Being on the edge isn't as safe, but the view is better Ricky Gervais More Quotes by Ricky Gervais More Quotes From Ricky Gervais The most important thing in comedy - apart from empathy, which I think is important even if disguised - is surprise. I like surprising people with the fact that something's even a joke at all. Ricky Gervais empathy people thinking I want to get all the nations of the world together, it doesn't matter what colour or creed, and I want to sit them down and say: "Guys, The Office is still available on DVD." Ricky Gervais dvds guy office I think, as a comedian, the funniest you can be is with people you know, and [whom] you've known for years, in a pub. That's as funny as you get, and so the aim [while stand-up] is to get that funny on stage with 5,000 strangers, to get that funny in a room where people shouldn't be listening but they are. Ricky Gervais people years thinking You want to see the people you've sort of come to know and love, or love to hate, you want to see them develop in some way. And I hope people get sort of caught up in that arc. Ricky Gervais and-love hate people I don't do anything for the money. Ricky Gervais play jobs Daniel Day-Lewis would play me as a baby. He can do anything. Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt are fighting out for me now. And Meryl Streep will play me after the sex change. I haven't told you about that, have I? Ricky Gervais fighting baby sex When people say to me: would you rather be thought of as a funny man or a great boss? My answer's always the same, to me, they're not mutually exclusive. Ricky Gervais boss men people Everything you do is autobiographical. Yeah, I grew up in a town called Redding and I had older brothers and sisters so it's all my memories of growing up. Ricky Gervais growing-up brother memories Popularity and democracy aren't a judge, they're just stats. Ricky Gervais popularity democracy judging I've got three friends that you'd call famous, but I'm sure after 20 years, most of my friends will be famous or work in television, because that's the nature of what your work is. When I was working in an office, most of my friends worked in offices. Ricky Gervais three office years It's going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking. Or as Charlie Sheen calls it: Breakfast. Ricky Gervais party drinking night Whatever else is happening, things are better in the sun. Ricky Gervais happenings sun That's what being nervous and sort of out of your comfort zone does. It's the same in "The Office" when a black guy comes to the office and all he thinks is `I better show this guy I'm not a racist.' So what does he do? Only talks about black issues. Ricky Gervais issues office thinking For every wacky postcard, there's a million people waiting to buy it, and for every $10 million of those things, there's one Rembrandt. Purposely, I think I want to aim at doing something that a lot of people won't like. I'm just worried that it looks like I've compared my work with Rembrandt. "Gervais says he's better than Rembrandt!". Ricky Gervais waiting people thinking Just looking at all the faces here reminds me of some of the great work that was done this year . . . by cosmetic surgeons. Ricky Gervais done faces years If I do eat meat, it's got to be ethical. I want to know that it lived a great life before it was killed humanely. Ricky Gervais ethical meat want The truth doesn't hurt. Whatever it is, it doesn't hurt. It's better to know the truth. Ricky Gervais hurt knows The terrible thing in England is if you interview a thousand people, five hundred of them will talk like they're going into a Guy Ritchie movie and the other five hundred will be Mr. Darcy. So we had to find cool, working class kids with no profile who could be John Travolta and James Dean and people like that. Ricky Gervais class kids people Same-sex marriage is not a gay privilege, it's equal rights. Ricky Gervais gay rights sex I remember one review of The Office Christmas Special that compared it unfavourably to Dickens. What? You're saying I'm not as good as the greatest storyteller ever. Boo! Boo! I think I can live with that. Ricky Gervais office special thinking