Gervais: Outside cultural references, like Big Brother winners, nothing fundamentally. I did do a thing about how terrible public toilets are. But they’re not in America. I can’t go out there and go, has anyone been in a pub toilet? Americans would say, "Yeah, they’re quite nice, actually." But I count that as a cultural reference. I can say, "What is it with our teeth?" Americans would say, “mine are straight.”




HeadCandy: Any stand-up comedians out there today you enjoy watching?

Gervais: My new favorite comedian, who made me decide to strip down [my act] and be honest and just say what you think and let them get it, is Louis CK. He’s great.

HeadCandy: People seem to recognize the notion of funny when they see or hear it. But it’s hard to articulate what makes something funny. I remember you talking once about the success of The Office, and you said it’s because of empathy.

Gervais: I think in general the most important thing in comedy is empathy. We’re human. Silent comedy wouldn’t work without empathy. The very first joke was a caveman stubbing his toe and everyone laughed. And they laughed because they knew he didn’t mean to do that. Something happened they didn’t expect. 

Comedy is misdirection: even jokes, one-liners, stories, sucker punches. And you can do that linguistically, you can do that with puns and you’ll laugh. But you’re looking at your watch after 51 one-liners. Whereas someone stumbles up and says, “I’m sick of this. I’ve had a terrible day.” And you start tittering because you know them, and then the more you go on, the more you care, and the more you laugh, the more you’re invested.

Comedy shouldn’t just be a reflex. There are comedians out there who do one-liners and they can throw in a fake punch line and you’d still laugh, because you’re laughing at their rhythm. I couldn’t laugh at someone I don’t like. There are comedians out there who are just unlikable. And I think there’s no room for machismo. I don’t want a comedian who comes out and tell me how he outwitted the world or how much better he is than me. I want someone out there and tell me, “I’ve had a bad day too.”

HeadCandy: Is this why your podcasts have been so successful? Because people empathize with your co-star/punching bag Karl Pilkington?

Gervais: There I play the villain. I play the bloke who purposefully sets himself up for a fall. I’m playing the rich, educated man who’s frustrated with his stupidity. But he always win. Because he’s bulletproof, he’s untouchable and he doesn’t laugh. I laugh at him. He wins.

HeadCandy: Do you feel a tinge of guilt, then, laughing at Karl, as supposed to laughing with him?

Gervais: Well, we’re mates first, and that’s what mates do. We rag each other until one of us breaks or laughs. We’re siblings, we’re friends, we’re lion cubs and play fighting. Humor serves an absolute amazing purpose socially. To me, humor is the key to social ability.

HeadCandy: Your podcasts had set a Guinness World Records for most downloads. It seems like you’re enjoying these audio shows. 

Gervais: That’s probably my favorite thing I do at the moment. We just finished the fifth in this series of guides, and [those together make] volume one. And we’ll start off again in the summer probably. The last one we did is The Ricky Gervais Guide to the English. I think Americans would enjoy that.

From a fun point of view, there’s nothing more fun than chatting to Karl for two hours. Poking him, goading him, ridiculing him, and then laughing at the things that he says. It’s honestly a joy. I don’t know if you have this phrase in America, “Money for old rope.” It means that when you almost feel guilty, because it hasn’t cost you anything. Films takes years and costs millions, and you might even lose money. With these, we chat for an hour and stick it on the Internet. As a business plan, it’s too good to be true. I’ve never milked things before, but this is different. This is no stress, no hassle, it’s no big deal, it’s out there if you want it. It’s fun and it’s really successful. It’s something we can revisit. We can do this indefinitely unless we don’t fish.

HeadCandy: It seems your shows and films aren’t just funny for the sake of being funny. There’s story, conflicts and resolutions, dramatic tension, narrative arcs built in, but with the thread of humor.

Gervais: Comedy can be exhausting and too easy. Comedy, when decapitated, doesn’t resonate. We cut jokes out of “The Office” because we thought it would interfere with the love story, or the realism. In the long run we knew the payback would be bigger in keeping people caring. People tuned in for David Brent, but they stayed watching for Tim and Dawn. Sometimes there are bigger emotions than a kneejerk laugh.

HeadCandy: Have you watched every episode of the American remake of “The Office?”

Gervais: I’ve probably watched every episode of Series 1 and 2, but now I probably watch one in three. I watched two on the plane this time of the last series.

HeadCandy: Your version only ran 12 episodes plus the Christmas specials. This season finale of The U.S. Office will make it 100 episodes total...

Gervais: …that’s right, roll on syndication.

HeadCandy: Does having an open-ended series hurt the storytelling?

Gervais: It makes it more difficult. The will-they-won’t-they goes on forever. When you’ve got a finite arc, it’s by definition more conclusive. You get out on top. The love story alone is hard to keep going. Will they, won’t they? Yes they have. That’s the end of that. But they haven’t been a slave to the realism or the fake documentary either, which you can’t be, because you’re thinking, “Why are they still filming there? Why is there a film camera following him on the bus?” That was the single most important thing for us, because it told us why the characters were acting like that. And ours was much more about characters thrown together. And this is more a traditional sitcom than ours ever was.



HeadCandy: You and your writing partner Stephen Merchant wrote an episode for the NBC version a few years ago. Would you consider writing another episode?

Gervais: I would, yeah. It was fun doing that. We did that for a laugh. There’s a rumor that I was going to appear in it, which I don’t know where that came from.

HeadCandy: So you wouldn’t?

Gervais: Oh, I would. But it’s not true that I am. I haven’t ruled it out. I thought what would be a good thing is if they’re watching an episode of Extras, and Michael Scott comes along and says, “Ah, look at him. Don’t like that guy. Overacted. If we do an American remake, I think I’d be fantastic.”

HeadCandy: What’s the last thing that made you laugh?

Gervais: You can ask me that everyday, and the answer will always be Karl Pilkington. Or Elmo. I’ve watched that clip with Elmo about 20 times. Elmo is my new best friend. And working with Sesame Street is the highlight of my career now. There’s no more ambiguity. Is it the Globes? Is it DeNiro? Is it David Bowie? Is it “The Simpsons?” No. It’s Elmo.




HeadCandy: What’s the funniest British TV show no Americans have heard of?

Gervais: I loved "Porridge." It’s a sitcom about a prisoner; it was sweet. I loved "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin." I don’t really watch much British comedies. The last one I really loved was "Peep Show." 

HeadCandy: Is it that your funny bone gets numb?
 
Gervais: No. There’s not, by definition, many excellent things. Most things aren’t very good. That’s why things shine. That’s why you get two shows a year that you love. They usually come out of America for me. I thought I’d never get over The Sopranos. But now, Dexter and Damages are amazing. I love everything American: from Laurel & Hardy, Marx Brothers, Woody Allen, everything Christopher Guest does, Larry Sanders, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development.

I think one of the best comic actors at the moment is Michael Cera. I love his naturalism. I think he’s probably the second best naturalistic actor in the world next to me. [Laughs uproariously] I wasn’t going to laugh! I wasn’t going to laugh!

HeadCandy: Kate Winslet guest-starred in Extras, and one of the lines you wrote for her was that she wouldn’t win an Oscar until she starred in a Holocaust movie. So how did you react when she won Best Actress in “The Reader,” a film set in the Holocaust?

Gervais: I thought it was hilarious. It would’ve been obviously a mixed blessing for her, because by then she’d been plagued by that quote. Tom Hanks … I’d never thought I’d say this sentence . Tom Hanks came over to me ... yeah it’s true, that’s how I roll now ... Tom Hanks told me after the Golden Globes: He said he was driving into a studio one day, and on the radio Kate Winslet came on and said, “You win the Oscars if you do a Holocaust movie.” And obviously it was a clip from Extras. But he hadn’t heart that intro and he was going, “This is suicide!” And he went around all day saying why would Kate Winslet say that? And after about four hours, a producer said Tom, it’s a clip from Extras. [As for her Oscar,] I can claim, it’s partly mine, let’s be honest.

HeadCandy: Chicago is in the running for the 2016 Summer Olympics. You live in London, which will host the Games in 2012. What’s it like to live in a city that’s about to host the Olympics? Should we Chicagoans want the Games to be held here?

Gervais: For me, it’s are they in the way of my drive or not. Do they stop things happening? Can I cross the road? If they’re not, it doesn’t bother me. I’ve got a line in my new show called “Science.” I say, “I’m all for ending famine, as long as it doesn’t affect me in the slightest.”

So you’re giving up Facebook for Lent. That a Web site has become a vice worth sacrificing shows how we humans have devolved into double-clicking automatons. Well, good for you, because the first step towards recovery is admitting you have a problem. 

Judging from the online groups created in recent days, a number of users are Facebook fasting for the next 40 days ("Better than giving up a more significant vice like drinking, smoking, staying out late, etc.," said one member of the online group "Giving Up Facebook for Lent"). And you have decided to be among the flock. 

We will tell you now that temptation will avail itself. It’s hard, we know, to not post that cute picture of cats eating cheeseburgers. But fight the urge. Use this guide as an inspiration. 

"It's not easy being a nun ... first of all your face never looks thin. You never get to wear pants. And your love interest is always off screen." 

—James Franco butchering the name for Best Live Action Short Film "Spielzeugland." Co-presenter Seth Rogen covers his face in laughter.