Top 10 Ricky Gervais Moments

If you didn’t know already, one of Gervais’ most famous characters, David Brent, thinks himself a bit of a musician - prompting the ex-office manager to fund his own album, tour and music videos. Enter “Lady Gypsy”. It all starts off very cheesy and ‘90s boy band, but soon, in true Brent fashion, inappropriate themes creep in out of nowhere - prostitution being one of them. The wide eyed glares, false smiles, rolled up sleeves, neck bandana! All Classic Brent. God, the songs actually quite catchy as well.

You may know this Irish actor for his uber serious work in “Schindler’s List”, “Taken” and “Batman Begins” - and it’s that back catalogue that makes this scene so memorable. Playing a version of himself in the self-deprecating “Life’s Too Short” series, Neeson sits with Gervais and plays out a series of improv sketches, which Neeson clearly doesn’t get the gist of. Watching Gervais tip-toe around the acting heavyweight, trying not to offend him, is priceless. And Gervais’ acknowledgement of the fact that he can get away with offensive jokes is brilliant as well.

Throughout the series of “The Office”, Brent’s always wisecracking his way through the working day, most of the time accidentally at the expense of others. When his associate Chris Finch is around though, Brent more often than not becomes the butt of the jokes. Putting it down to classic banter, Brent lets the low blows go, that is until the Christmas party. When Finch makes a joke about Brent’s date, he decides he’s had enough, and finally puts him in his place… Nice one David.

Gervais is a well-known social assassin at award ceremonies - and the Golden Globes have proven to be one of his most deadly platforms. He has some complicated relationships with many different celebrities, including Mel Gibson, who he’s called out on numerous occasions. We were going to go with Gervais’ Jewish shout, but it’s his sly alcohol dig that makes the list. Beer in hand, Gervais subtly brings up Gibson’s alcohol abuse before introducing him to the stage. Brutal.

We’re rolling with the punches to another blink and you’ll miss it awards night shaming as Gervais sets his sights on “Titanic” actress Kate Winslet. Congratulating her on winning an Oscar for a recent film, Gervais nonchalantly says that holocaust-themed films are guaranteed awards. As everyone claps, frowns and laughs, nobody’s quite sure what to say. So, naturally Gervais picks it up himself with a monologue debating how offensive the joke really was.

Yeah, this one is as edgy as they come. Gervais has some killer stand-up material, most of which is close to the bone and based on highly controversial issues, including religion, sexual orientation, race and in this case, peodaohillia. As with many of Gervais’ contentious jokes, it starts out as a serious and shocking story - only to spontaneously morph into something dark and sinister. People go to watch him to be shocked - and he never disappoints.

Hired, for some reason, by a consultancy firm to deliver a motivational speaking session for a group of paying punters, Brent delivers exactly what you’d expect him to. Naff jokes - some of which are offensive - weird analogies and sporadic laughter, the speech certainly doesn’t motivate, but it definitely entertains us. If his motivational techniques weren’t bad enough, Brent even makes a meal of a photo opportunity and plays himself out to Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best”. What a legend.

Back to the awards again where Gervais ridicules pretty much every celeb to ever win an Emmy. Presenting one of the night’s awards, Gervais mocks the narcissism and photographic rituals of the ceremonies, asking for an Emmy to be brought on stage for him to pose and cry dramatically whilst holding it. As well as being classic tongue and cheek Gervais, it also showcases his convincing acting chops and shows us that he can give almost anything his own special brand of comedy.

David Brent likes to be the centre of attention - so when Neil, Brent’s boss, performs an elaborate “Saturday Night Fever” dance for Red Nose Day, his feathers naturally get a bit ruffled. Jealous that Neil has stolen the limelight and been the main source of comic relief, Brent simply can’t let it go, which triggers his own impromptu dance session which is… well… the clapping quickly fades and we’re left with nothing but Brent’s aggressive, er, humming.

Anyone who’s heard of “The Office” UK has probably heard about the US spin-off by the same name - something that’s sparked debate for years. When lead of “The Office” US, Steve Carell, accepted an Emmy award on Gervais’ behalf, rumours developed about how Carell had failed to give it to him. Following the event, Gervais questioned Carell in front of a packed Emmy crowd to ask for his award back - and it was incredibly awkward. Not to worry, the two are good friends and the whole thing was planned. Classic.