One of the world’s most controversial comedians is back.
Ricky Gervais has announced the title of his new comedy special and revealed that he is set to embark on a world tour.
The new show will be called Mortality, and will tour arenas from later this year until the end of 2025, although no dates have yet been announced.
Speaking about the title, Gervais said: “We’re all gonna die. May as well have a laugh about it. Mortality looks at the absurdities of life. And death. Bring it on.”
The Office creator is currently on a mini tour around the UK, trialing material for the new special. You can watch him perform in small venues like the Leicester Square Theatre and the Cambridge Corn Exchange.
Gervais bagged himself a world record with one of his stand-up performances on his last tour – Armageddon.
The stand-up’s show at the Hollywood Bowl in LA on May 6 this year grossed a whopping £1,410,000 ($1,790,206.50) – the highest gross for a single stand-up performance ever.
Congratulations to @rickygervais – his Armageddon tour date at Hollywood Bowl in LA has the highest gross for a single stand-up performance 👏https://t.co/Jg0q3Gtz4Z
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) September 4, 2023
Along with Emmys, Golden Globes and BAFTAs, Gervais can now add a world record to his collection of accolades thanks to the history-making show in California.
Speaking about the record, the British comic said: “As if packing out The Hollywood Bowl wasn’t enough, now Guinness World Records wants to put me in their big book. What a year!”
Netflix reportedly pays Gervais around $20million for each special he records for them, with Armageddon one of the most-watched shows on the platform to launch last year.
The special, which dropped on Christmas Day, features some controversial jokes that have divided opinion, with one joke even prompting a petition for Netflix to remove it from the show.
Ricky Gervais' Next Tour and Netflix Special Is 'Mortality': 'We’re All Gonna Die, May As Well Have a Laugh About It' https://t.co/OsojgD3Npd
— Variety (@Variety) June 27, 2024
But it seems like Gervais didn’t think this was the most outrageous joke from the set, as there was one that he claimed to have thought of on the spot and initially didn’t want to tell because he thought it was “too offensive.”
Spoiler alert: he decided to tell it anyway.
During his performance, Gervais told the audience: “I just thought of a joke then, I can’t do it, it is actually too offensive.”
After a split second of being urged by the crowd to tell the joke though, he says: “Alright, I’ll do it, but remember you can’t choose your own thoughts, and I just had this thought.
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“Ok, Chinese paedophile goes after a little Chinese kid and goes ‘do you want a puppy?’ and the kid goes ‘I’m not hungry’.”
The gag got a big laugh from the audience, who lapped up Gervais’ ‘edgy’ material.
Along with jokes about terminally ill children and the Chinese, Gervais also took a dig at James Corden in his show.
