Letterman: Ricky Gervais Talks Playing Practical Jokes During His Mother's Funeral (VIDEO)

On Monday night's "Late Show," David Letterman welcomed the always funny Ricky Gervais, who proved he really is a comedian at all times. While recalling his childhood, Gervais said he had a family of comedians who valued humor above all else. Even at his own mother's funeral, Gervais and his siblings injected humor into the sad occasion with practical jokes.

Check out the clip below to hear how Gervais had his family cracking up in the middle of the vicar's prayer, and how he and his siblings played a prank on their brother Larry at the funeral.


WATCH:

Comments

[YouDontWantMeHere]

12:28 PM on 12/15/2010

here's what's i wanna know now: what did i do to you Mr. Gerbil? your pop-up almost kept me from loggin' on earlier!(oh yeah that vampire teeth thing)

[galigal]

09:13 PM on 12/14/2010

Laughter is the best thing for our souls...

[galigal]

09:09 PM on 12/14/2010

humor is our saviour

[DanoX]

07:16 PM on 12/14/2010

Ricky and Elmo are the comedy duo of the century!

[denisicle]

06:19 PM on 12/14/2010

I think it's wonderful. Who cares how some folks might take humor at your mom's funeral. Hell, we are all going to die one day. When I die, I'd rather have people laugh and have fun thinking of me than sitting around boo-hooing. Humor gets you through the toughest times in life, and usually with your sanity intact (of course, the definition of sanity is debatable...)

[LiberalHick]

05:15 PM on 12/14/2010

When my brother committed suicide 25 years ago, I was living in AK and one night when I was feeling particularly grief-stricken I phoned my mother in Seattle. "Mom," I cried, "I should have known something was wrong with Tom [who was in the military] because he never acknowledged the homemade blueberry muffins I'd sent him at Christmas."
Her response,
"Oh, sweetheart, maybe they just weren't that good."

[jaredbrain]

06:05 PM on 12/15/2010

f&f

[quixoto]

03:14 AM on 12/16/2010

Ditto.

[chaucer1]

04:51 PM on 12/14/2010

If you thought this was even remotely funny, as he did, your sense of humor needs work.

[LiberalHick]

05:17 PM on 12/14/2010

And you're just the tool for the job?

[SME131]

07:29 PM on 12/14/2010

I thought it was terrific. I would love it if my kids did the same at my funeral.

[wewin]

03:57 PM on 12/14/2010

If you let this video clip run the whole Letterman Show starts up.

[CHMB]

03:42 PM on 12/14/2010

Fabulous!

Humour is the way to go. When my mother dies, she wants me to say she kicked the bucket, not she passed on. My grandmother wants a smiley face in her obituary. I come from a family of people when a very dark, twisted sense of humour.

[MadLimerist]

02:58 PM on 12/14/2010

If you want to laugh until you weep, check the outtakes from The Office (British version) on YouTube.

[WeWon]

03:54 PM on 12/14/2010

Thanks. I'm rushing over to check it out. The British "Office" was the funniest show ever.

[dopamineboy]

05:56 PM on 12/14/2010

One of the best indeed.

[pepinito]

02:48 PM on 12/14/2010

I love his hair, looks so natural.

[Rasalom]

02:37 PM on 12/14/2010

Not a surprise given how he used to call his mom up on the radio and badger her.

[Amadahy]

02:11 PM on 12/14/2010

This guy just keeps getting better and better. LOL

[dianaskylark]

02:08 PM on 12/14/2010

This is the Way to Go: with humor.

[nolabels]

02:06 PM on 12/14/2010

Funniest man alive.

[catcrazee]

02:27 PM on 12/14/2010

I concur.

[tcny]

03:03 PM on 12/14/2010

I dunno... Eddie Izzard is pretty out-there.

[bklo]

03:11 PM on 12/14/2010

Yes! Eddie is the man.

[DanoX]

07:15 PM on 12/14/2010

look up "deathstar canteen + leggo" on you tube. I've watched it 100 times and still lmao!