James Acaster’s take on comedy about trans people goes viral after Ricky Gervais’ Netflix special is slammed
There's been something of a backlash against Ricky Gervais after the release of his comedy special Armageddon on Netflix.
The comedian has been controversial for a long time but he's made that part of his appeal, saying things 'you're not supposed to say' and telling the audience his next joke is 'too offensive' and then saying it anyway.
For some people, there's only so many times a comedian can claim they're saying the things you're not supposed to before they start to wonder if actually they're not being all that edgy and daring after all.
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Ricky Gervais: Armageddon faced backlash when it was released due to a joke he made about Make-A-Wish Foundation kids.
And when Gervais puts out a new comedy special and gets backlash for it, the negative response comes in several flavours.
Some prefer to suggest that Gervais was funnier when he had Stephen Merchant writing for him, and bring up that Karl Pilkington had the funniest moments of their work together.
While others point towards a routine comedian James Acaster performed as part of his Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 show, which he toured across the UK in 2018 and 2019.
"They say whatever they like, edgy comedians. No one tells them what they can and can't say," Acaster said, strutting across the stage in sunglasses.
"They walk straight on stage, top of their specials sometimes do 10 solid minutes slagging off transgender people. Straight out the gate making fun of transgender people.
"If people on the internet get upset about it the comedian's always like 'bad luck, that's my job, I'm a stand-up comedian, I'm meant to challenge people, if you don't like being challenged don't watch my shows, what's the matter guys, too challenging for ya?'."
Acaster repeated this last line a few times before sarcastically adding 'you know who's been long overdue a challenge, the trans community'.
He joked that this historically persecuted group 'had their guard down for too long if you ask me', clearly not actually meaning it.
The comedian then told the audience he 'used to name one of the comedians that was about in that routine' but said it sometimes got 'awkward in the room' when he did.
He then joked that in 2019 when he was performing the gig, people were 'more than happy to laugh at transgender people' but he'd discovered they were 'not as comfortable laughing at Ricky Gervais yet'.
At the end of one of his previous shows, SuperNature, Gervais spoke about his views on trans people.
He said: "Full disclosure: In real life of course I support trans rights. I support all human rights, and trans rights are human rights. Live your best life.
"Use your preferred pronouns. Be the gender that you feel you are. But meet me halfway, ladies. Lose the cock. That’s all I’m saying."
Acaster once talked to The Independent about the clip, which does the rounds pretty much every time an 'edgy' comedian releases a new show.
He said he hoped that people wouldn't just look to 'brave little cis boys' like him for commentary on transphobia from comedians.
Acaster went on to praise 'so many brilliant trans comedians working today' and said there were people who were 'way more articulate and better than me' at talking about the issue.
Topics: Celebrity, Ricky Gervais, LGBTQ
Joe Harker