Comedian Ricky Gervais will go down as a legend one way or another.
Cheeky Ricky Gervais has revealed he is set to call his next stand up show ‘Legend’ – so people have to call him that in the future whatever happens. The announcement comes off the back of his previous show Mortality touring globally and reaching number one on Netflix after its release on December 30 with millions streaming it.
The Office creator Gervais, 64, said: “I’m starting warm-ups already. Just in case it’s my last tour, I want to call it Legend. It’s like I’m forcing their obituary, ‘he was known as legend’, no, he said that! I think the idea will be that it’s about me but obviously I’m going to fall on my face. I think it’s a funny thing to say about yourself.”
The last tour Mortality , saw him play over 80 arena shows across the globe throughout 2024-2025, taking in LA’s Hollywood Bowl, NYC’s Radio City Music Hall, a 14 night run at the London Palladium, 3 massive shows at OVO Wembley Arena, and sell outs in Europe’s capital cities, breaking the box office record for English speaking comedy shows in Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland & the Czech Republic. Afterwards he donated £2.5million to charities from extra profits made by the Platinum Ticket sales.
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Speaking to Romesh Ranganathan on his podcast, Gervais added: “Stand-up is the thing I love the most, it’s the thing I love being the biggest part of my career now. When I started out I was a writer and director, I wanted to let people know that was the real deal.
“I didn’t want to be a celebrity, I didn’t want to do the red carpet, I didn’t want to be in stuff I hadn’t written. I tried to convince the world and myself that was my job.
“I did that and then stand up was, ‘oh I like that, let’s have a go’. I think with Humanity it turned around. I thought, ‘no I’m a stand up who occasionally writes and directs stuff’. I love this, I travel the world and it feels like the last bastion of free speech.
“Outside of the novel, it’s the only thing where there’s no filter, you don’t need 60 people to create your vision, it’s you and I love that.”
Gervais is nominated at this weekend’s Golden Globes in the best stand-up category. But speaking last week he said he was unlikely to attend.
During the appearance on BBC Radio 4’s This Cultural Life, Gervais – who has hosted the Golden Globes five times – said: “I didn’t have any joy watching my fat face on screen. I just want peace and quiet.
“I’m probably not going to the Golden Globes … It’s too far to go. It takes a lot to get me off the couch with my cat and my girlfriend watching Netflix. I love the work, I love writing, I love creating, I love stand-up, but all the other stuff I could really do without.”
As well as The Office he has other hit shows including After Life on Netflix and Extras and Derek but in recent years has tended to concentrate on his stand up comedy.





