It is only a week to go until Ricky Gervais's newest stand-up special releases on Netflix (for whatever reason Armageddon (Spencer, 2023) is coming on Christmas Day, which has a lot of implications into what the comedian thinks he is on level with). Ahead of this occasion, I thought it best to revisit last year's special, SuperNature (Spencer, 2022). Unlike other posts, this is an actual essay, which will be detailing whether Gervais' viewpoint that he can make jokes about anyone (including trans and non-binary individuals) is actually appropriate, or whether the "wokists" should cancel him forever.
Ricky Gervais is known for his annoyed and judgemental persona, but has he taken it too far [Copyright: Netflix]
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There is an often-circulated rule of stand-up comedy which states “you can’t joke about it unless you are it”. This rule dictates that to make jokes about sensitive personal issues (being gay, trans, Black, female, Jewish, etc.) that you must yourself identify that way, otherwise it would be deemed inappropriate. However, many comedians take issue with this rule for various reasons. One such opposer of this is Ricky Gervais, a British, straight, cisgender, white, atheist man who regularly makes jokes regarding the holocaust, religion, and the LGBTQ+ community, specifically trans individuals. Gervais claims in his infamous stand-up special SuperNature (Spencer, 2022) that he “supports trans rights [as] trans rights are human rights” in real life. Although this is most likely true, his overall standpoint, persona, and use of comedy in SuperNature reinforces many stereotypes and perpetuates an anti-trans ideology in the audience’s mind. Therefore, this places into contention whether the "don’t joke about it unless you are it rule” should apply to Gervais’ comedy.