Ricky G : about as funny as a stint in hell

Number 1 on Netflix and now an Emmy winner but for me Armageddon didn’t deliver laughs. It just left me feeling empty and miserable for humanity and what we have become. The precipice came just that little bit closer last night and the dystopian descent was accelerated. My allergic reaction to Ricky G's recent offering has absolutely nothing to do with me being woke or unwoke. Contrary to what Mr Gervais may think - it's not about me - it's about him.

I have been a huge fan of Ricky's work in the past, so of course I watched it. It's Ricky. Gervais. Stirring the atheist pot and launching on Christmas Day. What's not to love? But this time, unlike all others, I loathed the majority of it. I twitched at the mercenary tone and just switched it on and off. I endured it. And then I simply hated it for all it represented and the impact it will have in an already hate-filled world.

The experience left me asking if I am seeing just another part of civilisation collapsing or if he is just a tone-deaf relic I have outgrown. Where joking about dying kids, sexual abuse, AID's, trans, refugees and rape is now considered normal. A world where nothing is off limits as long as it gets a laugh and makes someone a lot of cash.

Where audiences pay good money to collectively feel they can laugh at anyone and ridicule whoever they like. Gervais has wrongly assumed his audience has the mental sophistication to unpack his 'humour' and sadly most wont. It will just be used to justify the human hate train in workplaces, schools and homes across the globe. Mr Gervais has grossly overestimated the intelligence and critical faculties of humanity.

It is rehashed comedy at best and malignantly malicious at worst. Why? Because Gervais leads us to believe these are just words that we are offended by. Just words. And words are meaningless and who cares who we offend, because we are all going to die anyway. That's right - newsflash - we all die, so who cares? Just say what you want. He sells his brand of Ricky G nihilism and misanthropy while raking in the cash and being an animal advocate. 'Look at me caring for puppies and pussy cats who have no voice' while piling shit on entire swathes of humans that also have no voice.

Punching down on the vulnerable, the disabled, the dying, the marginalised, immigrants and kids while saying what a great guy he is for donating his cash to the animals. This is a bullshit schtick of the highest order. Save the animals but shit on humanity and call it satire.

It's not edgy or funny - it's lazy as fuck , malevolent comedy that is being 'sold' as 'satire'. It is weak gags for 12-year-old

bullies. Pick on the little guy - get a harsh group laugh and if you don't laugh along its your own woke fault. Make it about the audience not being 'open-minded' enough then get a good audience pile on going. Kaching! Money in the bank and sold-out stadiums.

But in the end, he gets the last cynical laugh as always. It's Mr Gervais who walks away laughing the loudest with fuller pockets. Telling us how sad it is he is being cancelled yet having one of the highest-grossing comedy stints ever. While leaving behind a trail of bullying and division in his wake which he takes no responsibility for. Good for you Ricky! Handing all that cash to the cute little puppies and pussy cats. But what about all the kids and humans that are going to have to hear your 'jokes' being retold by assholes?

Dave Chapelle once said he was getting his laughs 'in all the wrong places' (still does) and he decided to rethink his comedy career. Clearly he is still thinking. Gervais is now the current King and Master of wrong. The joke is on us and he knows it. He has made millions from telling us we are woke and unwoke - that 'we' are the problem if we don’t get the joke. When really it is he that is profiting from old sicko humour and magnifying what is wrong with the world. He knows what he is doing. He knows the effect it will have. He simply doesn’t give a shit anymore. He can afford to do that.

Unlike what he tells us - words are weapons. They are not benign. They can be loaded and pointed at any target. These are human beings and human experiences he is mocking, spitting on and taunting. Most dangerously, his audiences now relish being part of his anti-woke rally without any repercussions. Because it's all hidden behind the guise of ‘comedy’. Gervais is simply amplifying those that don't require it. There is enough polarisation in the world without his misanthropic, multi-millionaire self selling more of it to a captive audience. Listening to his braying crowd was just like witnessing a schoolyard bully convention. No - not everything is for the taking comedically. Not everything can or should be laughed at. They are not 'just words'.

Finally, I will tell you a thing about satire Mr. Gervais.

Satire is there to dismantle and question power structures that don't serve the common good. Satire does not amplify them. Satire is sophisticated and has context - it doesn't throw low blows at the vulnerable and the nameless. Satire destabilises but doesn't deliberately demean. Satire remains human in an inhumane world.

You lost me Mr. Gervais.

Armageddon is upon us in many ways and Ricky Gervais has helped that along.