Ricky Gervais at Colston Hall Review

Posted on: 2018-01-11

Our rating:

The thing about Ricky is, he has a way of making you laugh about inappropriate shenanigans without making you feel like a fiend and as he so clearly said: “Remember – you’re not a bad person just because you laugh at bad things."


With my face literally wet from the tears I cried due to persistent, unrelenting giggling and my husband next to me claiming he felt sick because he couldn’t stop laughing, it’s clear that the Ricky Gervais gig at Bristol’s Colston Hall on Wednesday night (10th January) is going to remain in the audience members’ memories for a long time.

Ricky

Hilarious, close to the bone and dark – this gig was just so damn good that it’s hard to convey its awesomeness through this review; as soon as Ricky stepped onto the stage and waved his arrival at the sold out crowd, we all knew we were in for a treat and people started chuckling to themselves before he even uttered his first word.

 

This was a poignant evening because he started his fifth UK stand-up tour at the Colston Hall and is finishing it there as well (the last gig is the 11th of January and it’s at the same Bristol venue). His previous tours were called ‘Science’, ‘Fame’, ‘Politics’ and ‘Animals’ but he just keeps getting better and slicker, with this tour being an absolute gem in a sea of comedic offerings. It’s hard to quantify just how fantastic he is as a performer but the fact that he looks so comfortable on stage just adds to his appeal. It’s surprising that there was such a big gap between his fourth stand-up tour and this one because he looks like he belongs on a stage (he has been off doing lots of other things of course but there’s nothing quite like seeing him live in concert.)

 

We heard about every subject that is taboo and he made us squirm in our seats when he tackled talking points that we tend to shy away from, but that’s part of his star quality – he dares to bring it up and keep on about it until we really get the message loud and clear.

Ricky Gervais

Among the many things covered, we heard about his feud with Caitlyn Jenner (formerly known as Bruce) and how he should have not gone for certain Twitter exchanges but he couldn’t help himself. “I should have left it there” was a regular statement occurrence throughout the night. He also gave us three distinct reasons why he will never have kids, told us how he hates looking at photos of other people’s offspring, how he was angered by someone having a nut allergy on a plane which resulted in him missing out on eating his favourite snack and how he would rather have Hitler at his dinner party than a little girl with food tolerances.

 

We also learned about some personal events in Ricky’s life, such as what happened at his late mother’s funeral and how his older brother Bob has been a big influence to him; he even got serious for a second when he spoke about how terrible animal cruelty is (his expression changing instantly.)

 

But it was his detailed story about his Uncle Reginald that is the most clear in my head and is making me laugh even as I write these words; this member of the family had always been bald and one day turned up on the doorstep wearing a ridiculous Elvis style wig which he claimed was his own hair. No one in the family brought it up, a silence descended on the Gervais gang forever more and yet everyone knew there was no way that Uncle Reg had sprouted those hairs naturally. All photos of Uncle Reg holding any child after the wig was installed spoke volumes.

 

The thing about Ricky is, he has a way of making you laugh about inappropriate shenanigans without making you feel like a fiend and as he so clearly said when the show came to an end: “Remember – you’re not a bad person just because you laugh at bad things.” It’s true, it’s so often a case of laugh or cry when it comes to what goes on in our world and it’s far better to smile than be serious.



Article by:

Kelly Jobanputra

Kelly worked as a journalist for the BBC for 12 years before she changed careers and went into the field of marketing. Having worked at BBC 6 Music for several years, she is passionate about many different genres of sound. Her other interests include theatre, comedy, books, food and days out with the family (she has a young daughter who she describes as a "whirlwind of fun.") Kelly is married to Vik who is a true Bristolian to the core! She is also studying nutritional therapy.