Ricky Gervais = Awesome

Raise your hand if you've heard of Ricky Gervais. If you're hand isn't raised use it, or the other one, to find out who he is now. I'll wait.

Back? Good. No doubt you've extracted from your friends, pets, or interweb that Ricky is the brains behind some of the funniest programs of the last couple years. And if you haven't please visit RickyGervais.com to learn about them. What I'd like to do for you now is run through three things he has done and share my opinion with you.

The Office
But Jason, I know about The Office. Sure you do; the American version. But Steve Carrell's little work place farce is based on the hugely successful and far funnier British version thought up by and starring Ricky Gervais. If you've seen neither than let me tell you it's unlike any type of humor you've encountered before. The show poses as a documentary of an office that's a bit dysfunctional. But more than anything it's just really awkward. The show takes those strange moments that occur at work, the tense moments of embarrassment or, well, awkwardness and expresses them in such a hilarious manner. It's topical, everyday humor and it's absolutely brilliant. If you have the chance both seasons of the British version are on DVD. Bloody fantastic.

Extras
Another British television show from Rick Gervais. This aired here, actually, thanks to HBO. It's not quite as good as The Office, but it still beats the pants of off most crap on TV nowadays. The scenario is Ricky plays an actor, Andy Millman, who can only land background roles in films. In other words he's an extra, hence the name. There is another primary character Maggie Jacobs played by Ashley Jensen who is almost as good as Ricky in many episodes and actually steals the spotlight in some, despite her diminished role. If you missed it the first time and you liked The Office I believe the DVD is out now so you should check it out. Oh, and visit the webpage if you want.

The Ricky Gervais Show
Last but not least something that is in the middle of its run is Ricky's podcast. If you use iTunes, and there's no reason you shouldn't because you don't have to have an iPod or buy music from it and it's free and better than every other audio player out there, you can download the weekly episodes for free from the podcast section in the music store. Ricky and his friends discuss complete and utter nonsense for about 30 to 40 minutes every week and I tell you there's nothing funnier than good talk radio except talk radio on demand. Walk to class, ride the bus, do whatever and listen to this hilarious ranting that is mostly making fun of the ludicrous and utter ridiculous thinks Karl (the bald one in the back of the picture) thinks and says. Just give the first one a try. It's free and will probably become one of your favorite programs to watch/listen to on your TV/computer.