Ricky Gervais: Armageddon (Netflix Comedy Special, 2023)
The new Ricky Gervais comedy special is now on Netflix. Is Armageddon worth your time?
To me, the British comedian will always be David Brent, the boss man from The Office, who really thought he was the best boss in the world when it was obvious to all around him, including the viewers, that he absolutely wasn’t.
I loved The Office, and sometimes one role of comedic genius is enough to last a lifetime, but to his credit Gervais soon moved on to other well-received series like Extras and, especially, the much acclaimed After Life.
Even though I haven’t followed all of his comedy specials, I did see him roast a Golden Globes audience once and I thought that was also quite hilarious.
And since I woke up early on Christmas morning I thought I’d give his new comedy special some Armageddon Time.
According to the official press release it ‘touches on topics such as artificial intelligence, political correctness, family weddings, funerals, and the end of humanity.’ So, par for the course, basically.
Gervais is known to be outspoken, both on- and offstage, and he doesn’t mind if he occasionally offends a few people. It’s comes with the territory and/or is part of the job description.
I kinda of concur, but I’m sure comedy, just like everything else, evolves over time. A lot of humor from the last century wouldn’t make it to screen or stage today, simply because it would be considered way too racist or sexist, even by the comedians themselves.
But Ricky Gervais likes to push some buttons here and there. Before the release of Armageddon there was a clip on YouTube in which he appeared to make fun of the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the terminally ill children they support, calling them ‘baldy’ and ‘retarded’, before turning the scene on its head and claiming he would never use those words in real life or when making a video for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
Going on to say that as a comedian he is playing a role, just like a great actor like Anthony Hopkins can play a cannibal like Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, without eating people in real life either.
Oh well, I don’t know about that… but coming back to Armageddon: it’s a mostly enjoyable affair, that can be described as an hour filled with pretty funny dad-comedy. One of the best jokes comes early on, when Gervais, referring to the title Armageddon, claims he’s going to enjoy the rest of his time on earth by making sure the younger generation will have less to enjoy by the time they get to sixty-two.
Gervais is still at his best when he allows himself to be that kind of egotistical brat.
It’s clear, however, that the criticism aimed at his last Netflix-special (which was criticized for his jokes about the trans-community) has left his mark on him.
Even though Gervais touches on some mildly controversial subjects, like babies born in Africa with AIDS, most of his bits seem to come with trigger warnings (or apologies) that those bits are just what they are: jokes. Those trigger warnings and apologies are also meant to raise laughs, but still…
Gervais may start off by saying he has gone woke - that’s only half a joke, as it turns out - but most of the time he comes across as a middle-aged man who has fond memories of simpler times when a fascist was ‘a member of a far-right authoritarian regime’ instead of someone who ‘liked a Joe Rogan tweet.’
Watching Armageddon I got the feeling Gervais would very much like to (still) be the Joe Rogan of comedy, but then was reminded - perhaps by himself - that he’s also the guy who made the wonderful drama series After Life, about a nice guy who can’t deal with the death of his wife and tries to take it out on the world. After all, as Gervais points out in the show - we can’t control our thoughts.
I’m sure it’s possible for these different characters to inhabit Gervais’ head at the same time, but the meta-commentary on what comedy should or shouldn’t be isn’t the most exciting stuff he’s ever done.
Armageddon does improve in the second half, when he lets it rip a couple of times, especially when he goes after six-year old Timmy, who was born without arms and legs, but he’s still a c*nt for being racist, sexist and misogynistic. Yeah, take that, Timmy! That’s the kind of juvenile, puerile stuff we need from Ricky Gervais.
Gervais has made it clear he doesn’t want to be seen as either a right or left wing comedian, but maybe he should at some point make up his mind cause in the end Armageddon leaves the impression that, at least for the moment, he is very much stuck in the middle with himself.
Three stars