Comedian Ricky Gervais Says He ‘Deals With Taboo Subjects’ In His Shows And ‘Smart People’ Can ‘Deal With Anything’

Comedian Ricky Gervais talked about how he “deals with taboo subjects” at his shows like AIDS, Adolf Hitler, and cancer as he claimed “smart people” can deal with anything, particularly when it comes to irony.

During the 60-year-old’s appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” Tuesday, the host asked Gervais if he had to change his jokes for his new stand-up show “SuperNature” for Netflix. Gervais said he had started working on material for the special at the end of 2018, but the pandemic interfered with his progress.

“‘It was always evolving,” Gervais shared. “There was a thought, ‘Will this be out of date?’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.”

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

WATCH:

“Boo! Not Hitler!” he added, laughing facetiously. “It was a long time ago.”

“Like, you don’t go to a Ricky Gervais concert for just feel good,” Colbert interjected.

“No, they do feel good, and the aim is to make them laugh and they do laugh, but they know that I deal with taboo subjects,” “The Office” star admitted. “But I deal with taboo subjects because I want to take the audience to a place it hasn’t been before and there is a tension.”

“And I think people get offended when they mistake the subject of a joke with the actual target, and smart people know you can deal with anything, particularly when dealing with something like irony,” he added. “Humor gets us over bad stuff. That’s why I laugh about terrifying bad things. You know, that’s why comedians are obsessed with death because, you know, it gets us through…it’s an inoculation to the real things that are going to happen.”

Gervais previously admitted he wants to “try and get cancelled” with his next stand-up show, reported U.K. magazine Heat.

“One thing I’ve decided to definitely do, and can’t wait to start on, is my new stand-up show, which is going to be called Armageddon,” Gervais shared. “I’m treating it like it’s my last one ever. 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.”

“It’s 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 added.

SuperNature will be available on Netflix on May 24.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases