Gervais to make jokes in GTA IV

By Robert Purchese Published 17 April, 2008

He wrote fresh material for it.

Comedian Ricky Gervais has revealed he can be found being funny inside Grand Theft Auto IV.

The Office and Extras star will feature as an act at the in-game Comedy Club, where he will perform around three minutes of fresh material as well as some older jokes from his Fame tour.

"It's a first - which always interests me," Gervais told free London magazine Shortlist. "It was shot in New York, my favourite place in the world, and I got to wear a tight Lycra suit as part of the digital process. No, hold on, that wasn't so good.

"Unfortunately they captured the whole horror, except I look slightly tougher. It's seriously a big deal, though. Games have outsold Hollywood for the past few years so it's nice to be a small part of that."

Gervais went on to say he pops up elsewhere in Grand Theft Auto IV, although where and when we will have to wait and see.

He's not the first famous face to put his vocals to the Rockstar series. Stars such as Stretch Armstrong, Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper, Michael Madsen, Ray Liotta, Samuel L. Jackson, Debbie Harry and more have all appeared before now.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (64) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • the_dudefather #1 4 years ago

    /visits ammunation

    BEST GAME EVER!

  • souljah #2 4 years ago

    Please be killable, please be killable, please be killable.......

  • zuljin #3 4 years ago

    Aw shucks... Review of GTA that I read said it wasn't going to spoil what happens in comedy club, so I'm guessing this is it...

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #4 4 years ago

    Overindulged, no-longer-funny, smug, arrogant twat to attempt to make jokes in GTA IV

    Corrected.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #5 4 years ago

    By the way, Stretch Armstrong is the name of an obscure DJ named after a popular (in the US) action figure. He's hardly up there with Burt Reynolds and Ray Liotta.

  • The_Inquisitor #6 4 years ago

    I'm kinda wishing he'd stay away from games, I've had my fill of him.

  • abcd #7 4 years ago

    Ahhhhh

    I wish you'd hide the spoilers.

  • Cataferal #8 4 years ago

    I can never be sure whether that egotism is part of an on-going off-screen joke. Extras and Fame show how aware he is of the fallacy of the celebrity lifestyle - and i thought they were hilarious too. It's hard to imagine him being quite that big a hypocrite... but who knows?

    Nice touch for GTA IV, i reckon. Hopefully we can do as we please with his virtual self.
    Edited by Cataferal at 17/04/08 @ 16:06

  • fruitpunch #9 4 years ago

    He's making jokes? This truly is a first!

  • NthSimulachum #10 4 years ago

    Oh god. He's mildly funny. Why do people treat him like he's the second COMEDY CHRIST?

  • Kyle #11 4 years ago

    Hardly a spoiler is it? I think this is quite cool, IMO TBH FTW ETC.

  • dr_shambles #12 4 years ago

    Would be better if Karl Pilkington was in it.

  • Agent_Llama #13 4 years ago

    Oh the joy... Smug tosser. :(

  • bdgr #14 4 years ago

    my only hope is that i can punch him.

    hard.

    or kill him. oh god, please let me kill him the fat unfunny c word that he is.

  • cnlfailure #15 4 years ago

    Ricky Gervais and "fresh material" is not an association one would usually make.

  • betahoven #16 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:36:16 17-12-2011

  • jack_klugman #17 4 years ago

    Lock and load.

  • Inquisitor #18 4 years ago

    I can't stand him in any films he's been in but the office and extras were classics.

  • moggsy #19 4 years ago

    Where's all this hate come from? I still like him anyway...

  • TagemandBagem #20 4 years ago

    "Oh god. He's mildly funny. Why do people treat him like he's the second COMEDY CHRIST?"

    It's the fault of the British media and their obsession with putting everything on a pedestal. The herd just follow. Gervais proved with Extras and his episode of the Simpsons he's just a one-trick pony. Repeating the same 'embarrassment comedy' Coogan did with Partridge over a decade ago.
    I'm just interested to see if they digitally recreate how fat, greasy and obnoxious he really is.

  • WittyPseudonym #21 4 years ago

    Cool, thats made my day.

  • paulf #22 4 years ago

    i wonder if you heckle him enough whether he will do 'the dance'

  • Halo.Jones #23 4 years ago

    Ricky Gervais ... Funny? Since when?

    Oh well, a good reason not to buy GTA then..

  • Davemanz #24 4 years ago

    Well, as an American I still haven't had my fill of Gervais. :D

    I've seen the original Office and loved every minute of it, and I've thankfully stayed away from the stupid American version. I'm definitely looking forward to this.

  • Moribundman #25 4 years ago

    Oh praise GOD everyone out there seems to agree with my opinion of this smug twat. Mildly funny. That is all.

    I got caught up in the Office thing originally even though I didn't really like it that much (Iannucci, Coogan et al did a better version as a 5 minute segment of the Day Today 5 years prior). That swiftly got traded at CEX.

    Since then he's got progressively more obnoxious.

    I really, really, really hope you can kill him. Or at least beat him. Surely Rockstar must have allowed that option?

    So who else is going to be in the game? Any proper comedians?

  • masterson #26 4 years ago

    Ah yes of course - it was cool to like him when nobody had heard of him, but now he's "famous" we should all say how much we wish to hurt him. You guys are all so cool - I wish I could be so counter culture...

  • FenderMaster #27 4 years ago

    i'd rather see Tommy Tiernan, Dillain Morahan, Bill Bailey or Billy Connely (if hes still alive)

    all much more likable and funny than this guy

    Edit: or Steve Coogan!!! (hed be perfect in a GTA game!!)
    Edited by FenderMaster at 17/04/08 @ 17:05

  • chrisjm #28 4 years ago

    will we be able to find maddie in the game?

  • bad09 #29 4 years ago

    @chrisjm

    Cold man, just cold.... :)

  • gallow #30 4 years ago

    Comedian - since when?

  • Mashum #31 4 years ago

    I think it's nice he's in it, and I don't even really like the office - it makes me cringe.


    @ Moribundman
    ..There's a pig in the office!!!

  • jellyhead #32 4 years ago

    Please let me baseball bat the virtual Gervais in the back of the head again and again and again and again...

    davemanz, i've heard that the american version of The Office has shaped up quite well in later series so it may be worth a watch now. Not for me though, i found the original to be grinworthy at best.

  • Moribundman #33 4 years ago

    Why DO Americans like this tosser so much? He's criminally average. Half the semi-intelligent blokes in any given pub in this country are as funny as he is...

    Nice of him to go and spoil the comedy club content that all the mags have been so careful to keep as a surprise. I only hope there are some other funny comedians in there too...

  • Moribundman #34 4 years ago

    @Mashum What if it has a baby?!

  • optimusprym8 #35 4 years ago

    this will make it a 9/10 for me

  • jellyhead #36 4 years ago

    optimusprym8, i dunno. Personally i'd take more than 1 point off the score for the Gervais contamination.

    8/10 - as good as Halo. ;)

  • riz23 #37 4 years ago

    I had a Stretch Armstrong when I was a kid. It was great, but I always wanted to take a bite out of his rubbery arms. I never did.

  • NthSimulachum #38 4 years ago

    Steve Coogan in a GTA game would be fantastic.

  • KreyAtiv #39 4 years ago

    Well they did say you can kill anybody even characters that give you missions. Guess Youtube will be full of such videos of his virtual persona getting punched, kicked, shot and blown up.

  • Kiigan #40 4 years ago

    I'm actually disappointed that this surprise has been spoiled a bit.
    Normally I don't care about spoilers, but it would have been brilliant seeing this in the game for the first time without being warned in advance.

  • Garfy #41 4 years ago

    F**king Gervais, he gets everywhere.

    If you can't kill him, don't know if I want it (In the same way I'm not sure about Catherine Tate in Doctor Who).

    If you can kill him, Sign me up!

  • gelf #42 4 years ago

    As long as they don't let him anywhere near the writing for the game. I found the comedy in the previous games funnier then anything he's ever done.

  • alex88 #43 4 years ago

    *Pleads with Rockstar to get Bill Bailey in...

  • captainrentboy #44 4 years ago

    Ahhh Gervais, I did love him, and to be fair The Office still gets laughs from me, even though I've seen them all faaar too many times.
    BUT, his schtick is getting really old, and his last stand up was pretty dire too, even though the previous 2 were rather good.
    He needs some sort of major re-invention.

  • DivideAndCombo #45 4 years ago

    He's a big name now, it's no wonder they got him involved. Nice bonus I say. You don't get to kill him.

  • Slamhound #46 4 years ago

    Agh, dammit.

    I dislike Ricky Gervais. On the one hand he is an absolutely fantastic writer, he's capable of writing some genuinely hilarious stuff. It's just when he writes parts for himself, or forces himself on any scene. There's something incredibly unfunny about the man himself. He just drags down any scene he's a part of down to the levels of extreme unfunniness.

    The best parts of any show he's involved in, The Office, Extras, even that episode of The Simspons he wrote (Which was actually one of the better episodes of that season) is whenever Ricky himself is off camera.

    Gervais: Great comic writer, terrible comic personality. Stay off the cameras and soundbooths, stick to what you're actually good at.

  • viper_h #47 4 years ago

    Jimmy Carr should've been in it. He did a gig on Second Life once.

  • jachap #48 4 years ago

    Seinfeld will be in it, surely. And maybe that guy from Aliens and Mad About You.
    Edited by jachap at 17/04/08 @ 20:26

  • Funk-e-ham #49 4 years ago

    Hopefully his fresh material won't just be his previous work done in a slightly different order to the last time he did it like his last live show. But even if it is new he's still a cunt.

  • TriggerHippie #50 4 years ago

    So long as I don't have to see him, or hear him.

    Ah well, it gives you a reason to lob a few molotovs at the stage.
    Edited by TriggerHippie at 17/04/08 @ 22:24

  • MikkyX #51 4 years ago

    Jack Dee and Bill Bailey plz. But make them invincible, and let me shoot Gervais in the head.

    Repeatedly.

  • GitSomE_UK #52 4 years ago

    SPOILER DAMN IT!

    Saying that though I just hope I can kill him.

  • Yeevle #53 4 years ago

    I like Ricky Gervais so LALALALALALA I'm not listening.

  • Triggerhappytel #54 4 years ago

    I cannot fucking wait until the Ricky Gervais bubble bursts, and I will be standing there preaching how he has made an undeniably fruitful career out of being a fucking irritating one-trick pony.

  • Rodney #55 4 years ago

    I understand why some people dont like Gervais. His 'ironic' arrogance stich wore a little thin after a while, but I dont think you can argue with the quality of The Office, its a masterpiece.

    I think a lot of the backlash against him is purely because he has become so succesfull.

    If The office was never the commercial success it was and Gervais enjoyed only a cult following, I bet a lot of the same people criticising him here would be showing off how cool and alternative their comedy tastes were by praising Gervais and saying they were a fan of him on the 11 oclock show....

    I admit he has suffered from over exposure of late, but I think thats really the result of his success not from shameless self promoting.

    Oh dear, Im a Gervais fanboy.

    360 rules!




  • GiarcYekrub #56 4 years ago

    Bring Back, Shaun Ryder he was piss funny in San Andreas
    Edited by GiarcYekrub at 18/04/08 @ 07:03

  • peterfll #57 4 years ago

    Thank god for that, I was worried I was in the minority of people who think this one-trick two-dimensional ego-maniac should disappear. He is his own caricature which he still thinks is ironic.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #58 4 years ago

    If The office was never the commercial success it was and Gervais enjoyed only a cult following, I bet a lot of the same people criticising him here would be showing off how cool and alternative their comedy tastes were by praising Gervais

    If the Office wasn't the commercial success it has been, Gervais wouldn't have produced a second sitcom that can be summarised as "David Brent cast as a sympathetic character hangs out with a different celebrity each week". He might still have enough fucking humility to have remained more funny than irritating.

    But apart from Sascha Baron Cohen, everything in the 11 O'Clock Show was rubbish. Especially you, "TV's Iain Lee", if you can hear me. You never had any concept of comic timing, and you still don't. Please just stay the fuck away from the games industry.

  • DanWhitehead #59 4 years ago

    Especially you, "TV's Iain Lee", if you can hear me. You never had any concept of comic timing, and you still don't. Please just stay the fuck away from the games industry.

    But then who will fill the Dominik Diamond-shaped hole in our lives?

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #60 4 years ago

    They should just get Dominik Diamond back. He was quite good on the XFM Scotland breakfast show until he buggered off last year.

    Edit: Or persuade Charlie Brooker to step up to the plate, he's genuinely funny.
    Edited by MENTAL1ST at 18/04/08 @ 08:57

  • Yeevle #61 4 years ago

    Whatever happened to Daisy Donovan?

  • PlugMonkey #62 4 years ago

    "Dillain Morahan"

    Do you mean 'Dylan Moran'? Just because he's Irish doesn't mean you have to spell his name in a silly way...

  • BillyBrush #63 4 years ago

    Ricky's pretty fuunny as a stand up, good line in getting away with disabled/tasteless jokes

    Jimmy Carr - Public schoolboy reading one liners from a book, a book lent to him by frank carson

    Russel brand is the most overrated comedian ever i think you'll find, followed in closely by the mighty boosh, they may look cooler than gervais, but looks can be deceptive

    Nothing much wrong with Ricky...i'd have preferred Ricky Grover (bulla), but gervais will crack a few funny gags, i'll certainly check this bit of the game out...

    however his sad mate Robin or whatever his name is (the one ricky plays jokes on in the really useless bits of his stand up tour doco bits)...it'd be good if he was hanging from the roof of the comedy club

  • PlugMonkey #64 4 years ago

    Russel brand is the most overrated comedian ever i think you'll find,
    Amen to that!

    followed in closely by the mighty boosh,

    Ah, no, you've lost me there. Boosh is class. I can, however, see how you could not get it at all, especially ifyou'd heard it being built up a lot before you saw it, as I think it's an acquired taste. I spent the first two episodes thinking "What the fuck is this?", and if I'd spent that time thinking "What the fuck is this? This is supposed to be the best new comedy evar!?" I would probably never have got on with it.