Ricky Gervais - Golden Years (David Bowie homage)

Ricky Gervais in a 1998 Comedy Lab episode where he plays a crisis-ridden middle-aged man who strives to make it big in show business as a David Bowie impersonator.
A blueprint for the future The Office and Extras methinks. ;)
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[@leemetronicle]

This is basically a mashup of the Office and Extras, with a dash of Life's Too Short. Can see all the influences......

[@douchebag2019]

Element Studios that’s true

[@minners71]

You do realise this is before those shows so how could they influence this?

[@Dude0000]

Bit of Derek going on when that fella had him in a headlock.

[@tonypine3434]

@@minners71 we got a genius over here

[@stephaniecox3380]

Everytime I see it, I think the same thing but.... I think of a bit of fry and Laurie.. Bowie? Bowie? Chubby little loser.... It's so stupid it's funny. Cheers B.

[@jemzie84]

When he crawls on the desk singing sorrow I can't cope. It's so funny. Ricky is my all time favourite comedian, he's absolutely a one off special man.

[@trappistpreserves]

He so is. I couldn't work with him though (as if I'd ever be asked).

[@ziggyflinthawk]

RIP Bowie.

[@XMesandidge]

Bowie's turn in the extended blue jean video had me thinking he reminded me of someone. Then I saw Ricky gervais' and it hit me. He reminds me of Ricky gervais.

[@thevoid99]

oh shit, that fucking killed me. i knew ricky was a bowie fan but man, he's hardcore. the bowie impersonations were great but the one as prince slayed me.

[@jbri1]

:'D omg

[@Bonoscot]

11:12 Absolute Stunning....Funny as fuck...His Bowie Impression is top notch as well, especially singing Sorrow

[@saifalhaqqan4839]

To be fair he does actually sound a LOT like Bowie.

[@manonymous4737]

Not really

[@RickStar00O]

@@manonymous4737 agreed

[@TroystonB]

a bit

[@ripperonitoni2990]

Who are you being fair to?

[@bass3966]

Not bad😂

[@carolluber4857]

I loved this! Ricky as David Bowie. Very funny. I miss David. Thank you for sharing him with us.

[@DaveKovalComedy]

"Have we had anything yet about the DVD campaign?" holy shit right, DVDs were brand new when this came out

[@Tommy-ef8wp]

This man is a comedic genius of the highest degree!

[@GamerCall]

Was*

[@dudeman3929]

Yea Gervais is the best

[@MultiKarola]

nice impression of Bowie ! great i hope he saw this

[@TonyEnglandUK]

+MultiKarola24 I'm sure he did, Bowie and Gervais became good friends

[@DeniseFactor]

Massive bonus for a massive Ricky Gervais fan. I never knew this existed.

[@NxDoyle]

A couple of things: 1) I can't remember how old I was when I first became aware of Bowie, but I have a distinct memory of buying record-shaped discs of bubble gum with the covers of singles as the packaging. I had Bowie's Fashion, which was new, so I was 10. The reason I say this is because, growing up, nobody where I lived (Australia) pronounced his name like 'cow'. We all pronounced it 'oh'. I didn't hear it pronounced that way till my late teens. Anyhoh... 2) Ricky has some solid impressions and dialects, though he plays that side down (thankfully). Steve once said on XFM that he thought Ricky's Bowie was his best one. It's true, it is. Very solid. But Adam Buxton's Bowie is _so good_ that, if anyone needed Bowie ADR done, Buxton would be the man. His rendering is about as good an 'impression' as I've heard from some of the greats, like Sellers, Pollak and Serafinowicz.

[@onehotminutex]

honestly, ricky does sound like bowie. when i listen to space oddity i think, wow he sounds like gervais LMAO

[@onehotminutex]

+Zelda Zonkin' so sad to know bowie isn't on planet earth anymore xx well, he is, just not in body

[@glennmcilvenna3142]

OMG this is true gold.. I never seen this before, it is amazing to see Ricky playing Clive David Brent’s prequel.. the embarrassing awkwardness is delicious

[@DaleJoyce]

David Bowie . . WOW! . .Such a very special, incredibly gifted, multi talented & versatile individual who inspired so many. He will live on forever because he'll never be forgotten . . OFTEN COPIED, NEVER EQUALLED!

[@steffanhoffmann]

You're joking mate he plagiarised lots of people starting with Lindsay Kemp. Kemp was gay. He had an affair with David Bowie and their friendship was highly important in Bowie's artistic development. Prior to meeting Kemp, Bowie was on the verge of quitting pop music in mid 1966. Converting as a Buddhist monk. He used Kemp like he used most people artistically better than he was, and then took the credit for originality. He then had a love affair with Kemps best friend, a female, which brought Kemp to the verge of many suicide attempts. Seemingly a fake and a charlatan, what an abominable person Bowie was.

[@wilfullness]

No one can predict the future before you or I claim how it will or won't be. Not one of us. And there'll never be another of any of us. That's how it works.

[@steffanhoffmann]

@@wilfullness Deep, meaningful and relevant 👍

[@Harrylechat01]

Anybody who managed to sell out of video rentals in 1998 made a smart move.

[@Electricshrock]

Anyone who started transitioning from VHS to DVD at that time made a smart move. The time to get out of the rentals game altogether was 10 years later.

[@csabo1725]

@@Electricshrock My dad came home with a VHS player once. I guarantee it was the last one ever sold.

[@sratus]

This was great. I remember seeing it late one night back in the day and being blown away by him. That scene when he's talking with the agent about the Dolly Parton woman is particularly great. Ah back when Rick Gervais was funny and not the self-important windbag he has become.

[@DirtyDeck]

+sratus Yeah, fuck, what happened him?

[@DirtyDeck]

i give this alot of thought. will always respect him for the office, a masterpiece, but yeah he got addicted to his own success or something, he loves giving advice and quoting people...the question is, does he realise how big of a wang he's become?

[@sratus]

Decky Corr nope... and there's nobody to tell him

[@janderson2709]

Hahaha. The British are such hilarious people - as soon as someone becomes big-time you have to hate him. Rick is still a top bloke as he was back then.

[@t.johnson2966]

Jacob Anderson This is what I was going to say. We used to do the same in Canada.

[@buzzin-hornet]

That's Steven Merchants dad at 0:30 seconds lol

[@buzzin-hornet]

+Louis Van gaal yeah! Haha

[@loveulong]

You can totally see the resemblance

[@itsMrNoble]

Cliff Hanley no it's not.

[@Jacam781]

Ron

[@sjn6704]

Yes its ron merchant who also appeared as the caretaker in the office

[@ADyingFaith]

Thank you for posting this. Never seen it before.

[@siggyavos7275]

that was fantastic, never thought i would enjoy that as much as i did

[@____Ai____]

wow when he says 'Is Ziggy him, am I Ziggy' he really sounds like Bowie

[@Fluwyn]

'Shittin in my tin can...' Never gonna get that out of my head now, oh god !

[@charabotte1]

mark and lard ?

[@decks1111]

I love the fact the RG went on to become friends with DB. I bet he didnt see that coming!

[@getsome4806]

@decks1111 Quite true, D1.

[@burjalmadre]

God... that episode in Extras is one of the best things ever... They absolutely mustve taken ages to film that considering how easily Ricky breaks down in laughter lol

[@mister3566]

He was slways a fan

[@tetsuoshima7385]

PUG! PUG!😂

[@kimsherlock8969]

😅😂😊

[@beefheart1410]

Precursor to David Brent? I love Bowie and Rick Gervais so, this was made for me!

[@edgarbagayan7769]

still cracking up at the freddy mercury scene

[@blohmymind]

What an excellent prequel to The Office. Before this I could only imagine how Gervais' life would have been, working in an office for fifteen years after having been a failed David Bowie clone. But now I don't have to imagine it!

[@georgehoughton6028]

3:18 Steve merchants dad I think, Ron merchant is in the credits for one of the boardmembers.

[@sparkstron73]

never seen this before.Recognise alot of david brent here.

[@mrsilikeeggs]

Not just Brent. Every now and then I see Derek in the facial expressions.

[@lupo10]

Sparks Tron I noticed a few characters to be fair.

[@NxDoyle]

Recently I saw Ricky at the Oxford Union. He spoke for about an hour on a range of topics, but mostly he just spoke about his career, going back to the time he had a solo spot at XFM, then single-handedly creating The Office, right through to when he made Extras by himself. Someone asked if he would again collaborate with some fella called Simon or Steve or something, but as it was part of a two or three-pronged question, he didn't get around to answering. I can imagine it would have been difficult to talk about, because I've seen about as much as there is to see of Ricky in the last few years and nobody else's name has come up.

[@Surv1ve_Thrive]

@nx it's weird as you can literally hear Steven Merchants writing coming out of his mouth at times.

[@BrianClarkpharmd]

Damn I can't believe I'd never seen this! Classic!

[@OwenPlant532]

"Do your Freddie" "Ay oh" LMAO

[@belectronix]

Amazing!! Proto-office.

[@mejustme479]

Nobody, and I mean Nobody, can "PEACOCK" like David Bowie. ♡ David Bowie invented it! ♡

[@randallcreatix]

How the hell i did not see that befor. Ricky brilliant as always :D

[@BoutYoungAnnaLee]

01:35 - 'I built it up from nothing, by myself'. 'But the form says...' '- With my partner Barry'. Looks as though Ricky was always trying to take full credit for everything, even in his fictitious screen plays.

[@blahblahoink]

Ricky's Bowie voice is pretty good!

[@robhough9911]

You can see the seed of Brent here. Amazing that Ricky had him there for so long and nurtured him into what he is today

[@creativeamerican8811]

Why have I never seen this! Omg. Steve merchants Dad on the table at the beginning. :)

[@chrispdr]

very good, a lot of quotes that were also used in The Office, early practice for Ricky!!

[@TimmyJames]

This is awesome

[@benniejvr]

'would be a shame if he never made it to the studio'. LOL

[@theking-nz1ut]

Big fan of Ricky Gervais. Loved it 👍👍

[@matimus100]

You love really anything

[@noka1979]

Wow i never seen this before... thank you for sharing

[@TootsMacTait]

Excellent! First time seeing this, you can really see the roots of David Brent.

[@MojoFilter]

Priceless - Ricky also recorded a Bowie-esque tune back in the day - google it - he's uncanny!

[@richinderbyshire4779]

Seona Dancing

[@frankburns8946]

Took me a while to 'get' Ricky's brand of humour but now I think he's one of the very best out there. Love the Bowie take off...We've all done that in the mirror.

[@blacktoothfox677]

Have we now?!

[@burjalmadre]

Thats interesting! Mind if I ask, are you American or British? I am American but grew up in a British school actually with mostly European and other British mates and teachers, culture, I feel like it very much instilled a grander sense and appreciation for the dry, darker, humour of the British, it feels a little more sophisticated than American brand humour. I'm always curious as to how other people feel about it and why they react the way they do!

[@IAmSoMuchBetterThanYou]

Beautiful homage

[@carlesq.]

thanks for sharing

[@LyingSecret]

At the end, brilliant moment.

[@carpnstuff]

"He said I could see them.." ....killed me!!!

[@plahad]

incerdible. i've never seen this before! love you Ricky

[@TheBunniechannel]

Omg early ricky gervais stuff like this is freaking special xD this is amazing haa

[@tonyn9858]

brilliant never seen it before

[@NxDoyle]

Adam Buxton does a freakishly good Bowie impression.

[@FambosYootos]

Yeh, he really does. Spot on

[@TheRightLadder]

The Bewlay Brother Where Art Thou

[@jenniferdonovan727]

Brilliant.

[@tonytendencies4698]

Gervais is the same in every character he plays. Zero range but I do enjoy his stuff

[@77cocopop]

This is what lead to 'The office'. If you notice some of the jokes are in 'the office' from this.

[@Skyewalker1000]

Genius. What a partnership x

[@butchrandell6963]

such a powerful actor he evokes feelings in me non stop

[@gerlan1234to]

This is excellent, can't believe that I haven't come across it before. Many Thanks. Any other similar 'homages'?

[@_Super_Hans_]

The original office pilots are on FB

[@andreasmaos2107]

I love Ricky , just so funny 😅

[@matimus100]

Congratulations on being in love with another man Thanks for telling everyone Andrea

[@TehDrummaBoi]

its funny looking back on the older stuff and seeing the origins of later material, even if some of it is just straight up reusing old jokes

[@davidpetermcmorris857]

Someone’s got to test those top shelf videos!

[@daweilee1986]

Quality bit with the desk scene

[@albertmccready478]

Enjoyed that

[@mjb4983]

love

[@EmileJoulbert]

A Night To Re-Memory of a Free Festival.

[@Musicdudez]

Yes :)

[@QuentinUK]

David Bowie loved his WiFi before anyone else had even heard of her.

[@juanzapata4161]

Is this a reference to something? I dont get it

[@Joshualuv13]

Bloody fantastic.Bowie would luv it lol

[@molfie]

Brilliant

[@alxsend8045]

That’s Merchant’s dad in that meeting, right? He played the janitor in The Office who always stared into the camera.

[@cityandsuburb]

Ron..... He was actually the groundsman at my secondary school in Kent.

[@-______-______-]

Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars Attacks

[@Nyax727]

"Check ignition and may gods love be with you". LOL Ricky sings it so eloquently. Really funny stuff.

[@wavemotiongun12]

11:12 Holy crap I haven't laughed this hard in ages 😂😂

[@Bears84]

Where have I seen that burd in the blue cardigan before? It's doing my head in...😂

[@kurisensei]

Gervais used a slimmer body for this character than for Brent

[@LesterBrunt]

walkfromthewaves Immense dedication to the method. Class S actor.

[@TheJourneymenDuo]

Lots of The Office in this. That's another reason The Office was good from the off, they'd had about three cracks at it before they filmed the first real episode to hone it.

[@michaelroberts1056]

haha YES! Good spot that was mate. I was racking my brains trying to place her. Thank :)

[@douchebag2019]

This character seems to me as a cross between David Brent and Andy Milman

[@jonnysupreme]

Could go far this bloke 🤣

[@ervinjaskolski3074]

still cracking up at the freddy mercury scene Let's dances with wolves Queen impersonators "Right Freds dead"....coffee all over keyboard time ..lol

[@CC-ff7ft]

Classic Gervais

[@GoldenGrego]

For some reason singing Space Oddity on the table made my dog go ape shit

[@-______-______-]

2001: A Space Oddity

[@lucilledelorme]

Reminded me of that old joke ... Ziggy Stardust met a lad in Sainsbury's.

[@user-tf9fh4sy4c]

Gervais Bowie accent is awesome.

[@sparkidee]

Never seen this when was it filmed

[@dsl218]

Nice to see Stephen's dad making a cameo around the table at the start

[@WelshWizard79]

class

[@anarchic_ramblings]

6:27 best bit

[@metafis2490]

Queen impersonators "Right Freds dead"....coffee all over keyboard time ..lol

[@juanzapata4161]

I dont get the joke. Is it a reference to something else?

[@simonbath]

Superly hilarious.

[@c.sheparddaniel2008]

I love the fact the RG went on to become friends with DB. I bet he didnt see that coming! never seen this before.Recognise alot of david brent here. David Bowie loved his WiFi before anyone else had even heard of her.

[@daanje1062]

Fantastic!! The secretary would've been great on The Office.

[@ENigma-um8zw]

Ricky was so influenced by Bowie in almost every potential creative or personal measurement. I’m sure David loved this lol, then he’d go on to appear on Extras in that famous scene

[@neilo2323]

I always wondered why Gervais never pronounced Bowie correctly considering he’s a fan and even knew him.

[@Dude0000]

Are you American? He pronounces it like every English person does including Bowie himself. Americans pronounce it differently for some reason.

[@neilo2323]

@@Dude0000 He pronounced it to rhyme with Joey. He even once explained that his son Zowie’s (Duncan) name should be pronounced as Zoey. I’m English, btw.

[@neilo2323]

@@Dude0000 Just saw a video of him introducing himself: it rhymed with “slow”, not “cow”.

[@Dude0000]

@@neilo2323 not boo tho’, right?

[@neilo2323]

@@Dude0000 No, definitely not.

[@TraumaStorma]

Prince.