Ricky Gervais Out of England: The Stand-Up Special (DVD)

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Ricky Gervais has made me do something I never thought possible: to laugh through a minefield of topics I never thought it was alright to laugh at. In his "Out of England-The Stand-Up Special," the comedian tackles AIDS, obesity, Hitler and cancer, among others, seemingly without breaking a sweat or being offensive.

In the bonus material, Gervais spends some time explaining his comedy philosophy. One, he tries to say the things the audience is thinking but won´t articulate. And two, the performer needs to likeable in order to not sound discriminatory to his subjects. Indeed Gervais is immediately sympathetic from the moment he takes the stage. There isn´t a swagger about him, no grandiose aura or feeling he is superior to everyone. No, he´s an everyman, someone we could run into at the bar…excuse me, pub…or grocery shopping. He demeans himself in order to get a laugh. And, from my personal opinion, he´s ten times funnier than Jerry Seinfeld ever could be.

His routine starts with talking about his charity work, a recurring theme from beginning to end. Again, the idea isn´t for him to puff out his chest or make himself look good; he uses the charity work as the source of humor. Take, for instance, the time he autographed memorabilia for a terminally ill teenager. The young man was 18 at the time. Gervais came back to do another fundraiser two years later, when the person in question would have been 20. The comedian recognized him, made sure it was the same patient and promptly kicked him out.

Now, I don´t buy for a second anyone got kicked out of the performance. He even mentions this is the extras: the ability to play the role of a bastard without actually being one. See, comedy isn´t only about being able to deliver a punch line; it´s about slipping into and out of a role when the material demands it. This is why "Out of England" works so well. Unlike Rosanne Barr-who may very well be a crude person in real life-Gervais doesn´t come off as one. That´s why he´s able to mock obese people mercilessly and not have the audience sit with their mouths agape.

The obesity portion of the show may be the funniest bit Gevais does. By saying the decidedly un-politically correct, he drains the pretentiousness out of the room, indicating he´s just like the rest of us. While pudgy himself, he´s good natured about it, recounting lines used in newspapers and online to reference him. Sure, the routine could launch into a tirade against these kind of people, but that´s not who Gevais is. As a comedian, he sees the inherent comedy all around him-even when it´s reflected in the mirror.

"Out of England" starts to lose some of its zip around the 45 minute mark, as most comedy specials tend to. The material becomes a bit predictable and one bit about safe sex for gay men is terribly unfunny, not to mention overlong. I liken this phenomenon to talking with an elderly relative. The stories are fascinating and awe-inspiring for a half hour, maybe a bit more, but then you need to get up, walk around, hear someone else talk, grab some pop from the refrigerator…something other than be regaled with memories of The Crimean War (FYI: That conflict occurred from 1853-1856; yeah, that was intended as a bit of lame humor on my part.)