Ricky Gervais talks ahead of Birmingham show

The Office star – still best known for playing David Brent – is playing dates in America, Canada and Europe on a 37-date tour. He’ll call at Birmingham’s Barclaycard Arena on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“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,” Ricky explains.

“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.”

Ricky’s glad that the tour has travelled to North America with fans getting the chance to see him in Canada.

“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 five-star hotel with a helipad.)”

Humanity has been described as Ricky’s most personal show and has also been dubbed his best and most considered so far.

There are stories about his Uncle Reg, his prankster brother Bob, their mother’s funeral, and life growing up on a Reading council estate. The gist of the routine is that we’re all just animals and Ricky has been unafraid to wind-up a variety of subjects.

He hopes people will queue in line for the show because it may be his last.

And he’s found rich pickings in tumultuous political times that have been dominated by Trump and Brexit.

“Let’s not even talk about Trump and Brexit. Damn. I just did. I chose the best and worst year to return to stand up. It’s great in the sense that there’s lots of stuff for me to rant about, but it’s bad in the sense that my ‘schtick’ has always been playing the arrogant, misinformed know-it-all, who says the wrong thing.

“It’s worked well for me. But now I worry half the room agrees with those things without seeing the irony. It’s a tricky one. Still. Humanity is turning out to be my best stand up yet. I think it’s because truth is so important now.

“The general theme seems to be me moaning about everything in the world from the most privileged position imaginable.

“I want this to be my best show ever and possibly my last. Never say never, but with that attitude it will make me put every ounce of my soul into it.

“It’ll probably take over a year to play everywhere in the world I want to play though. I’m also thinking of not being so eager to commit the show to DVD or TV special, so that I can tour it for longer.”

 Ricky began his career as a new wave singer in the 1980s with a band called Seona Dancing and he also worked as manager of the then-unknown 1990s band Suede. He appeared on The 11 O’Clock Show, on Channel 4, before being given his own show, Meet Ricky Gervais. However, his fame followed his greatest hit, The Office, which itself was followed by Extras.

The Office, a mockumentary based in Swindon, was written by Ricky and pal Stephen Merchant about the day-to-day lives of employees in the fictitious branch of Wernham Hogg Paper Company – managed by the inimitable David Brent.

It ran for two series with a pair of 45-minute Christmas specials and was aired around the world. The trivialities of the lives of office workers were brought to the fore, creating a different type of comedy.

The show made Ricky an international star and won the Golden Globes for Best TV Series and Best Performance by an Actor. It proved to be the gateway to America for Ricky, who subsequently made Life’s Too Short and An Idiot Abroad, and Derek.

Ricky revisited David Brent last year with Life On The Road and two gigs at Hammersmith Apollo, which sold out in record time. He says: “The two David Brent gigs at the Hammersmith Apollo sold out in 12 minutes, and there were more than 100,000 more requests for tickets. Mental.”

The project featured a hit film that showed how David had moved on since his days at Wernham Hogg.

“The goings on at Wernham Hogg were based on those quaint doc soaps of the 90s, where ordinary people got their 15 minutes of fame then got back to normal life. Now, reality shows reflect a new ruthlessness towards being famous, where people are willing to live their life like an open wound to stay in the limelight.

“David is pretty much the same but the world has changed around him. I think people will feel a bit more empathy towards him now he’s older, more tragic and nicer than today’s average rep in this new dog-eat-dog environment. He’s still an embarrassing prat but deep down he’s OK.”

Becky Humphries, spokeswoman for the Barclaycard Arena, added: “Considered one of the most influential British comedians since Charlie Chaplin, Ricky Gervais is returning to stage with his first stand-up tour in seven years: Humanity.

“Ricky is an award-winning stand-up comedian with four international tours to date. His 2007 stand up show Fame. It became the fastest selling UK stand-up show, so this is set to be one of the year’s hottest tickets.”