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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed shows.
Ricky Gervais: Out of England
EMAILPRINTSPECIAL: HBO, Saturday 11/15 at 9:00p (75 minutes)

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 13 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 12 votes
Read user comments
Rate this show >
Show Info
Genre(s): Comedy
Created By: Ricky Gervais
First Air Date: November 15, 2008
Summary
Starring Ricky Gervais
"The Office's" Ricky Gervais returns to TV with this stand-up special filmed in the US last year.
Episode Guide & More Info: More about this show at TV.com
Also On The Web: Official Ricky Gervais Site Official Show Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment WeeklyAubry D'Arminio
The Office's Gervais is half as good a stand-up as he is an actor, yet he's still one naturally funny bloke.
Read Full Review >TV GuideMatt Roush
The Extras Emmy champ riffs with mischievous charm on topics from diseases to Nazis. His style is so nonthreatening, especially as he giggles while reading from a memorably explicit safe-sex leaflet, that it's hard to take true offense.
Read Full Review >Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
The Moffitt-Lee production, taped in New York, offers additional proof that Gervais is that rare British talent able to charm audiences consistently on either side of the pond.
Read Full Review >The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
Shocking audiences is the easiest way to get a laugh, which is why so many stand-up comedians these days rely on X-rated material, ethnic slurs and spews of profanity. What’s remarkable about Mr. Gervais is that he can do all that, and less.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
Because we know that he knows that we know that he's manipulating the ironies, Gervais "as himself" can for the most part get away with the sort of comments that reliably brought his alter egos great grief.
Read Full Review >Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
The jokes are fair to middling, to be honest, and they don't feel particularly fresh, especially toward the end of the performance....But his delivery is irresistible nonetheless, as he rambles on like a fool, filling in the gaps with self-incriminatory hemming and hawing, reveling in all the attention.
Read Full Review >New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
It's 75 minutes of standup comedy that will melt any remaining asbestos in your insulation. Some of it also very funny, though it's blue enough that when he does a clean routine about Humpty Dumpty, you feel like you should rewind just to make sure you didn't miss some X-rated punchline.
Read Full Review >TimeJames Poniewozik
I hadn't really thought of Gervais as a stand-up comedian. After watching it, I still don't. Which is not to say that the special is not entertaining; it's uneven but sometimes gaspingly funny.
Read Full Review >Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Though enjoyable moments were scattered throughout, aside from the priceless routine I mentioned at the start of this review, they were just moments.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Gervais may just be one of the funniest men alive, but once you hear his ruminations on AIDS and monkeys, sex and public toilets, cows and stairs and a variety of other subjects that all seem to come back to penises, you'll have far more fun with "Filth," if only in imagining Whitehouse in the audience, furiously scribbling notes for the letters she'd soon be writing to the proper authorities.
Read Full Review >Washington PostTom Shales
Although the hour has its highlights, there is a great reliance on toity topics (he even confesses that a final story is "toilet-related") and, like virtually every modern comedian except Seinfeld, a wretched excess of potty mouthiness.
Read Full Review >Wall Street JournalDorothy Rabinowitz
Mr. Gervais's new comedy special has nothing whatever to recommend it--other, perhaps, than the skin-crawling curiosity it raises.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this show is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
John G. gave it a9:
I thought it was great. Why the Wall Street Journal has that woman reviewing comedy is perplexing. She gave this a 10% but gave Cavemen an overall favorable review. Ugh. Stick her in Uganda and where her lack of humor will serve us all better.
M K gave it a10:
Awesome! I have watched it about 4 times now. Love the Elephants at the end.
Daniel gave it an8:
I think the main drawback about this particular special is that is a coagulation of all of Ricky's earlier standup, being "Fame", "Politics", and "Animals." The criticisms listed feel a little empty since its obvious none of the reviewers actually realize that this was a routine created from parts of other show. I also wonder if Ricky consciously chose to just re-do this routine or if this is what HBO asked for.
