Yay, me! And the brilliance of Ricky Gervais

I've had a bunch of good things coming my way lately. 

Remember last August when I recorded a few essays for WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany?  Well, one of them finally aired yesterday.  You can listen to it here.  I sound kind of serious; I think I was trying so hard to neutralize my Awwl-benny accent. Next time I'll try to read in a more natural speaking voice.  I love the fact that the producers ended it with a song from The Simpsons.  "Baby on Board" by The Be Sharps is from my favorite episode, the one where Barney meets David Crosby in the bathroom at Moe's.

Barney:  "David Crosby?  You're my hero!"
David Crosby:  "Oh, you like my music?"
Barney:  "You're a musician?"

Ha!  Then last night I had my best set ever at Tommy Rocker's--yay!  I'm doing a lot more comedy lately and (dare I say), I'm actually starting to enjoy it.  Which is kind of the point when you do something for a hobby.  I even sold a couple of books last night, too. Yay, me!

So... did you see my favorite comic genius Ricky Gervais hosting the Golden Globes?  I thought he was, as he would say, brilliant.  I've been a huge--and I mean huge--fan of his since 2002 or 2003, whenever The Office first aired on BBC America.  Mike and I just watched the two seasons and the Christmas special; he'd never seen it before and was blown away.  Get out the Depends; you're gonna pee your freakin' pants when you watch this clip of Gervais as David Brent trying to out-dance his nemesis.



After we blew through The Office series (and the Christmas special), we dug into Extras, the HBO series that also features Gervais' creative partner, Stephen Merchant, who's a friggin' scene stealer.  If you haven't seen these shows yet, I don't know what the hell you're waiting for.  But I'll warn you, both are kind of hard to understand if your ear isn't trained for the British accent.  Oooh, that accent... Yes, I'm that shallow.  That's not a newsflash.

Anyway, my man Ricky raised quite a ruckus last Sunday night during his Globes hosting gig, as reported in this piece entitled, "Will Ricky Gervais Ever Eat Lunch in this Town Again?"  Evidently he "pricked a few egos" and "probably burned a few bridges."  Pull-eeeze. Tell me if you don't think this short clip is friggin' hilarious.



Gervais was the guest on CNN's Piers Morgan Thursday night, and not to do damage control.  Quite the opposite--he told Morgan he's not remotely remorseful and when it comes to comedy, he insists on being true to himself.  He's not looking to offend people; his goal is to be funny, and on his terms.  He said if he has to water down material for mass appeal, then it's not his joke.

Here's a clip of his appearance on CNN.  My respect for Ricky Gervais only grows.



I love those fearless comics like Gervais, Larry David and Louie CK (what a ballsy mother he is). I appreciate Mr. Nice-Nice Jay Leno, but give me the hit-and-miss Sarah Silverman anytime.  And I know I've said this before about offending people:  being offended is a choice.  One chooses to take offense.

In the very early days of this blog, I posted this piece (which I thought was pretty funny) that prompted this comment from a mother of a child with Tourette's.

I have a son with Tourette's Syndrome and he is always devastated by ignorant comments like yours.  If you can't find anything else to joke about, then it's time to hang it up sister.

My knee-jerk reaction was to feel a little bad, but then I was like, get the fuck out of here.  Does she really think I spend my spare time taunting children with disabilities?  Or maybe she mistook my blog for a support forum.  Of course, it would suck to have Tourette's, but if you Google "Tourette's humor," you'll see I'm not exactly blazing the trail.

Humor often crosses the line; it's all a matter of personal style.  They wouldn't have asked Ricky Gervais to host the Golden Globes if they expected Jay Leno.  Everyone in the audience that night got to where they are after facing tons of rejection, so they're not even the ones who were offended by his banter. But whoever made such a big deal of his performance actually did him a big favor by making Ricky Gervais a household word.  As it should be.

Thursday night on CNN, Gervais said something like, "The people who were offended by me at the Golden Globes definitely shouldn't come see my stand-up."  I feel the same way about my blog; if I offend you here, for God's sake, don't buy my book.