# Who's Funnier, Gervais or Izzard? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041 "2011-05-24T18:18:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/41 "2011-05-24T23:22:35Z")
Part of what I don’t like about Gervais is his whole “The Office” schtick. I’ve never, never liked “Deeply unpleasant person that whacky things happen to” comedy ever. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/42 "2011-05-24T23:34:36Z")
Gervais seems to be obsessed with berating fat people. It’s gotten to the point that it isn’t funny any more. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/43 "2011-05-24T23:51:53Z")
I love Izzard. And a man in eyeliner will get my vote every time. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/44 "2011-05-24T23:53:17Z")
Izzard’s funnier but his schtick is getting old. Gervais is more subtile, so I think he will last longer. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/45 "2011-05-25T00:02:46Z")
Gervais is about as subtle as a brick made of angry badgers to the balls. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/46 "2011-05-25T01:58:40Z")
forgot to add Ricky Gervais ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/47 "2011-05-25T02:12:26Z")
It’s all Eddie all the time for me. _ **"Ciao…"** _ ---
**Author:** ![RetroVertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@RetroVertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RetroVertigo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/48 "2011-05-25T02:49:48Z")
Izzard by far. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/49 "2011-05-25T02:52:39Z")
The monkey is on the branch. Eddie Izzard all the way. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/50 "2011-05-25T03:09:01Z")
If you’ve never seen an elephant ski then you’ve never been on acid. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/51 "2011-05-25T03:31:43Z")
I hate Eddie Izzard; I watched _Dress To Kill_ and didn’t laugh a single time. I’m totally unsurprised to find that everyone else here seems to prefer him by a very wide margin. Ricky Gervais, on the other hand, I have loved in everything I have seen him in (which isn’t that much - just _The Office_ and _Extras_ - but I passionately love both of those shows.) ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/52 "2011-05-25T04:02:17Z")
I voted for Gervais. I’ve never seen his standup act or ever really seen much of him at all, and I haven’t found anything I have seen to be particularly funny, but I can at least understand what he is saying. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/53 "2011-05-25T04:08:26Z")
I find Gervais intensely annoying. I’ll admit he’s brilliant in The Office, but something about him makes me cringe. He just seems so mean all the time. I’ve seen nothing funnier than Izzard on Dress to Kill. Glorious was more polished, I think, but never hit the high points of Dress to Kill. “Hoocha hoocha hoocha . . . lobster!” “What is it Sebastian? I’m arranging matches.” ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/54 "2011-05-25T04:52:44Z")
At first, I thought Izzard was just famous because he dressed in drag and it was a novelty thing. I avoided him because of this. Then I actually saw his standup and I don’t think I’ve laughed harder in my life. Gervais can be funny, but never that funny. ---
**Author:** ![Canyon\_Surfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Canyon\_Surfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canyon_Surfer)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/55 "2011-05-25T05:29:22Z")
Izzard is pure genius. “I grew up in Europe, where the history comes from." “You know, Catholicism, we believed in the teachings of Cathol, and everything it stood for…” and the whole [Death Star](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoLb2VYBe6Q) scene ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/56 "2011-05-25T06:07:52Z")
The Izz all the way. His spiel on how the world was going to end due to computers was the first thing I ever saw from him and still remains my fave to this day. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/57 "2011-05-25T10:37:14Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > The monkey is on the … quoi? ou est le signe? Il ne’est pas sur la branch. Il est disparu! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/58 "2011-05-25T10:45:39Z")
Izzard does the comedy of the absurd; Gervais does embarrassment, humilation and general awkwardness. I acknowledge that both are comic geniuses in their own right but I hate the comedy of humilation. Izzard all the way. Gervais writes a better sitcom (_The Office_ and _Extras_ vs [_Cows_](http://www.eddieizzard.com/eddie/stand-up/view.php?Id=17)) but Izzard is a much better actor. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/59 "2011-05-25T11:04:02Z")
Easy answer. Eddie’s actually funny. Ricky surrounds himself with people who are entertaining, but is mostly just a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041/60 "2011-05-25T13:06:36Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’m abstaining as well because Eddie is a better stand-up but Ricky is the funnier character actor and TV writer. Exactly right. Saved me some typing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-funnier-gervais-or-izzard/583041.md?page=4)