Ricky Gervais Quotes

There's something very authentic about humor, when you think about it. Anybody can pretend to be serious. But you can't pretend to be funny.

Even when I'm being funny, I'm deadly serious.

Comedy is created when someone is trying very earnestly to do what he feels is the right thing to do at that moment.

You shouldn't get too close to the truth, because then maybe you stop being funny.

You can pretend to be serious; but you can't pretend to be witty.

I don't just try to be funny.

People often can't separate, or can't understand, that to be funny is to be serious; it's a way of pulling people in and not scaring them off. I think a lot of the funny stuff, underneath it, there's a deep anxiety going on.

If you work at comedy too laboriously, you can kill what's funny in the joke.

Funny is when you're serious.

If you can get humor and seriousness at the same time, you've created a special little thing, and that's what I'm looking for, because if you get pompous, you lose everything.

I'm a real paradox. Because I'm a very serious person, and I take my work very seriously. But I wrap it up in a court jester and a clown and make people laugh and make them feel good about themselves.

Some things are so tragic that you don't know what's funny in it, and some things are so ridiculous you don't know if it's worth talking about it.

You can't fake comedy. You can't make it look beautiful or put an interesting bit of music on in the background: funny can only be funny if you're funny.

I realized, dumb people don't know they're dumb. When people try to make me laugh and they try to be funny, that's when they lose me. I find a lot of comedy in honesty.

For me, a lot of the humor comes not from innocence but from characters trying to figure out how to get what they need. I don't try to be funny, but am relieved when an opportunity comes up for humor.

For me to act natural and real but also try to be funny while doing that is hard.

I was born serious and I have earned my bread making other people laugh.

This is getting funny, but there ain't nobody laughing.

I find a lot of things kind of funny and I often say what's on my mind, and then get nine texts from all my friends going, 'What's the matter with you?' But I haven't ever made a big attempt to have any particular image. And I don't really worry about it. If it's funny, I don't care.

If I'm in something funny, I like to try and find some kind of serious line in it that people can relate to.

No one wants to be pretentious about what they do or take it seriously, because that is just weird.

You can be funny and say what you mean; these ideas are not mutually exclusive. Some of the best jokes came from people who meant it. See: Pryor, Bruce, Carlin, etc.

A joke's a very serious thing.

The only honest art form is laughter, comedy. You can't fake it... try to fake three laughs in an hour - ha ha ha ha ha - they'll take you away, man. You can't.

Sometimes the best way to make 'em laugh is to show 'em how you honestly feel.