Raw, Uncensored: THR's Full, Comedy Actor Roundtable With Ricky Gervais, Jordan Peele and More

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comfortable with losers in life. Well, it was that myth going around that Americans don't understand irony, which is totally ridiculous, what does that mean? I don't do it all the time with Brits and it's the first one to make a snide comment and Americans don't need to do that you know, sometimes they say oh you look good, a Brit would go, what do you mean, what are you looking for? I mean, I look good, what do you want? You know we're suspicious because we're life's losers, we celebrate life's losers we root for. the underdog and as soon as the underdog wins forget it next next next I hate it we believe you I would like to know from each of you who has been most influential in your style of

comedy

or what you think is funny now is is there anyone who in your life there is a lasting inspiration or influence christopher guest ferguson is good.

I just saw dave chappelle come back after a long time and it was actually about 15 minutes of material and about an hour of audience taking him anywhere and it was amazing to see it was like a tightrope act and i have never seen anyone so able to do it. I mean, I literally had nothing. I was like what do you want to do? and someone would say something and it immediately became something. one thing and that would be five or ten minutes and it was killer and it was like improvisation, it's like jazz to me and it really feels weird to say it, but it's really true that I looked at all of you and I just uploaded you to YouTube. day and I showed it to my kids what you did with Peyton oh coach the dance just kills me so I mean I look at you guys all the time and every time I see Ricky at an event the first time that I sat with you and Lucy K at the Emmys and I was literally watching them leave and it was great that they saw each other oh, it was the best, it was the best, so he's great, yeah, he's my, he's my, um, I think than the most current boy. which I think he's he's kind of an American, in a way, well, I'd hate that, keep that in mind, that's incredible, no, but it's true, I think you two really get to the heart of humanity, piece of

comedy

, Yeah.

I think that's his kind of secret, he goes out and says the most horrendous things, but you know he's a struggling dad raising two kids he loves so he can say anything, it's a brilliant placement and then he can get angry about everything. and I think that's what's wrong with you: you can get away with it in a narrative comedy if you like the guy because he's doing it for a good reason, because it's about intention and that's where we all have flaws, we all make mistakes. . mistakes we are all struggling we all want to be popular so you recognize that guy right away and you want him to win but you like him to fail I'm back with lauren hardy what I loved is that they fooled themselves and did the best they could and they failed and they got back up, they They got up again and had another crazy plan.

You know you are with them. I think comedy is

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about empathy than people think of as an intellectual pursuit, but it helps if you root for the guy. well, but there are also, i mean, i love, love, love, just, despicable characters that you know like brent, like the political character that you know you played on snl, i forgot the name, uh, tim callahan, i mean these characters that They are simply them. They're hateful, they're delusional and I think one of the first guys that taught me that black people can do this was Martin Lawrence, you know, on his show he had his character Martin Payne, he was an idiot, he's kind of totally flawed. he was like this ralph uh kramden guy where you know his flaws were totally visible he had this blind spot totally arrogant totally arrogant and yet you loved him still you empathized with yeah, I find it fascinating that these characters that you know, Brent, you hate him Yeah , but he's so flawed and so desperate, whereas there are people who have a comedian come out and tell you what a great day they've had and how brilliant they are, it's not remotely funny at all, it's like someone saying what a great day party there is nothing in it. for you you want someone to come out fall and leave that is the second time they die yes, they are falling for your pleasure you want to know that they have had a bad day too I think it is the best comedy it lets you know that there is nothing wrong with you there is nothing wrong with you yes we are we all have it fred what about you who is it that inspires you?

I think Amy Poehler in the way she continues to do things, the fact that she's behind Broad City says a lot about her, she's selfless but she still wants to do comedy and I think on our show we're in the writers room we talk about key and peeling all the time we are like you were like that in the things we are, well they We were able to do it like that, so also, like Don said, I'm inspired by everyone here, I'm not shy, well he wasn't shy either saying it, but like me in absolutely all your programs, I am very glad that we were able to do it.

We can all do all these things together, you know well, changing the subject a little. What bothers you most about comedy today. Is there a trend in the business that bothers you? Are there idiots who confuse the point of the joke with the subject of the joke? It happened worse and worse in the last five years. On social media, everyone is fine and last week, Trevor Noah experienced the downside of tweeting that, but I'm not even talking about you, you have no way out of jail. the free card was just a joke, I don't think you know that and I'm all for political correctness, right?

But it's not about that, it's about stupid people misinterpreting the joke and then getting angry about it, at least they get the joke before you do. I don't like it, I think it's an instinctive reaction and people accept it. There was once a review of one of my comedy gigs and the guy said Ricky Gervais should be banned. His topic deals with two of my friends. They went to see him and told him. I well, that doesn't count, yes, emptiness doesn't count, you know, it's like I have a blog, yes, yes, but this is a national newspaper, yes, getting angry in general, why yes, I know who cares, I know it's like compliance, most complaints if someone complains. about something and your customer service, yeah, and you call them, so just about your customer and you're like, oh, well, don't worry, I just wanted to, they just want to be heard and they're fine, yeah, and It's these people who haven't heard enough so they demand it, they can't believe we get away with saying things because they don't understand it, they don't understand what we're saying and that's the problem most people have, but they have misunderstood it.

It only takes a small percentage of people to screw it up essentially well, it really does, but you have to ignore them, you really have to fight them, you even notice them, which is kind of nice and calm and a lot more collaborative. I haven't had to take notes, but that's because I didn't go places that required them, so my compromise was to go to fringe channels that I knew wouldn't do it, but that's a compromise, you know? less people watch my shows you know you want to go I can't I can't change that and you get tired of it in the first few days it's like you're dealing with some of the notes I had with that I just thought you can't discuss comedy, no.

It makes sense, it's like arguing with someone if they have pain in their leg, it doesn't make sense, I think you can discuss comedy, some people it's just your taste or you perceive everyone's taste. the taste you can be like that, that's not funny and someone might say yes, it's exactly that someone if someone says I'm not funny they're right if someone says I'm funny they're right it's because they don't mean it, it tastes good Me I would say that, for me, it's kind of a complaint, I would say that in comedies right now there seems to be a stagnation, in terms of mainstream comedies, there seems to be some kind of formula where everything works out in the end. and you'll see the two minute trailer and you may have already seen the movie, there's nothing else now, there are some exceptions, some weirder things that are always nice and surprising, but I would say those are the biggest ones.

There is very little that I like about the titles, no, that's true, but that's because there is, you know, someone put in, you know, 50 million, that's another thing, there's a lot at stake and they make all the notes and the change to Make sure you know that you are going to see the movie you saw last week and that it is just as good. You're not going to waste the 15 bucks and it works and again, they might not be the right person to be the referee. about what is good or not because there are many television shows that attract millions of viewers and I think I can't even sit for 22 minutes, so I feel like you are talking about my show now because my show is the only show that lasts like 22 minutes almost exactly, yes, because he looked in your direction, yes, I looked right at myself, but still, who's going to believe me?

You will say, yes, but you don't like the things that others like. but that's why you only do it, you only have to please one person as a creator and that is yourself and that's the only thing you can do, everything else doesn't matter because as many people are going to love it, more people he's going to hate it. Anything you say, someone will find it offensive and it's like you don't internalize it, I think you stop trying, you go to safety, to the comfort zone, you don't look for things that are possibly going to happen, but it's very difficult. having that conviction of where you're going I like it, I think it's funny, there are enough me's out there, but it's getting better now because there are alternatives, you don't have to bow down and go for it, yeah, people are breaking down everywhere.

You know, and for the first 15 years, you know, I compromised and went to smaller channels, but you know Netflix comes out and the sky's the limit, there's no interference and it's there for people to watch if they want it and I think That makes you more bulletproof. I mean, one day I'll be on my YouTube channel, you know, obviously, 19 views and you're like, Hey guys, this is how you do your makeup, yeah, I just need a thumbs down, 18 up and one down, that not bad, yes, I have to click up. a little more there's twenty one so I'd like to know who or what first taught you what it means to be funny let me start with

ricky

oh why oh aren't you the funniest keep that in um whatever no spirit um well I if you don't count , you mean as soon as you understood that it was a career because my first thought was my family and my older brothers and friends like five six, I realized that it felt good to laugh and make people laugh and that was very important Growing up, I was always attracted to fun people before anything else, you know, and I kind of kept that, but the first time I understood it was people who were doing it for my pleasure and it was Lauren and Hardy, and I still believe that began and ended. with them because I guess it's about empathy and it wasn't just the jokes or the lines or the art, it was the fact that I kind of loved them, I loved seeing them and I wanted to be their friend, so I guess it was understanding empathy. and that kind of thing look, now I've gone to the right first and the serious and pretentious answer is going to do one line it's going to be funny it's going to be laughing how are you going to be funny? no, well, I mean and Now, you know, you talk about going first and I have to go second after a wonderful answer and I really got caught up in the answer, I don't know how to respond, I mean you know a lot of this is exactly yours. answer you know uh you just know wanting to please

ricky

's family and it's not good that they like to make them laugh I mean it's like you know anyway the same thing Saturday Night Live was a big deal for me and then Letterman before it was before him.

I was in, right? yes yes just before why before that thank you yes but yes you know those things that made me so happy and I thought oh my God this is what you know what a lovely thing if I could do that for a living it seems like a lot of fun and thomas , How about you? Well I'm the token Canadian and to me it was kids in the hallway, you know, just click on cbc on Monday nights or whatever and Look at those guys, it was because they were so weird and absurd and they always liked to challenge absurdity, which I always loved, and Monty Python movies.

I think Flying Circus was too crazy at times, but those movies combined their love of crazy with narrative. I think I mean for me personally when you can sink your teeth into a good story and laugh along the way it's always a pleasure to vote for the best answer yeah that was pretty good I mean you'll edit it properly yeah yeah I like. Also because I think I realized I was jealous of grown men who acted ridiculously and I thought, well, at school they scold me for being dumb and fooling around, but they do it for a living and I think that was the thing I thought. which would be cool, no one can tell me not to do it because it would be my job, so I remember thinking yes, and finally I can dress like a lady and people will think it's cool, that's the root of it, it's the most fun.

What you can do as a comedian if you're a man is dress up as a woman, yeah that's rule one, oh that's brilliant, yeah Fred what about you? I'd say at first it was probably friends and then cartoons, I guess you know. how to watch bugs bunny andsenses, so crazy and crazy that he says, yeah, he does the craziest thing and like everyone, straight men from the '60s are like it's so colorful, a blessing and the wives are like me. I would leave my husband for you and he says yes it's so amazing I love it yes on that note gentlemen wait no no no Hillary Clinton oh my god what email account was that ?

Thank you all and I think you should give yourselves a round of applause. Thank you, it feels good, the summary is good, can we go? can you no, some of us haven't taken pictures yet I think I could do your face I do that don't tell me I do that don't tell me I think I can deal with this intense I think I'm going to do I'll never do that again