I know some people are saying this demonstrates the difference between British humour and American humour: it doesn't, really. In fact, I would say that Gervais has been more American in his style of humour at this event than I've ever seen him before, in that basically all he's doing is lampooning people. I've never seen a man take so many cheap shots. Most of the things he said are true, but that doesn't automatically make them funny. Have you ever told a joke about a friend's misadventures? Ever notice that the joke usually becomes a lot less funny once they're in the room? There's a time and place for everything, really.
Have a read through some of his jokes. Allegations of bribery. Homophobic references. Borderline slander. Not exactly high class humour. I wouldn't really mind because I'm not so pretentious that I can't laugh at that sort of thing, but half of the time he didn't even set the joke up properly. Good British humour is based around irony and sarcasm conveyed though the use of either hyperbole or litotes. Gervais did almost nothing of the sort last night. Some people are also saying this is what he's known for: it's not. In both The Office and Extras he plays someone with such incredible narcissism that you can't help but laugh at his trumped up opinions of himself. I can think of plenty of ways he could have brought that style of humour to the ceremony instead of just slagging people off the entire time.
For anyone who thinks this was funny: I dare you to go up to someone who's been in rehab and make a wisecrack about it to their face, as Gervais did when introducing RDJ.
