At his semi-detached council house, painter and decorator Bob Gervais is in an expansive mood.
‘You wouldn’t want to come here at Christmas,’ he says with a chuckle. ‘There are a lot of us.’
In total, 17 of the Gervais clan gathered in this £350,000 house on the edge of an estate in Wokingham, Berkshire, over the festive season, including Bob, 69, his grown-up son and daughter and their children. Also there was Bob’s younger brother Ricky — yes that’s Ricky Gervais.
Social media users praised Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais for his brutal roasting of the Hollywood celebrities in the audience
Bob says Ricky arrived with a script of his now infamous Golden Globes monologue which he read out to him to get his verdict. For, unlikely as it might seem, Ricky thinks there is no one on earth who is funnier than Bob.
As Ricky said a few years ago on the Today show in America: ‘The funniest person I know is my brother Bob. He was the biggest influence on my growing up.
‘He’s 11 years older than me so he’s a fatter, balder version of me, with no restrictions. He’s always been funny, and I have always wanted to be funny like him.
‘He could just go into any room and say whatever he wanted. He doesn’t care who he’s talking to. I’ve always admired that.’
The millions who enjoyed his monologue aimed squarely at the Hollywood elite on Sunday night will attest that Ricky emulates his elder brother’s comic fearlessness with great success. Bob, though, is modest about his life.
‘I’m 69 and I’m still going out doing the same,’ says Bob, gesturing at his paint-splattered trousers.
Gervais’s brother Bob, who heard the speech beforehand, said he is a ‘balder version of me, with no restrictions. He’s always been funny, and I have always wanted to be funny like him’
Did Bob write any gags for the Globes monologue? ‘No, no, I’m not allowed,’ said Bob. ‘I’ve seen on YouTube some of what he said. I don’t know who most of the actors are he was talking about, but I know Leonardo DiCaprio. He was in Titanic, wasn’t he?’ (Ricky said of DiCaprio: ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is nearly three hours long. Leonardo DiCaprio turned up to the premiere and by the end his date was too old for him.’)
That there is a gulf in their relative fortunes is obvious. Bob’s kid brother is worth £100 million — his stand-up show has just sold out globally, to a tune of £4 million worth of ticket sales.
Ricky, and his long-term partner Jane Fallon, divide their time between a large house in Hampstead, North London, and a place on New York’s Upper East Side.
He rose to fame with The Office in 2001, scored a second hit with Extras in 2005, appeared in various film comedies, toured and made the acclaimed Netflix series Afterlife, recently signing a £30 million deal with the entertainment giant.
He also enjoyed tweaking the noses of Hollywood’s elite last Sunday at the Globes — his fifth time in the hosting role and, he promises, his last.
Throughout the comedian’s hilariously biting tirade, Tom Hanks’ contorted face said it all. The most bankable movie icon of them all, and one of the nice guys in a tawdry industry, looked like he’d swallowed a litre of Tabasco sauce and was self-immolating
As he said to the Hollywood Reporter: ‘Do I pander to the 200 privileged egos in the room, or do I try to entertain a global audience of 200 million sitting at home who aren’t winning awards? Well, no contest. I try to make it a spectator sport.’
They can’t say they didn’t know what to expect — at the awards in 2016 he said: ‘I like to drink as much as the next man, unless the next man is Mel Gibson.’
This time around, he told the audience bluntly: ‘You say you’re woke but the companies you work for in China — unbelievable. Apple, Amazon, Disney. If ISIS started a streaming service you’d call your agent, wouldn’t you?
‘So if you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.’
Leonardo DiCaprio was the target of one of the biggest jokes. ‘Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, nearly three hours long,’ he grinned, ‘Leonardo DCaprio attended the premiere and by the end his date was too old for him.’ As the camera panned to a clearly embarrassed DiCaprio, ruthless Gervais stuck the boot in further: ‘Even Prince Andrew was like, ‘Come on Leo, mate. You’re nearly 50, son!’
For if there’s one thing Ricky prides himself on is that he is firmly in touch with his roots.
Ricky Dene Gervais, born in June 1961, was raised in a council house in Reading. His parents met during the war — his father was a Canadian serviceman — and eldest brother Larry was born in 1945. Then came sister Marsha, who is 72, then Bob, followed by Ricky.
Larry, a teacher, lived in Glasgow and died last summer.
Dad Jerry was a labourer who left the house at 5.30am every day for a building site. His late mother Eva was a wisecracking, sarcastic presence, according to Ricky: ‘She had a great sense of humour, an opinion on everything, and didn’t mind what she said — as long as it wasn’t in front of the neighbours.’
Ricky’s sister Marsha, who lives 40 minutes away from Bob in Thatcham, told the Mail this week: ‘When we were growing up, we all took the mickey out of each other. Ricky’s attitude is he doesn’t care what you say about him so why should you care what he says about you? My nephew told him he was an idiot at Christmas and he’s only six.’
No holds barred: It was the fifth time Ricky has emceed the gala, after previously fronting the show from 2010 to 2012 and once again in 2016
Marsha added that while people think Ricky must live in Hollywood, he is actually very much tied to Berkshire, where he grew up.
She said: ‘He always comes home. He came for my 70th and he comes to weddings and for Christmas. Everything is a joke to Ricky, except animals. He won’t make a joke out of cruelty to animals.’
The age gap meant Ricky had to shout to be heard at home — but was also rather spoiled. He said: ‘I’m closer to my brother’s son in age than I am to him. I was eight when his son was born. I remember saying to my mum, when I was about 11 or 12: “Why are the others so much older than me?” And she went: “Because you were a mistake.” ’
Money was tight, and Ricky’s mum worked for a catalogue firm. He said: ‘She would get me what I wanted. I didn’t realise she would pay for it over the next year. Then, when I got to university, I started to realise everyone had more than me. I felt sorry for them — I would never be jealous of wealth.’
He added: ‘The worst thing to be in my family was boring. Mum was funny, in an Alan Bennett way, and Dad was sarcastic, laughing in the face of adversity.
‘Bob was always funny — the really cool kid you wanted to be like, always saying the things everyone was too scared to say and getting away with it.
‘That must have influenced me, because ever since I’ve tried to see how far I can go while letting people know it’s from a good place, that it’s all about empathy and warmth.’
His mother died in 2001 after a ‘horrendous’ year-long battle with lung cancer.
He told Desert Island Discs that even at the moment of devastation, the Gervais family were still joking. He said: ‘We were organising the funeral and the vicar said to my brother: “So tell me about your mother; what was she like?”
‘And my brother, just winding up the vicar, said: “She was a keen racist.” And the vicar said: “I can’t say that!” So Bob went: “Oh, OK then . . . she liked gardening.” ’
‘I wouldn’t [joke about] someone else’s mum’s funeral — that’s the difference. But I don’t think there are any taboos in humour.’
He was 39 when he wrote The Office — David Brent was the name of a painting and decorating friend of his brother — and 40 by the time he became wealthy.
He has said: ‘I have money, fame and access. But I’ve still got the same values, the stability of the same girlfriend, same friends.’
And, of course, his family to keep him anchored in the real world in Berkshire — and encourage him to keep on saying the unsayable.