Ricky Gervais Live IV - Science [DVD]

Like most of the unfavourable reviews I've read here, I'm also speaking as a genuine Gervais/Merchant/Pilkington fan. However I'm not such a fanatic that I'll just laugh at anything because it's Ricky saying it.
This was woeful stuff. While large parts of 'Animals' and 'Politics' had me in stitches and left me with watery eyes and snot running out of my nose, the best I could say for this is that I smiled a few times.
It was already going badly downhill with 'Fame', but now I'm actually embarrassed on Ricky's behalf. He's turned into David Brent welcoming the Swindon lot by trying to be funny, and just making a complete prat of himself in the process. He now comes across as a multi, multi, multi, multi millionaire who simply doesn't care enough any more since he doesn't need the money and he knows people will come to his gigs anyway because he's been on the telly and in movies a lot.
Where before his routines were always un-PC and a bit shocking - but also very clever and funny, now he seems to be simply going for pure shock value. I'm sure you'll think of the line about drink driving and the granny (a gag lifted almost verbatim from one of the Derek and Clive albums BTW) He's now trying to be a cross between a shock comedian and a clever one who analyses his own show, but rather than taking the best from both genres he's taking the worse of both, and you end with with poorly constructed sick jokes done for their own sake, and then a little knowing nod and wink as if that's somehow supposed to make it hilarious. All the cleverness is gone, and with it the humour.
So, he's stealing jokes, crowbarring in material from the podcasts which everyone has already heard, except it was actually funny when Karl said it, rehashing old material about fat people liking cakes again, and saying the sickest things he can think of simply to get a gasp from the audience. It's lazy self-indulgent rubbish, some weak unconnected anecdotes interspersed by him talking about raping a granny or laughing at 'mongs'.
If you want pure sick shocking humour, then go see the master Jerry Sadowitz, if you want extremely intelligent and intricate self-analysing routines, then go see the master Stewart Lee, and if you want the worst from these two genres melded together (think of Ricky doing that interlocking fingers thing) into a pointless mess which neither makes you laugh or think about any of the issues, then buy this DVD.
P.S. Please Ricky, don't do any more stand up. Quit while you still have some respect left for you first two stand up shows.

It's hard to deny that Ricky Gervais has provided some of the truly classic comedy moments of the past decade or so. Sadly, this DVD isn't one of them.

Gone are the days when any comic, regardless of reputation, can scrape through an hour-long show with such weak material. "Ooooh, he said 'mong' - what a rebel" seems to be about the height of Gervais' ambition with Science - which is quite frankly shocking, considering the talent this man clearly possesses.

Gervais' fake arrogance and "I'm better than you" mentality may have raised a smile in the past, but here it no longer even seems to be played for comedic effect. At times, you begin to wonder whether the man really does believe he's some sort of demigod. This is particular evident in one rather bizarre diatribe against fat people - which, considering the now-trim Gervais' own weight issues in the past, comes across not as humour but as the machinations of a bullied kid joining the popular clique at school only to take the piss out of his former mates. Like much of the show, it barely raises a chuckle.

Gervais has proven in the past that he has the talent to make the masses laugh and I have no doubt he remains capable of putting together a side-splitting hour of stand-up at some point in the future. He really needs to go back to the drawing board, though: telling people they're in the presence of a true legend (as he does throughout this show) can only work when you've got the material to back it up. As it stands, its the comedic equivalent of Dan Brown prefacing his next book with a self-comparison to Shakespeare.

In Gervais' defence, there is the occasional flash of brilliance - one skit involving Noah's Ark deserves a mention - but sadly, these are too few and far between. Perhaps Gervais has simply stretched himself too thin with this tour, coming as it does during his attempted breakthrough into the US film industry. If so, I hope the lacklustre critical reception to this will prove a wake-up call to focus his future talents on one project at a time. The man is undoubtedly funny; this DVD is not. 2 out of 5.

As a final note: if I was cynical, I'd question why nearly all of the five-star reviews of this DVD come from people who've only ever reviewed this one item - a worried marketing department, perhaps?

Too much repeated stuff from the podcasts, sorry to say Ricky but I would rather see Karl Pilkingon do stand-up than you (you probably would too), and it's all his material you copy anyway. Ricky's material is either about how good he is, or fat people, disabled people, how god isnt real, actually to be honest one half of this show is repeated podcast stuff and the other half is Animals but said in a different way. Waste of money and I recommend you don't waste your time and buy something that has original new material in it, or if you are a Ricky fan, rent this from LOVEFiLM, that way you don't waste your money.

p.s not a Ricky hater, love podcasts, the movies, the office, extras etc, this is garbish and way too short.