Taping Nigel (2005 Video) User Reviews

What was Gervais thinking - and what on Earth are IMDb raters thinking?

[sonofnob · 1/10 · 27 September 2010]

I love Ricky Gervais' type of uncomfortable cringe-humour, especially as the The Office (UK) I&II and Extras I&II, just as I also love funny but excruciating scenes by Lars von Trier for instance; I've even unintentionally laughed my way through Schindler's List and Awakenings in movie theatres to my wife's mortified embarrassment. However, Taping Nigel, one of the DVD-extra segments for Extras, goes too far and is just not funny. I sat watching it, feeling worse and worse, and losing more and more respect for Ricky Gervais. It's absurd but not even extreme in any sense: Ricky Gervais bullies his film editor Nigel in various humiliating ways, mostly by wrapping tape uncomfortably around his head to make him appear like a pig for instance. What makes it bad is that it is real, not fiction, and Ricky is just enjoying himself sadistically at the considerable expense of Nigel who is not enjoying it at all but puts up with it, perhaps to keep his job. I was in a good mood and wanted to think it a hoax, giving Ricky benefit of doubt, but there is no doubt. He is just a mean bully here, and it is amazing that this segment was included as extra material (and that an even worse follow-up appears as extra material for Extras II); it just makes Ricky Gervais look really bad. What amazes me most though is that people here on IMDb have rated this segment so highly - 8.1 - with hardly any protest or outrage. Is this because people admire and look up to Ricky as a director? How can this excuse anything like this? Even if people find it funny, how can they excuse it on those grounds? Would Rickey Gervais molesting a kid in a humorous way with a silly grin on his face still make people laugh? Probably (hopefully) not, so where is the empathy here? Or doesn't empathy play a part for people at all, here or in the kid example? Shame on Ricky and shame on the voters here.

Funniest DVD Extra Ever

[bryanross1985 · 10/10 · 24 May 2006]

OK, it's a DVD extra, but this made me laugh so much, an ideal accompaniment to Extras. This is a perfect example of what working with Ricky Gervais is like. I myself think that Gervais is a comedy genius and would love to work with him at some point, although after seeing this i have my doubts. The seldom realised comic talent of the fantastic Steven Merchant shines through in this. Ricky and Steve, if you are reading this, give me a call sometime, you will find my agent in much the same way as you found Leonardo Dicapro's agent. Whilst watching this, spare a thought for poor little Nigel and his robot/pig/artists subject/play-toy for Ricky job, Series one of Extras was an absolute blinder and the comedy was more fluid and consistent than The Office but nothing can compare to episode four of series one. if any Americans are reading this then take note: this is how comedy should be, NOT Two And A Half Men, Just Shoot Me or horror of horrors Dharma and Greg (shudder).

Fans of the Gervais...

[MiracleBoy · 10/10 · 26 February 2006]

This is, quite frankly, one of the funniest things I have EVER seen. It is, by a country mile, the most hilarious part of the 'Extras' DVD and I still thought the series was excellent.

Ricky Gervais is quite simply at his funniest when he is bullying or abusing somebody.

Its that simple.

Also if you're a fan of Gervais, check out his podcast he does for the Guardian, where he bullies this poor bloke, Karl, verbally in the same way that he bullies Nigel physically.

Looking forward to seeing him in 'For Your Consideration'. Can't wait for my two favourite Comedy Actor/Writer/Directors working together!