CityLife

The Science of Ricky Gervais's success

Ricky's show is sold out

RICKY Gervais is comedy's ultimate have-a-go hero.

When he tried his hand at solo stand-up following two successful series of his career-making TV show The Office, there was barely a comedian around who was expecting him to become one of the circuit’s premiere names.

Even fewer thought he could pen a sell-out script every couple of years, let alone break his own ticket sales record with every new show.

But that’s exactly what Gervais has done. And he’s pulled all of it off at the same time as he’s carved out a career in Hollywood, picked up an astonishing list of film and TV awards and written a couple of bestselling illustrated books.

In keeping with his previous records, tickets for his new show, Science, have cleared the box office in double quick time despite multiple dates in the region.

He’s laying on three nights at the Apollo and another couple of nights in Blackpool, and the only way in at this stage is to enter into heated negotiations with the touts outside.

Deconstructive technique

Read the rave reviews that have accompanied his previous shows and you’ll see it is little wonder his fans battle it out as soon as the phone and online sales open.

His stand-up shows – or themed lectures, as he refers to them – tap directly into Gervais’s comic motto: ‘write about what you know’.

In his six years on the solo circuit, he’s written rambling comedy shows about animals, politics (both issues he cares about passionately) and fame (a topic he now knows a lot about).
 
So why is Gervais taking a scalpel to science? Because science, or more specifically the public interest in things that can’t be explained scientifically (yes, that’s religion), fits his deconstructive comic technique perfectly – it is, by its very nature, the topic that allows him to pick the biggest holes in life, the universe and everything.
 
There’s a little part of us, though, that is surprised to see him back. Hollywood’s silver screen is becoming a regular earner for Gervais – he’s currently working on another new film, Cemetery Junction – and he’s just been announced as the guest host for the Golden Globes in 2010, which is about as in with the in-crowd as anyone can get.
 
But we’re delighted, too; we’d be the first to admit we’ve missed seeing his ‘pug-nosed face’ (NB: this is an Extras reference, not an insult!) around the place more than most…

Apollo, from November 11 to 13 (2009). SOLD OUT.