A No-Nonsense Marketing Smart Tip January 18, 2005
Ricky Gervais is a King of Comedy. After a hugely successful radio career in the UK, Ricky co-created and starred in the original British version of The Office, and went on to do it all over again in HBO's Extras.
He's the winner of two Golden Globes and now – between seasons on Extras – he's doing one of the funniest and most popular podcasts in the world – four million downloads and counting.
I talked with Ricky to get some clues about how he creates such funny content, why he is podcasting, and what radio folks can learn from his creative process. This interview is for any talent who aspires to comedy greatness. It's for any GM who's trying to recognize what talent looks like. It's for any radio group who would kill ideas because they pre-test poorly before an audience really gets used to them.
It's for anyone trying to break into radio with something original only to have doors slam shut in their face. It's for anyone who has ever tried to create anything against seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
I was going to provide you a transcript of the interview like I usually do, but I changed my mind. You can't possibly appreciate how funny this is unless you take 18 minutes and actually listen to it. So listen to it. And pass it along to everyone you know. Radio will be better for it..
A Final Word…Ricky's people have asked me to tell you that he is not, strictly speaking, available for interviews. It must have been my magnetic personality