Ricky Gervais proves he really doesn’t care about his legacy in crass Netflix special Mortality

Despite its weighty title, ‘Mortality’ captures the co-creator of ‘The Office’ grumbling about his perceived critics and everyday annoyances, Kevin E G Perry finds

I had high hopes when I heard that Ricky Gervais’s new blockbuster Netflix stand-up special is titled mortality">Mortality. The idea of the sharp comic mind behind genius television such as The Office and Extras applying itself scalpel-like to the deepest questions of the human condition seemed full of rich promise. The reality, a parade of mundane whinges peppered with controversy bait, is rather more blunt.

Some of history’s greatest comedians have wrestled meaning and laughter from the topic of our inevitable demise, from George Carlin’s timeless routine suggesting we all get a two-minute warning to Norm Macdonald railing against having to talk about “battling cancer” instead of just getting sick and dying. Gervais, who is now 64, has himself explored grief in his series After Life. But if he has anything new to contribute on this darkest and most profound of subjects, then this special provides no evidence. In Mortality, death is barely an afterthought.

Gervais says as much near the end of his hour-long set, noting: “It wasn’t about death, it’s about life.” Specifically, though, it’s about Gervais’s life as a wealthy and revered stand-up, which largely involves settling petty grievances against those who make annoying noises in his presence and erecting straw man critics that allow him to play the role of noble defender of free speech.

He opens this special, as he did Armageddon two years ago, by pointing out how “all the complaints” and calls to “ban it” have only succeeded in making his shows number one on Netflix. Later on, he refers to the “elitists” he’s pretending are trying to silence him. It’s worth remembering that on top of its massive ratings and millions in ticket sales, Armageddon won the Golden Globe for Best Stand-Up. Mortality has already been nominated for next year’s awards. Gervais was recently given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Are these elitists in the room with us, Ricky? After all his success, continuing to bang on about the supposed threat of cancel culture sounds a lot like something Gervais claims to abhor: playing the victim.

As for Mortality, it’s unlikely this new set will provoke as many complaints as 2022’s SuperNature, which was described by an LGBTQ+ charity as “dangerous, anti-trans rants masquerading as jokes”. To his credit, perhaps cognisant of James Acaster’s viral bit mocking him for making the trans community the subject of so many jokes, he manages to make it through this whole new hour without returning to the subject.

Ricky Gervais laughs onstage during his latest Netflix special 'Mortality' (Netflix)

Instead, the topics he uses to court controversy on this outing are so timeworn they might be antiques. There’s a whole routine about reclaiming “gammon” as a white man’s alternative to the n-word, and telling Black people they can’t say it, that feels positively ancient. I’m sure Gervais would argue that the joke isn’t about racism, but about double standards, but for it to work, you’d have to be entirely oblivious of the history of the n-word. Gervais appeals for us to judge the language he uses in the context he’s using it, but is then happy to ignore the wider historical context himself in the hope of scoring an awkward laugh.

It’s not that Gervais is himself racist, he obviously isn’t. It’s more that his jokes on the subject lack any kind of nuance. At one point, he argues that social justice warriors are merely reflecting the values of their age, saying: “People say things like: ‘Oh, I’m anti-racist.’ Yeah, well done, we all are. We know that’s the way to be now.” In a world where everyone truly did agree to be anti-racist, he might have a point, but in this imperfect one what can you say in response except: “Er, have you looked at the news lately?”

Golden Globe-winning millionaire comedian Gervais, who says 'elitists' are trying to silence him, pictured laughing all the way to the bank (Netflix)

There are parts of Mortality that really shine. The picture Gervais draws of Stephen Hawking on Epstein’s island is sharp and pointed, and there remains from his days as David Brent a wonderful physicality to his performance, whether he’s miming being so old that even prison rapists would no longer find him attractive, or showing us how he’d hungrily suck c**ks in hell (after seeing The Exorcist) on the basis that as jobs in hell go, there are surely worse ones.

What there is not, in Mortality, is much in the way of self-reflection. Gervais says repeatedly during his set that this is “my most honest and confessional show so far”, but there’s little in the material to back that up. Perhaps he’s referring to his “behind-the-curtain” glimpse at hosting the Golden Globes that mostly boils down to an Alan Partridge-esque anecdote about getting one over on the fusty lawyers who insisted on bleeping the word “minge” by pointing at his crotch when he said it. Needless to say, he had the last laugh.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

In 'Mortality', Gervais portrays himself as a brave defender of free speech (Netflix)

There’s a short bit about telling a journalist he wants to be fed to the lions at London Zoo after he dies (he doesn’t really), and a few grumbles about the pains of getting older, but overall there’s arguably less contemplation of his actual mortality than in Armageddon. Back then, he reflected: “We all die. We all know we’re going to die, and we all do die,” but maintained that he refused to plan an actual funeral because: “F*** my legacy. You can’t plan your legacy.” Gervais is one of the funniest comedy writers Britain has ever produced, but judging by this material, he really isn’t kidding about not caring about his legacy.

In Mortality’s most earnest moment, Gervais says: “Whatever side of the political fence you’re on, we should all agree that free speech is still a really good thing.” Free speech is indeed a great thing, and Gervais has been handsomely rewarded for using his. He even manages to work in a plug for his vodka brand before the set is over. He’s won awards, been celebrated around the world and, as he likes to remind us, has made so much money he now lives in a mansion. But what good is free speech, really, if you don’t have anything worth saying?

‘Mortality’ is out now on Netflix