Ricky Gervais

OK. Here's confessional time. This is probably going to put me at odds with the rest of the modern world but I'm going to stick my neck out here: I don't think Ricky Gervais is very funny. To hear some people go on about him you would think that he is a comic genius of the highest order but at best I have found him mildly amusing and at worst I think he is dying on his arse - that may make some people laugh but I merely find it excruciating.

The first thing I can remember him in was The Office. This was very funny for a couple of episodes. It worked initially because everyone will have had a smug, full-of-themselves, completely useless, total arse of a boss like David Brent. Had this been a one hour TV play I think I would have remembered it with great fondness but each episode largely followed the same format and leads the audience to sit at home feeling desperately embarrassed for the on screen characters. In the end the whole concept was just uncomfortable. It certainly wasn't belly laugh material - maybe because I've had to work in an office like that.

The next series I saw him in was Extras, which I did like. The central conceit of this series worked well: the "extras" are actually the central cast and the big name stars are really cameos and usually a grotesque parody of A-list stars rather than their real personas. It's been done before, notably by Garry Shandling, but I thought the characters in Extras were more rounded and appealing than The Office and the situations were genuinely amusing rather than embarrassing for the audience. The second series moved on to Gervais actually having some success - but not what he had anticipated. Again this worked as it prevented the series recycling the same ideas over and over again. It wasn't my favourite comedy of recent years but it was one I enjoyed.

I think it was on the basis of Extras that I ended up seeing his stand-up show, Animals. This was very disappointing. It took, to a point, the form of a lecture with his cringey, smarmy persona much to the fore but the material was really just rather crude. If he had actually done the whole thing as a full-blown comedy lecture I think it would have worked much better; and this is the point with him: I don't think he is a particularly funny man. He may be able to write amusingly - particularly when he is writing with Stephen Merchant - but he doesn't have the natural comic timing of the best stand-up comedians. In fact, if he was on the stand-up circuit I don't think he would last very long.

He has since moved on to films but his character hasn't progressed at all; he is still some sort of David Brent clone. This is possibly down to casting directors but he always seems overly self-aware whenever he is on screen. Some actors are always like this but then pull a blinder when they are cast against type - Robin Williams is a good example of this. Many great actors have had long careers playing the same sort of character but the "Ricky Gervais" character is one I've seen quite enough of.