Ep. 17 - Ricky Gervais, Matt Vogel and Constantine

On this episode, the Barretta Brothers welcome Ricky Gervais and Matt Vogel to speak about their experiences in the comedy, acting, and puppeteering industries. They delve into their influences and some of their favorite bits and characters. Ricky discusses how people live vicariously through comedians and the value in enjoying yourself and living to have fun. Then, Matt speaks on vocal matching, specifically with Kermit, what peaked his interest in puppets, and how acting fuels great puppeteering.

 

We address:

 

What draws people to Ricky Gervais?

 

What inspired him to create Afterlife? Will there be more seasons?

 

How did Matt get into acting and puppeteering?

 

What’s his new podcast, Below The Frame, all about?

 

What have their experiences with The Muppets been like?

 

We get old because we stop playing! Tune into this week’s episode to hear how Ricky Gervais enjoys life and for a fun look into the world of being a puppeteer, a comedian, and an actor. Plus, we get a call from a very special friend whom you may know and love… Constantine!

 

 

3 MAJOR POINTS DISCUSSED

• Free speech is the petri dish of ideas. Ricky describes his candid thoughts on free speech and how comedy comes from sharing your opinions, being honest, and saying what’s on your mind.
• Cancel culture inspired Ricky Gervais to create Afterlife. After seeing the negative side of cancel culture on social media and all the extremes that social media presents to the world, like the extreme right vs the extreme left, he was inspired to develop the series Afterlife. He knew that people feared sharing their opinions. He thought: If you lost everything and you have nothing to lose, you could say what you want. What is losing everything? Losing everything would be losing your life partner. Tune in to find out how many more seasons of Afterlife you can expect Ricky to create.
• To be a great puppeteer, it’s helpful to have a strong background in acting. Matt details his background and how he got into acting after a not so fun experience puppeteering. He relates the two and notes what he learned from acting that can be directly applied to puppeteering.

 

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE

• What’s coming up? [02:04]
• Welcoming Ricky Gervais [02:42]
• Are people living vicariously through your naughtiness and brutal honesty? [04:10]
• Ricky has always tried to just have fun and enjoy himself [10:52]
• Biggest influences in our lives + Some of our favorite bits [11:58]
• What made you decide to do a live broadcast on Twitter during lockdown and did you ever think it would help people get through lockdown? [19:57]
• Our experiences with The Muppets + Ricky’s two favorite Muppets of all time [23:03]
• What inspired you to develop the series Afterlife and do you have a sense of how many seasons you’ll create? [30:17]
• A bit about Ricky and Christopher Guest’s friendship [33:54]
• Talking about Billy Crystal’s Don’t Get Me Started [37:20]
• Constantine calls in [38:33]
• Transition to Matt Vogel [44:35]
• Welcoming Matt Vogel [45:25]
• Remembering “The Goelz Greeting” [48:00]
• A bit about Matt and what peaked his interest about puppets [49:20]
• How Matt got into acting [53:08]
• Matt’s college sweetheart [55:40]
• A strong acting background helps make a great puppeteer [56:37]
• 3 of Matt’s biggest influences [59:49]
• We discuss Matt’s characters [1:06:02]
• Vocal matches: People have been discussing Matt’s Kermit voice [1:08:05]
• Playing a game of Pick A Number [1:11:50]
• Matt talks about his podcast Below The Frame [1:20:07]
• Outro [1:22:40]

 

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Ricky Dene Gervais (/dʒərˈveɪz/ jər-VAYZ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director. He is best known for co-creating, writing, and acting in the British television series The Office (2001–2003).[5] He has won seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and the Rose d'Or twice (2006 and 2019), as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. In 2007, he was placed at No. 11 on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups[6] and at No. 3 on the updated 2010 list.[7] In 2010, he was named on the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people.[8]

 

Gervais initially worked in the music industry, attempting a career as a pop star in the 1980s as the singer of the new-wave act Seona Dancing and working as the manager of the then unknown band Suede before turning to comedy. Gervais appeared on The 11 O'Clock Show on Channel 4 between 1998 and 2000, garnering a reputation as a blunt and often controversial social critic. In 2000, he was given a Channel 4 spoof talk show, Meet Ricky Gervais. He achieved greater mainstream fame the following year with his BBC television mock documentary series The Office. It was followed by Extras in 2005. He co-wrote and co-directed both programmes with Stephen Merchant. In addition to writing and directing the shows, he played the lead roles of David Brent in The Office and Andy Millman in Extras. He starred in 2016 comedy film David Brent: Life on the Road, which he also wrote and directed.[9]

 

Gervais began his stand-up career in the late 1990s. He has performed five multi-national stand-up comedy tours, and he wrote the Flanimals book series. Gervais, Merchant, and Karl Pilkington created the podcast The Ricky Gervais Show, which has spawned various spin-offs starring Pilkington and produced by Gervais and Merchant.[10] Gervais has also starred in the Hollywood films Ghost Town, the Night at the Museum trilogy, For Your Consideration, and Muppets Most Wanted. He wrote, directed, and starred in The Invention of Lying and the Netflix-released Special Correspondents. He hosted the Golden Globe Awards in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, and again in 2020. Gervais also appears on the game show Child Support. Currently, Gervais is credited as the creator, executive producer, director, and writer for the Netflix comedy series After Life, where he plays the lead role of Tony Johnson.

 

RESOURCES

• Visit our website: thebarrettabrothers.com
• Visit Ricky Gervais’s website: rickygervais.com
• Visit Matt Vogel’s website: mattvogel.com
• “The Goelz Greeting”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wowADscBNmo&list=LLGIQuFoDF6lKOjW9LO-_Vyw&index=8