ricky gervais humanity tour

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HUMANITY will be Ricky's fifth UK stand-up tour, preceded by 'Science', 'Fame', 'Politics' and 'Animals'. In the US, Ricky has toured with 'Out of England' I & II - amalgamations from his first four UK tours and filmed for broadcast on HBO. All four UK shows to date are available on DVD - as is the first HBO comedy special.

Ricky Gervais announces dates worldwide for Humanity stand-up tour

Friday 17th February 2017, 12:01am

• Ricky Gervais has announced American, Canadian and European dates for his Humanity stand-up show
• He has also added more UK dates, including a four night run in London, and shows in Scotland
• He says: " Humanity is my angriest, most honest and I think my best tour yet"

Ricky Gervais has announced American, Canadian and European dates of Humanity , his first worldwide stand-up tour in seven years. He has also added many more UK shows, as the first set of dates are now fully sold out.

The star is set to launch his tour on Tuesday in Bristol, however with all the dates in that city, plus the previously announced York, Cardiff, Manchester and Bournemouth shows also sold out, he has now announced fourteen more UK dates, including a four night run in London.

Humanity has also been booked into the USA with shows to come in New York, LA and Chicago; plus new dates have been added across Europe in Reykjavik, Dublin, Stockholm, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. The tour will also mark his first ever tour date in Canada, with a visit to Toronto's Massey Hall planned for July.

Speaking about the expectation around the gigs, Ricky Gervais says: "Thousands of people paying hard earned cash to come and see you live is such a privilege. You'd better have something different, interesting and funny to say. Humanity is my angriest, most honest and I think my best tour yet. It's probably my most personal too. I feel I may as well tell you everything before I die. Hope you enjoy it. Or not. There are no refunds. Just like life, I guess."

He also added: "I'm thrilled to be able to take this tour around the world and look forward to performing stand-up to a Canadian audience for the first time. Watch this space for even more dates being added too. I'm coming to your town! (If your town has an arena and a 5-star hotel with a helipad.)".

Tickets for the new dates are set to go on sale on Friday 24th February on vendor sites including Ticketmaster

Ricky Gervais appears on The Graham Norton Show tonight (Friday 17th). Talking further about the tour on the show, he says: "It's more honest than before - I just walk out and start talking. It's organic and confessional. You could spend a year writing it but it would be worthless. I can change it every night - it's like natural selection and evolution with the audience picking the best hour. If they laugh it stays, if they don't it goes. After fifty gigs it works."

Joking about celebrities getting free tickets to his shows, he told Graham Norton : "At one of the last shows I did, Madonna , Paul McCartney and Princes William and Harry were on the guest list. And, once you add a prince to the guest list you also get seven people with guns get in for free - it's unbelievable!"

He also told Norton about a funny story from his childhood:

List Of 2017 Dates

Bristol: 21st - 23rd February (Sold Out)

York: 28th February - 1st March (Sold Out)

Cardiff: 6th - 7th March (Sold Out)

Manchester: 13th - 14th March (Sold Out)

Liverpool: 15th March (Sold Out)

Bournemouth: 22nd - 23rd March (Sold Out)

Belfast: 28th - 29th March (Sold Out)

Sheffield: 3rd April

Portsmouth: 11th April

Iceland (Reykjavik): 20th April

Plymouth: 25th April

Glasgow: 2nd May

Brighton: 9th May

USA (New York): 21st May

USA (Chicago): 24th May

Newcastle: 5th June

Edinburgh: 8th June

Oxford: 13th June

Southampton: 18th June

Dublin: 24th June

Birmingham: 28th June

Sweden (Stockholm): 1st July

Canada (Toronto): 14th July

Netherlands (Amsterdam): 8th September

Denmark (Copenhagen): 29th September

London (Hammersmith Apollo): 4th - 7th October

USA (Los Angeles): 28th October

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Ricky Gervais announces dates worldwide for Humanity tour

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Ricky Gervais has announced his first worldwide stand-up tour in seven years.

Gervais, 55, will make his return to the international stage with Humanity which will see him embark on a string of dates in Europe, America and Canada.

He described the tour as his “angriest” and “most honest” to date and joked that he won’t be issuing refunds if fans don’t enjoy the shows.

Speaking about the tour he said: “Thousands of people paying hard earned cash to come and see you live is such a privilege. You'd better have something different, interesting and funny to say.

“Humanity is my angriest, most honest and I think my best tour yet. It’s probably my most personal too. I feel I may as well tell you everything before I die. Hope you enjoy it. Or not. There are no refunds. Just like life, I guess.”

Gervais – who last year released his film David Brent: Life on the Road – joked that he wants each city to transport him in a helicopter and put him up in 5 star accommodation.

“I’m thrilled to be able to take this tour around the world and look forward to performing stand-up to a Canadian audience for the first time,” he said. “Watch this space for even more dates being added too. I’m coming to your town! (If your town has an arena and a 5-star hotel with a helipad.)”.

Humanity is Gervais’ fifth tour. His 2007 show Fame was the fastest selling UK stand-up show in history, with 100,000 tickets for the London dates selling out in nine minutes.

The news comes months after the creator and star of The Office, Extras & Derek, made his stage comeback for the first time in six years with a string of London stand-up shows.

Gervais, has won three Golden Globes, two Primetime Emmy Awards and seven BAFTA’s for his work.

Graham Norton Show - 17th February 2017

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Ricky Gervais at Radio City Music Hall

Radio city music hall, new york city, new york.

British comedian Ricky Gervais is extending his massive comedy outing and adding more dates for his highly-coveted 2023 run! The Armageddon tour brings the iconic host, actor, comedian, and director to U.S. shores, and he’ll be stopping in New York this summer! On Friday, 30th June 2023, the two-time Primetime Emmy Award-winning star is taking over the Radio City Music Hall with his much-awaited stand-up set! The show will feature The Office star’s latest material and never-heard-before punchlines and quips. Don’t waste any time now. You should hurry and score your tickets now to this incredible stand-up comedy show featuring one of Britain’s greatest comedians, Ricky Gervais!

Ricky Gervais has been one of the most prolific and highly-influential personalities and comedians over the past several years. He rose to international prominence when he created, wrote, and starred in the popular television series, The Office. The series, which was a mockumentary of the day-to-day lives of office employees, earned Gervais the Best TV Comedy Actor Award at the British Comedy Awards in 2002. The show eventually had several local adaptations, including the American version of The Office, starring Steve Carell.

After wrapping up the award-winning show, Gervais moved to creating and starring in several more critically-acclaimed sitcoms, such as Extras, An Idiot Broad, and After Life. Gervais also won Best Comedy Performance at the Bafta Television Awards three years in a row from 2022 to 2004 for The Office and again in 2006 for Extras. In 2007, Gervais won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series at the Primetime Emmy Awards for Extras.

Apart from starring in award-winning comedy series, Gervais is a phenomenal stand-up comedian. He pursued stand-up comedy during the late ‘90s and became a successful act after an unforgettable performance at the 2001 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In 2003, Gervais started touring the U.K. By 2009, Gervais headlined the New York Comedy Festival. In 2017, Gervais released his first Netflix comedy special, Humanity, followed by an international tour. After the phenomenal comedy run, he released two more highly-acclaimed Netflix specials, SuperNature and Armageddon.

See the award-winning comedian, Ricky Gervais, deliver his brand new material from Armageddon at the Radio City Music Hall on Friday, 30th June 2023! Tickets are now up for grabs!

Ricky Gervais

Radio city music hall.

• | Ricky Gervais

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1260 6th Avenue, New York City, New York, 110020, United States

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Ricky Gervais: Humanity

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Ricky Gervais returns to the stage with his characteristic wit and distinct edginess, but the performance verges on cruel when his mockery seemingly overtakes his own Humanity .

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News: ricky gervais announces full world tour for humanity.

Ricky Gervais has announced the first American, Canadian and European dates for Humanity, his first worldwide stand-up tour in seven years. 

2017 marks the comedian’s return to stand-up on an international stage, with shows in New York, LA and Chicago, as well as new dates announced in Europe, playing Reykjavik, Dublin, Stockholm, Amsterdam and Copenhagen this year. 

Gervais’s Humanity tour also marks the comic’s first ever stand-up tour date in Canada, with Gervais visiting Toronto’s Massey Hall on Friday 14th July. The world tour runs from February 21 - October 28.

After selling out his first few UK shows instantly, he has added the second leg of the UK tour with fourteen new dates, including four nights at London’s Hammersmith Eventim Apollo from October 4 - 7.

Ricky Gervais said: “Thousands of people paying hard earned cash to come and see you live is such a privilege. You'd better have something different, interesting and funny to say. Humanity is my angriest, most honest and I think my best tour yet. It’s probably my most personal too. I feel I may as well tell you everything before I die. Hope you enjoy it. Or not. There are no refunds. Just like life, I guess." 

He added: “I’m thrilled to be able to take this tour around the world and look forward to performing stand-up to a Canadian audience for the first time. Watch this space for even more dates being added too. I’m coming to your town! (If your town has an arena and a 5-star hotel with a helipad)”. 

Gervais has had a busy couple of years with the international theatrical and DVD release, alongside the exclusive partnership with Netflix USA, of feature film David Brent: Life On The Road. 2016 also marked the debut album release of David Brent & Foregone Conclusion - Life On The Road, which became a Top 10 UK hit on the iTunes chart. Special Correspondents, which Gervais wrote, directed and starred in alongside Eric Bana, was launched on Netflix worldwide, and Gervais also hosted the Golden Globes for a fourth time.

This is the award-winning stand-up's fifth tour. His 2007 stand-up show ‘Fame’ was the fastest selling UK stand-up show in history, with 100,000 tickets for the London dates selling out in just 9 minutes.

Tickets go on sale from 10am on Friday, February 24 here.

Watch Ricky Gervais and George Michael in Extras.

FEBRUARY 2017

TUESDAY 21ST

BRISTOL, UK

COLSTON HALL

0844 887 1500

WEDNESDAY 22ND

THURSDAY 23RD

TUESDAY 28TH

YORK BARBICAN

0844 854 2757

WEDNESDAY 1ST

CARDIFF, UK

MOTORPOINT ARENA

029 2023 4500

TUESDAY 7TH

MONDAY 13TH

MANCHESTER, UK

08444 777 677

TUESDAY 14TH

WEDNESDAY 15TH

LIVERPOOL, UK

LIVERPOOL EMPIRE

0844 871 3017

BOURNEMOUTH, UK

0844 576 3000

BELFAST, UK

028 9033 4400

WEDNESDAY 29TH

NEW DATES ADDED:

SHEFFIELD, UK

0114 278 9789

TUESDAY 11TH

PORTSMOUTH, UK

0844 847 2362

THURSDAY 20TH

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND

(+354)528 5000

TUESDAY 25TH

PLYMOUTH, UK

PLYMOUTH PAVILION

0845 146 1460

TUESDAY 2ND

GLASGOW, UK

CLYDE AUDITORIUM

0844 395 4000

TUESDAY 9TH

BRIGHTON, UK

BRIGHTON CENTRE

0844 847 1515

SUNDAY 21ST

NEW YORK, USA

THEATRE AT MSG

+1 212-465-6741

WEDNESDAY 24TH

CHICAGO, USA

CHICAGO THEATRE

+1 312-462-6300

NEWCASTLE, UK

0844 811 2121

THURSDAY 8TH

EDINBURGH, UK

EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE

0844 871 3014

TUESDAY 13TH

OXFORD NEW THEATRE

0844 871 3020

SUNDAY 18TH

SOUTHAMPTON, UK

02380 711811

SATURDAY 24TH

DUBLIN, IRELAND

+353 18198888

WEDNESDAY 28TH

BIRMINGHAM, UK

BARCLAYCARD ARENA

0121 780 4141

SATURDAY 1ST

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

ERICSONN GLOBE ARENA

+46(0)771310000 

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TORONTO, CANADA

MASSEY HALL

+1 416-872-4255

SEPTEMBER 2017

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

AFAS LIVE AMSTERDAM

+31 (0)900 687 4242

FRIDAY 29TH

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ROYAL ARENA

0045 32 460 460

OCTOBER 2017

WEDNESDAY 4TH

HAMMERSMITH APOLLO

0844 249 4300

THURSDAY 5TH

SATURDAY 7TH

SATURDAY 28TH

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Considered one of the most influential British comedians since Charlie Chaplin, (he received the Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy 2016 BAFTA/LA) Ricky Gervais is the creator and star of The Office, Extras, Derek, and the critically acclaimed Netflix hit After Life.

Following the global success of his two previous Netflix stand-up specials ‘Humanity’ and ‘Supernature’, 2023 saw Gervais release a third special and his biggest to date, ‘Armageddon’. It won a Golden Globe, was the global number 1 most-watched show on Netflix, and followed a record-breaking international tour, selling out 85 arena dates across the world. Gervais’s show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the highest-grossing comedy gig ever.

Gervais has won countless awards across his career and enjoyed huge critical success for the outstanding three series of After Life. His hit series The Office is the most successful British comedy of all time, shown in more than 90 countries, with 13 remakes.

Ricky has hosted the Golden Globes awards five times, in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2020.

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Ricky Gervais: Humanity

Live performance of British comedian Ricky Gervais filmed in London's Eventim Apollo. Live performance of British comedian Ricky Gervais filmed in London's Eventim Apollo. Live performance of British comedian Ricky Gervais filmed in London's Eventim Apollo.

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Ricky Gervais announces extra Manchester date for Humanity tour - how to get tickets

Humanity is his 'angriest' tour yet - and possibly his last, says the creator of The Office and David Brent

• 10:39, 2 DEC 2016
• Updated 10:41, 2 DEC 2016

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Ricky Gervais has revealed the first few UK dates of his year long world stand up tour 'Humanity'.

The creator and star of The Office , Extras and Derek, Gervais has been busy in 2016 touring with his character David Brent and his fictional band Foregone Conclusion. Now, the three-time Golden Globe winner returns to stand-up with a brand new show.

Gervais announced the details of one Manchester gig on Monday, March 13 at the 02 Apollo - and has now added an extra date on March 14.

And this could be your last chance to see the 23-times Emmy Award nominated comedian perform, according to the Ricky Gervais blog .

"I've done a few warm-ups and it's definitely in the best shape of any of my shows at this stage at least. I also plan to do more warm-ups than usual as I want this to be my best show ever and possibly my last," Gervais writes.

Speaking about Humanity, Gervais said: “Thousands of people paying hard earned cash to come and see you live is such a privilege. You'd better have something different, interesting and funny to say.

Humanity is my angriest, most honest and I think my best tour yet. It’s probably my most personal too. I feel I may as well tell you everything before I die. Hope you enjoy it. Or not. There are no refunds. Just like life, I guess."

This will be the first time that the comedian will be in Manchester since July this year, when he was in town for a live Q&A following a preview screening of David Brent: Life On The Road .

Tickets for Humanity are on sale now via www.livenation.co.uk .

Humanity tour dates announced so far:

Bristol, Colston Hall - Tuesday, February 21

York, York Barbican - Tuesday, February 28

Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena - Monday March 6

Manchester, O2 Apollo - Monday, March 13

Liverpool, Liverpool Empire - Wednesday, March 15

Bournemouth, Bic - Wednesday, March 22

Belfast, Waterfront - Wednesday, March 29

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Ricky Gervais’s Plea for Humanity: ‘We’ve Got to End This Madness’

With the rabble-rousing comic’s ‘Humanity’ tour finally coming stateside, we talk Trump, the culture of offense, Mel Gibson’s redemption, and why all hope isn’t lost. (Yet.)

Kevin Fallon

Senior Editor, Obsessed

Dave Kotinsky

Ricky Gervais, believe it or not , is actually optimistic about our future.

“You know that thing about how comedy is tragedy plus time?” he says. “That doesn’t stop you from thinking of the joke during the tragedy.”

Thus was birthed Gervais’ Humanity stand-up tour , which, after more than 120 dates in Europe, finally comes stateside this week with performances in New York and then Los Angeles. It’s Gervais’ first stand-up tour in seven years, and a hell of a time to be making a comeback.

“I know we’re in the epicenter of the storm, but I’m already thinking about how we’re going to be laughing about this one day and the storm will be over and we won’t be dead,” he says.

Of course, Gervais, as always, has a lot to get off his chest .

He tells The Daily Beast that his show’s aim is to expose our own prejudices. While Gervais has been outspokenly critical about Donald Trump and made headlines for his ribbing of Hollywood players during his stints hosting the Golden Globes, his set won’t riff on the day’s news, politics, and pop-culture scandals—making the tour’s move across the Atlantic all the more seamless.

“I don’t have to go, ‘I have to cut this for America because they don’t know the Big Brother winner,’” he says. “When you’re talking about Hitler, it’s pretty universal. When you’re joking about famine and AIDS and cancer and Hitler, everyone gets it.”

Over the course of our conversation, we talk about why Gervais was initially hesitant to return to stand-up at this moment in time. When Trump was elected, he thought, “How could I joke about this? How could I spoof this man?”

Because we’re talking amid the fallout from the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the conversation about how men like him in Hollywood lasted so long without facing consequences for their actions, we also talk about Mel Gibson , who not even a decade after calling a police officer “sugar tits” and being recorded telling his ex that she deserves to be raped, will be starring in the family comedy Daddy’s Home 2 , out in just two weeks.

Gervais famously skewered Gibson for his actions during his Golden Globe stints, eliciting gasps from the scandalized ballroom of celebrities and, he says, illustrating the industry’s hypocrisy. “Am I surprised about the hypocrisy of Hollywood? No,” he says. “Some people make mistakes and they’re not bringing home the money, and some people make mistakes and they are bringing home the money. They’re more quickly forgiven.”   

Along with the Humanity tour launching its U.S. dates this week, Gervais will also debut his new Sirius XM show, Ricky Gervais Is Deadly Sirius , on Tuesday, featuring longform interviews with guests ranging from musician Noel Gallagher to scientist Richard Dawkins.

It’s as good as time as any for a free-ranging State of the World chat with Ricky Gervais, our resident comedy antagonizer who, it’s become increasingly clear, is nailing a surprising second act as our cultural moral arbiter as well.

When you announced this tour, you talked about it being both the best and the worst year to return to standup.

I’ve decided it’s the best now. The reason I thought it was the worst is because the madness was so oppressive. Why was there the rise of the alt-right? Why were there Nazis suddenly? Why were people believing the most opulent billionaire on the planet when he said the problem was the liberal elite in Hollywood? I’m thinking, why are they falling for this? Why are they falling for ‘drain the swamp’? He is the swamp. Why are they falling for ‘build the wall’? We should be building bridges. I thought how could I joke about this? How could I spoof this man? The guy off The Apprentice is now the president. It’s like a joke out of a ’90s movie.

Do you think that what’s going on in the world will be a wake-up call for people?

I know it sounds like I’m trying to look for the good in everything. But I think there is the good in everything. I think this will be a wake-up call. After Brexit, the next vote we had, young people voted more than they ever did before because they suddenly thought, fucking hell, this is important now. Ironically, he’s sort of given the world a kick up the ass. Obviously we’ve got to end this madness before the world is destroyed. I like the Nietzsche thing about how everything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. We just have got to make sure this thing doesn’t kill us, and I think we’ll be stronger.

People buying tickets to your show in the U.S. are hoping for the catharsis of watching you get political and taking the piss out of Trump. Do you get political?

No, I don’t get that political. If I just get up there and say what I think and am relying on the majority of the people there to agree with me and clap or laugh, I’m losing something comedically. I think that rallying isn’t part of comedy. My show is much more about offense culture. It’s about how people don’t look at the argument anymore, they’re just looking at who’s saying it. Social media bred this ridiculous myth that it was more important to be popular than right, and politicians even picked up those symptoms. You can certainly read politics into it, though.

You have a certain reputation. Has that influenced what you can and cannot joke about?

That whole thing about me being spoiled as well. Moaning from the world’s most privileged position. The obstacle I had to get over is that comedians are traditionally the court jester. We’re the low-status buffoon saying something about the king and making the rabble laugh. We can say anything because we’re low status. The problem with me as the comedian is that I’m not in low status anymore. So I do things to get my status back. I show off ironically. I’m always the butt of the joke in the press. So they go, yeah, OK, it’s not all roses being rich and famous. I get that. I’ll do a story about the first time I flew a private jet. I turned up, the pilot was there, and the pilot thought I was the chef. So on the one hand, they don’t go, “He’s showing off.” They go, “Haha, he’s a fat, scruffy bloke.”

It makes you relatable, or at least more relatable.

I talk about things where the audience is better off than me. I talk to them about how I’m going to die soon because I’m fat and old and going bald. I let them know that the fact that they think I’m rich and famous is nothing compared to the fact that I’m going to die first. You can never be above the audience. You can never lecture the audience. I think that’s one reason Trump got elected. People were tired of being lectured by authoritarian liberals. I think PC culture started the backlash.

We’re talking amid the fallout of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the conversation about what will change in Hollywood, in terms of how many chances we give powerful people like him. You famously went after Mel Gibson at the Golden Globes. He is now about to star in a family comedy called Daddy’s Home 2.

That’s rich.

What do you make of that hypocrisy?

Uhh. Well, it’s always been there. I remember the first time I did the Golden Globes, I could feel people going, “Why is he saying awful things about these exceedingly rich, handsome, privileged people?” I wanted to say, “Get a grip.” A comedian’s job, I think, is to be the little boy who points at the king and says, “He’s naked.” Sure, you could make this a mutual back-slapping session, right? But don’t televise it. So I tried to make it a spectator sport.

Still, you went after Mel Gibson at a time when no one was going after Mel Gibson, and were in fact excusing his behavior.

That’s the thing about the idea of “there are jokes you shouldn’t do.” There are jokes you shouldn’t do, yeah, but there are no subjects you shouldn’t joke about. As long as it’s either accurate or fair, I think that no subject is off limits. It depends what the target of the joke is. That’s when offense comes in, when people mistake the subject of a joke with the target. Am I surprised about the hypocrisy of Hollywood? No. It’s another business. I don’t know why they think Hollywood is different than banks or selling gold. I don’t know why they think it’s any different.

Still, there’s something wild about going from “sugar tits” to starring in Daddy’s Home 2 .

Some people make mistakes and they’re not bringing home the money, and some people make mistakes and they are bringing home the money. They’re more quickly forgiven. I wasn’t really doing it because I was trying to change the moral fabric of America. I was doing it because it was a funny gag. The first gag I did, I was like, “As you know, I like a drink as much as the next man. And the next man is Mel Gibson.” I didn’t even go for the anti-Semitism the first time. I did that the next time. It was gentle ribbing. I did a joke about the film Spotlight , the one about the pedophile priests. I said “ Spotlight : loads of acclaim, including Roman Polanksi called it the perfect date movie.” I could tell from the gasps. He joked about Roman Polanski! Why not? I’m not having a go at his directing. One person said to me how dare you go after Mel Gibson? Mel Gibson is the director of Braveheart . No, I love that film. Wasn’t having a go at his directing.

I wanted to ask you about the Sirius radio show that you’re launching.

I’ve been going on Sirius for about 10 years. They’ve been trying to court me for a while. I said, if I do a radio show, this is it. I said I didn’t want to do a daily show. What I’m doing is, so I can do it anywhere, I’m going to pre-record them and save them up, and we’re going to do three series of 10 over the next year. I also didn’t want it to be just a radio show. It’s a podcast as well. Because of that, I’m going to try for it to be more timeless. It’s not going to be what was on the telly last night or what was in the news yesterday. It is much more, again, the big issues: comedy, music, life, death, but a funny chat going anywhere.

Are you excited to push buttons?

No harm should come from discussing taboo subjects. That’s how we move on. That’s when they’re taboo anymore. That’s the problem with dogma, it says don’t question this. That’s the death of humanity. People question everything. That’s what progress is. That’s why we’ve got art. That’s why we landed man on the moon. Because people question shit. That’s it in a nutshell. Question everything.

Well it’s awkward to say now, but that was my last question.

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TOUR REVIEW: Ricky Gervais’ ‘Humanity’ at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena

Last night (March 6th) saw comedian, actor, director, and writer Ricky Gervais bring his totally sold-out Humanity arena tour to Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena. The show was the first of two Cardiff dates.

The show started with opening act Doc Brown, although funny at times Doc struggled to get the Cardiff crowd laughing hysterically. The best part of his set was a rap about trying to put a duvet on the bed. Perhaps becoming a comedian who raps his jokes would be the best form of a career for Brown.

Then at around 8.30pm the main event had arrived. The lights dimmed and the arena grew to a hush as the capacity crowd awaited Gervais’ arrival. The music grew louder and eventually reached a crescendo as Ricky walked out to a huge roar from the Welsh audience.

As the night got underway with Ricky Gervais explaining he has “no idea” why he called his first stand-up tour in seven years Humanity as he “doesn’t like” and much prefers animals. The jokes were not for the easily offended as nobody and anything was safe from Gervais’ often shocking comedy style.

The Golden Globes, Caitlyn Jenner, children, Twitter and even his girlfriend Jane were targets for the comedian. Some of the jokes he was telling are not very good for retelling to your mates but they do make you laugh out loud.

The whole key of the show is Ricky reminding the audience that it is totally fine to laugh at anything and everything. In his words if you “can laugh at anything including yourself, you are bulletproof” wise words from a comedian who has earned millions by making people laugh at so called taboo subjects.

This is without doubt his most personal materiel, and even though at times the jokes are told for a shock factor there is always an underline of thought-provoking materiel. None of the materiel is told with malice and the crowd lapped up his unique satirical style.

As the evening drew to a close Ricky Gervais thanked the Cardiff crowd for being a great audience and left the stage to massive applause. The cheers were so loud that Gervais was welcomed back onto the stage for an encore.

The Humanity tour is not for the fainthearted or easily offended but if you are willing to go with the flow and laugh at anything then you are guaranteed a laugh-out-loud night out.

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Ricky Gervais interview: 'I don’t court controversy – I try to deal with truth'

‘the office’ and ‘extras’ creator sits down with the independent to talk offensive humour, outraged twitter users, and his new netflix special , article bookmarked.

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When you think about Ricky Gervais , how do you imagine him? As David Brent, the bumbling boss from The Office ? Perhaps as the depressed wannabe actor Andy Millman from Extras ? Or even the wisecracking, Karl Pilkington-mocking host of The Ricky Gervais Show ? During our fleeting moments together, Gervais comes across as an amalgamation of them all.

“Thanks for meeting me, it’s a real pleasure,” I say after introducing myself. “We’ll see about that,” he answers with a giggle. He then confesses to being unable to relax during any interview because he’s a control freak. “I do my own radio show, and if I say something stupid I can take it out. Not here because you’re in charge. Although my job is saying stupid things!” He giggles again.

Unfortunately, I was unable to catch the Humanity tour last year, instead watching a rough cut sent across by Netflix (“As it was intended,” he quips) who are releasing the filmed version. There are moments of genius throughout the special, some incredibly funny jokes. Just minutes into it and it becomes abundantly clear that some of these are going to cause controversy, one segment dedicated to discussing Caitlyn Jenner and transgender issues being an obvious touchy subject.

The routine starts with Gervais discussing his tenure as host of the Golden Globes, detailing one specific joke told during the 2016 ceremony – “I’m going to be nice,” he told the audience. ”I’ve changed. Not as much as Bruce Jenner, obviously. Now Caitlyn Jenner, of course.” Unsurprisingly, there was an immediate backlash online, people furiously posting their angry comments on social media. Rather than apologise, Gervais explained that automatically equating a joke about Jenner to being transphobic was the equivalent to suggesting Bill Cosby jokes were automatically racist.

During Humanity , the 56-year-old takes the gag one step further, impersonating the former Olympian and imagining Jenner speaking to a doctor about transitioning (following it up by mocking the initial backlash). It’s provocative and, Gervais admits, just waiting to be taken out of context by clickbait hungry blogs and thrown around Twitter.

“It gets in the way,” Gervais says of online outrage. “I don’t really court controversy because I like the truth more. I don’t like being labelled a shock comedian because I’ve never done that. I’ve had that ever since The 11 O’Clock Show , before they realised it was irony. That was until David Brent came out, and then people thought I was just like David Brent. Then Andy Millman came out.”

He continues: “For the first couple of years, every month someone said ‘It’s the end of his career.’ The first time it happens it worries you. The next couple you just think it’s ridiculous. I’ve got to break the law to end my career, or give up. And in light of what’s happened in the last couple of years, we’ve realised telling a rude joke is not the worst thing you can do in entertainment.”

Perched on a chair, Gervais speaks with urgency (later explaining he wanted to give me enough material to work with). He has, of course, told multiple controversial jokes throughout his career, not backing away from taboo subjects such as the Holocaust, Aids, and cancer. I ask whether he worries about people taking these jokes out of context, to which he offers a 500 word response – he seemingly has a lot to get off his chest.

One key point that comes up again and again is context, that people are willing to watch quick snippets of jokes rather than watch an entire routine. Humanity , as anyone who attended the live shows will have noticed, includes multiple footnotes and disclaimers from Gervais who insists these are merely jokes at single targets, not entire groups of people.

“I take the audience to places they haven’t been before,” he says. “The occupational hazard is someone not liking a subject. I don’t go out there saying the worst things possible, picking the worst things and saying ‘f**k you’. These are really considered jokes. I make them bulletproof so I can confidently and without guilt tell them because I can defend them. But I should not have to because that becomes a bit of a bore. When I fire back at people, I’m not saying, ‘Yes, it is offensive. deal with it.’ I’m saying, ‘I don’t think it is offensive. I think you may have misunderstood the target.’”

Gervais has always provoked a strong reaction. Some people detest The Office , finding David Brent a shambolic, sexist, racist figure beyond redemption. Others dislike Andy Millman, described by Radio Times as a “tasteless mess” despite Gervais gaining multiple Bafta nominations for the role. Previous standup shows, Animals , Politics , Fame , and Science , have also stirred up severe reactions.

“It’s a comedian’s job to provoke, but not for its own sake,” Gervais says. “Traditionally, we’re court jesters. We have low status, nothing to lose or gain. I’m more a court jester at the Golden Globes more than any other time. The room is filled with millionaires and I’ve got to play the idiot, to stick it to the man for the guy at home. I try to make it a spectator sport. The problem comes when they say, ‘You’re a millionaire entertainer.’ That is true, and because I try to deal with truth I can’t make a joke like ‘Argh, signed on yesterday. Bloody bus driver!’”

There are, Gervais says, two ways of keeping a lowly status despite being a multimillionaire (he reportedly sold Humanity and another standup show to Netflix for $40m). The first is to invite the audience into his life, telling true stories about being knocked down a peg or two. He offers an example: “I say, ‘Oh you think it’s cool having I private jet? Well, I hired a bloke and he thought I was the chef.’” The other is to joke about things money can’t help with: “Getting fat, growing old, and getting bald.”

By doing so, I say, Gervais attempts to appeal to the “everyman”. “I don’t appeal to every man,” he replies, “because I know that if you’re saying something not anodyne you’re going to divide. And you should. You should polarise, if you’re saying anything interesting, because people are different. But I know that if somebody gets the joke then the joke was getable. If everyone in the world does not get a joke, there’s something wrong with the joke.”

It’s a bad joke, then? “Exactly. The fact that 800,000 people are laughing at a joke and only one person finds it offensive – that’s regrettable but I’m not going to change the joke, because I stand by it. Feelings are personal and offence is about feelings. It’s going to happen. I remember a time I got a letter, I think during Politics . It was from a Jewish society. They said they loved my show but they said they were ‘disappointed by the jokes about Anne Frank’. I said, ‘I totally get that but, coincidently, you knew I was joking about Aids, famine, and cancer but did not like that I was talking about the Holocaust, because that’s too personal to you.’ They replied, ‘I see what you’re saying.’ Often people can’t see the wood through the trees.”

The subject of context comes back up, Gervais pointing out how the forum – whether the Golden Globes or during a standup show – can make or break a joke. Offending someone may also be a good thing, he continues, as it encourages a discussion around certain subjects. During Humanity , Gervais mentions how many conversations today are limited to tweets, described as shouting matches dictated by likes and retweets. I mention this and receive another lengthy, increasingly funny monologue (this time only 400 words long).

TV preview 2018: Everything to look out for

“There’s loads of problems with social media,” Gervais begins. “People say things they would not say to your face. They’re braver. They’re anonymous. It’s not a real conversation; it’s a terrorism. Trolls or hecklers – which is what they are – don’t want a conversation. They want you to have as bad a day as they’re having. If you get a nasty tweet, just look at the timeline. You will soon feel sorry for that person.”

Gervais compares trolls to cavemen who leave their handprint on a wall to say ‘I was here’, calling them “frustrated because no one listens to them”. However, a worrying new trend has begun: elevating these people to minor celebrities.

“When other people do listen, trolls suddenly get addicted to it,” Gervais says. “They realise that they’ve been invited onto This Morning because they said a terrible thing. Now they’re going to say another terrible thing to get invited back on. It’s this cyclical thing. There’s no difference now between fame and infamy...”

Before social media, people would have to write a complaints letter if they were annoyed. “If you did not like something on the BBC, you’d have to get a pen and paper and go ‘Dear BBC… Oh f**k it I can’t be bothered.’ Now you can tweet something that gets picked up, retweeted, and it suddenly becomes news. It should not be news. The news should not be coming round your house and listening to you argue with your mate, but they can see what you’re doing on Twitter. It’s shouting out of a window. It’s reading every toilet wall in the world at once. And there are some good things on toilet walls, and some bad things. We need to know the difference.”

As you can see, much of our conversation concerns – as the Netflix special does – humanity and human nature, whether that’s wanting to be heard or being offended by a joke about something personal. Considering the state of humanity at the moment, particularly politics, the name of the show seems very fitting.

“It’s funny, because I had the name before this last year happened,” he says. “The joke of having these academic titles was that I was a pompous comedian. But Humanity became accidentally a little bit relevant and zeitgeist-y and – dare I say it – more seriously than my other stuff. When Brexit and Donald Trump first happened I was halfway through warm-ups.”

Gervais confesses that he’s never been overtly interested in politics before, but calls the present time “the most exciting year in politics”. He wakes up and searches the names “Muller” and “Trump” every morning. “It’s strange that it’s him,” the comedian continues. “It could be worse; Trump could be clever. We’ll look back at this and say, ‘Thank f**k it was Trump and not someone really smart.’”

Despite this, jokes about Trump and Brexit were kept out of the show for the most part, Gervais wanting to keep the message succinct. As a result, he believes Humanity marks his finest standup work yet (“that’s really hard for me to say”), and all because of the approach. Rather than begin Humanity like an Edinburgh show or a TV episode, as he did for past productions, Gervais decided to develop the material while on the road.

“I discovered that writing it was largely a waste of time compared to performing it,” he says. “If I spend 10 hours writing something, half of the jokes would not work. But if I spent 10 hours performing, in 10 hours they would all work. With standup, you instantly know whether something works or doesn’t. An audience picks your best hour for you, and they don’t even have to think about it – if they laugh, it stays in.”

That’s not to say Gervais will do anything for a laugh. “Sometimes I feel guilty about a laugh,” he says. “Not because there’s something wrong about it morally, but because it’s too easy. You feel like a cheat.” The jokes, he explains, must stand on their own, making a memorable impact on an audience member.

“And you want it to get nice reviews,” he adds. “They don’t make much difference to me anymore, these days, but I’d be lying if I said I did not prefer a five-star review to a one-star. You want everything; you want it to sell out in a minute, to be the biggest tour, the most fun tour, you want it to be nominated for an Emmy and the five-star review. You want the world.”

And you want it on Netflix, I say. “And you want it on Netflix,” he replies, giving out another giggle. “In fact, I would give all that up for what Netflix paid.”

‘Humanity’ is available on Netflix from 13 March​

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Ricky Gervais' Humanity tour is coming to Belfast next year for TWO nights

Gervais is making his return to stand-up for the first time in seven years

• 09:59, 1 DEC 2016

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Comedian Ricky Gervais is bringing his brand new live show Humanity to Belfast’s Waterfront this March for two nights only.

Considered one of the most influential British comedians since Charlie Chaplin, Ricky Gervais is returning to the stage with his first stand-up tour in seven years: Humanity.

Creator and star of The Office, Gervais will perform over two nights at Belfast's Waterfront Hall on 28 and 29 March, 2017.

2016 has been a busy year for Ricky Gervais, with the cinematic and DVD release of David Brent: Life On The Road , the release of David Brent & Foregone Conclusion - Life On The Road the album, the launch of Special Correspondents on Netflix as well as the publication of the David Brent Songbook and the hosting of the Golden Globes for a 4th time.

2017 begins with Ricky Gervais’s return to stand-up. His 2007 stand up show ‘Fame’ became the fastest selling UK stand-up show in history with 100,000 tickets for his London shows going in 9 minutes!

Tickets go on sale TOMORROW - Friday 2 December at 10am from Waterfront Hall box office or via Ticketmaster outlets nationwide.

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