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Ricky Gervais jokes he wants to ‘try and get cancelled’ with new stand-up show

‘I’m treating it like it’s my last one ever,’ comedian said

Peony Hirwani
Tuesday 01 February 2022 10:48 GMT
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Ricky Gervais discusses cancel culture

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Ricky Gervais has joked that he “wants to try and get cancelled” with his new stand-up show Armageddon.

The 60-year-old comedian told Mirror that he cannot “wait to start on” his new stand-up show.

“I’m treating it like it’s my last one ever,” Gervais said. “It won’t be, but I want to put everything into it. I want to try and get cancelled. No, I just want to go all out there.”

“[Armageddon] is about the end of the world and how we’re going to destroy ourselves for lots of reasons, whether it’s media stupidity, or the actual end of the world,” he continued.

In his Wall Street Journal profile published on Monday (31 January), Gervais expanded on why no subject should be “off-limits” when it comes to comedy.

“There’s no subject you shouldn’t joke about,” he said. “It depends on the joke. As a journalist, there’s nothing you wouldn’t write about. It depends on your angle, right? I think a lot of this pious offence comes from people mistaking the target of the joke with the subject.”

Ricky Gervais in ‘After Life’
Ricky Gervais in ‘After Life’ (Netflix)

“You can joke about anything, but it depends on what the actual target is. If you use irony and people see that at face value and think you’re saying one thing but you’re actually saying the opposite,” he added.

Most recently, Gervais wrote and featured on season three of the comedy-drama series After Life.

Last week, the frequent Golden Globes host revealed what the ending of After Life season three means amid fan confusion.

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