material just waiting for someone to use. Gently mocking Christianity, perhaps careful not to alienate viewers by reading excerpts from the bible and commenting on them, reading between the lines and humanising the role of ‘God,’ he also mocks fat people, a subject matter – as he painfully points out – he is not exempt from. Not least of subject matters are the animals themselves, most notably the exploration of homosexuality in the animal kingdom, he was apt in pointing out these were the ‘parts David Attenborough left out.’

Not everything here works, his ego is obvious and painful to watch at times, and many jokes did indeed fall flat. Those intending to watch should probably be aware that his style has always been on the border of what was considered acceptable by any standard, but much of this can be overlooked. Coming from someone who is not a particular fan, this easily surpassed my expectations and happily sits in my collection; probably his finest work to date.