Ricky Gervais may be best known for his sit-coms and stand-up shows, but The Office star often lets his hidden musical talent slip through obscene comedic skits. While Ricky’s 2016 mockumentary film, “David Brent: Life on the Road,” followed his legendary Office character on an epic fail of a nationwide music tour, Ricky managed to thread some classic comedy songs throughout the flick, with one of them going completely viral.
Ricky was busy chatting on The Jim and Sam Show when his radio hosts convinced him to play a David Brent song. He picked “Slough” from “Life On The Road.” Despite clearly being on the edge of his seat with nerves, Ricky’s performance has managed to amass over 886,000 YouTube views to date, and fans can’t get over how genuinely impressive his “comedy” song really is!
This ballad takes the mick out of love songs to an artist’s home city, but unlike the countless, glitzed-up New York and London-loving hits clustering the decades of pop music, David Brent’s “Slough” comes settled in the hilarious banality of a nowhere town; an industrial estate without much to shout about except its diehard boredom: “The station’s just got a new floor, and the motorway runs by your door.”
But once we all get over the song’s savagely middle-class, deadpan lyrics, Ricky’s unexpected musical talent shines through. Soft and pitch-perfect vocals embodying David’s middle-of-the-road persona, acoustic guitar played like a professional folk rock artist; Ricky’s comedy hits are as fully-fledged as real and authentic songs, realistically greyed by the depressing, working-class outlook inherent to David Brent’s character.
As one top commenter on YouTube reminded us, “People forget Ricky was an aspiring musician in his youth.” Decades before breaking the mainstream with hit show The Office in 2001, Ricky spent the 1980s sparking a career in pop music, fronting the new wave band Seona Dancing. They failed to break the UK charts, but in a moment of accidental comedy gold, the band’s song “More To Lose” became a teen anthem in the Philippines. Music Man readers can check out the hilariously retro music video, featuring an unrecognizably young Ricky Gervais, in the clip above!
More fans flocked to the YouTube comments to share their shock and awe at Ricky’s musical talent, with top commenters writing, “He has a genuinely impressive, Bowie-esque, control over those deliberate voice breaks,” and “There is actually soul in his voice. He’s taking the p*** with soul on par with Bob Dylan and ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries. Ricky is a genuine artist.”
Ricky Gervais seamlessly merges comedy and music, turning ordinary moments into viral sensations. His portrayal of David Brent continues to captivate and amuse, transforming mundane themes into comedic gold. If you’re eager to dive deeper into Ricky’s musical endeavors and experience his unique flair firsthand, explore the links below for more.