Ricky Gervais says smart people can take AIDS and Hitler jokes

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If you can take a joke, Ricky Gervais likely thinks you have brains.

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The comedian stopped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert this week and declared that “smart people” can handle any kind of humour ⁠— even when the jokes include taboo subjects.

“Smart people can deal with anything, particularly when dealing with something like irony,” Gervais told Colbert during a stop to promote his new Netflix comedy special SuperNature.

The upcoming stand-up set features Gervais joking about supernatural claims and sounding off on the “rules of comedy.”

But when Colbert asked the Emmy winner whether the pandemic made him rethink his routine, Gervais said some gags never go out of style.

“There was a thought, ‘Will this be out of date?’ And then I realized that when you’re dealing with, you know, famine, AIDS, cancer, Hitler, those dudes are evergreen. Yeah, so they’re not going to, they don’t date,” he said laughing. “Boo! Not Hitler! It was a long time ago.”

“There is no audience that isn’t going to love that,” Colbert replied.

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Gervais said that he deals with taboo subjects because he wants to make his audiences laugh in different ways, even if it makes them a bit uncomfortable.

“I think people get offended when they mistake the subject of the joke with the actual target, and smart people know you can deal with anything, particularly when dealing with irony.”

Recently, the five-time Golden Globe Awards host revealed the Oscars joke he would have said to Will Smith about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

“I trended when that happened and I was not even there. People were going ‘What would have happened if Ricky Gervais had been doing it (hosting the Oscars)?’ Well, nothing as I would not have made a joke about his wife’s hair (as Rock did). I would have made a joke about her boyfriend,” Gervais said taking a swipe at 50-year-old Pinkett Smith’s “entanglement” with R&B singer August Alsina.

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In a previous interview with the Sun, Gervais said that when he does a joke in bad taste, his audience knows he’s joking. “They understand the satire, when I tackle taboo subjects and discuss them — they get it.”

Besides, he added, the butt of his jokes is usually him, or everyone together. “We’re all idiots,” he said. “Let’s get on with it.”

The funnyman is currently workshopping his next stand-up special, Armageddon. An ironic title considering when we asked him if humanity was doomed, he said: “If there’s a meteor coming towards earth, five billion people will kneel down and pray to their God, and a few scientists will work out how to get Bruce Willis up there to stop it.

“I think we’re always going to produce a genius that saves the rest of the morons.”

SuperNature hits Netflix on May 24.

[email protected]

Article content

If you can take a joke, Ricky Gervais likely thinks you have brains.

Article content

The comedian stopped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert this week and declared that “smart people” can handle any kind of humour ⁠— even when the jokes include taboo subjects.

“Smart people can deal with anything, particularly when dealing with something like irony,” Gervais told Colbert during a stop to promote his new Netflix comedy special SuperNature.

The upcoming stand-up set features Gervais joking about supernatural claims and sounding off on the “rules of comedy.”

But when Colbert asked the Emmy winner whether the pandemic made him rethink his routine, Gervais said some gags never go out of style.

“There was a thought, ‘Will this be out of date?’ And then I realized that when you’re dealing with, you know, famine, AIDS, cancer, Hitler, those dudes are evergreen. Yeah, so they’re not going to, they don’t date,” he said laughing. “Boo! Not Hitler! It was a long time ago.”

“There is no audience that isn’t going to love that,” Colbert replied.

Article content

Gervais said that he deals with taboo subjects because he wants to make his audiences laugh in different ways, even if it makes them a bit uncomfortable.

“I think people get offended when they mistake the subject of the joke with the actual target, and smart people know you can deal with anything, particularly when dealing with irony.”

Recently, the five-time Golden Globe Awards host revealed the Oscars joke he would have said to Will Smith about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

“I trended when that happened and I was not even there. People were going ‘What would have happened if Ricky Gervais had been doing it (hosting the Oscars)?’ Well, nothing as I would not have made a joke about his wife’s hair (as Rock did). I would have made a joke about her boyfriend,” Gervais said taking a swipe at 50-year-old Pinkett Smith’s “entanglement” with R&B singer August Alsina.

Article content

In a previous interview with the Sun, Gervais said that when he does a joke in bad taste, his audience knows he’s joking. “They understand the satire, when I tackle taboo subjects and discuss them — they get it.”

Besides, he added, the butt of his jokes is usually him, or everyone together. “We’re all idiots,” he said. “Let’s get on with it.”

The funnyman is currently workshopping his next stand-up special, Armageddon. An ironic title considering when we asked him if humanity was doomed, he said: “If there’s a meteor coming towards earth, five billion people will kneel down and pray to their God, and a few scientists will work out how to get Bruce Willis up there to stop it.

“I think we’re always going to produce a genius that saves the rest of the morons.”

SuperNature hits Netflix on May 24.

[email protected]