Who would have thought that Ricky Gervais would finally seem old hat and dare I say it, boring.
The creator of the hugely influential The Office and my personal favourite Extra’s has made some great stand up shows for Netflix as well as his hilarious time hosting The Golden Globes, but Mortality can’t be added to the list.
The 64 year old rails against the aging process (and his critics as usual) in this hour long show that sees him go through his usual routine of using “context” to make fun of controversial subjects such as the disabled, the gay community and racism.
Im all for challenging taboo subjects with humour and Gervais is one of the best at doing it with his innate sense of irony and the absurd. My problem is that I have heard it all before and anticipated many of the punch lines that you could see coming a mile away. The stand out social satirist of the last 15 years has become predictable.
Also, his tackling of his own mortality has been better done by the likes of George Carlin and his comments about getting old and grumpy were like One Foot in the Grave plus swearing.
He still makes me laugh though.
There were some great bits, such as why the hell was Stephen Hawking on the Epstein island. When Gervais is topical or bursting the bubbles of the rich and famous, he stands head and shoulders above his rivals.
Less introspection and more attack on the pompous and sanctimonious is needed in the next please Ricky!