** A packed Unipol Forum in Milan erupted in applause as Ricky Gervais declared, “It feels good to laugh freely again.” The British comedian, nearing the end of his “Mortality” show for 9,000 fans, reflected on the past decade: “I don’t know how it is here, but in England and America, some people told others what they couldn’t laugh at. But we pushed back, we moved forward, we won.”
Gervais, a Guinness World Record holder for highest-grossing stand-up show (Hollywood Bowl) and famed for “The Office,” Netflix specials, and controversial hosting stints like the 2020 Golden Globes, described “Mortality” as his “most personal and honest” show. He clarified it’s not about death, but “about living. Some people are so worried about dying they forget how to live. Life’s good things are dangerous, like alcohol. I know because I sell it.” Acknowledging health risks, he quipped it also clouds judgment, leading to births, including some “deformed if the mother kept drinking. But the good thing is, if you are a deformed child, you can start drinking earlier.”
In signature provocative style, Gervais championed “free speech,” skewering perceived hypocrisy. He questioned those claiming anti-racism, suggesting if Anne Frank sought refuge from Nazis at their door, they’d say, “Go next door.” “Wherever you stand,” he asserted, “we should agree on free speech, from which all other rights derive.”
Performing against large screens for visibility and black wings imagery (evoking the angel of death?), Gervais wore jeans and a black t-shirt. He rejected the guru persona, framing humour as a “superhero weapon” against “bourgeois snowflakes telling ordinary people what they can and can’t laugh at.”
His rapid-fire set spanned topics: questioning Stephen Hawking’s party presence (“a talking wheelchair”), Epstein’s gatherings, reassuring youth about AI (“unplug it like we did with mom…”), and even an “elegy to the anus” for its 24/7 diligence preventing leaks. Technology, assisted suicide, religion, aging (noting his own 64 years), Jason Momoa’s physique (self-censored at the Globes), and pre-coming out football chants about Elton John also featured.
Gervais concluded with a call: “You can’t worry about what happens after you die, so enjoy life.” On stage in Milan, he appeared to be doing just that.