Ricky shies away from theatre gigs

Ricky Gervais has ruled out a national tour - because he doesn't think big theatres suit his style of comedy.

And he says he's not experienced enough to demand the ticket prices such venues would expect.

Although Gervais is performing his stand-up show Animals at London's Bloomsbury Theatre next week, he only has a couple of dozen gigs to his name.

"I don't think I can begin to justify people paying something like £25 to see me," he told London's Time Out magazine. "Not for what I do know.

"That's not false modesty, it's because I always want to give value for money."

And he dismissed the idea of a tour by saying: "Sixty dates in 1,000-seaters - I think that's cabaret. That's clowning. That's shouting.

"I don't jump and shout. I want people to see the face. With my stand-up it should be more like watching TV."

He wrote Animals on a couple of Sundays while filming The Office, but it still garnered critical praise. "It's anecdotes and stories, not high-intensity gag writing. That's why it was easy to cobble together."

Published: 30 Dec 2002