Gervais's funeral confessions

He admitted he and his elder brother Bob had ‘wound up’ the vicar of his mother Eva’s funeral and spent much of the occasion ‘crying with laughter’.

Speaking on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs today, Gervais said: ‘When my mum died, 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 he went “Oh, OK then, she liked gardening”.

Bob also told the vicar their other brother was called Barry – rather than his real name, Larry.

Gervais, 45, said that when the wrong name was read out at the funeral: ‘We’re crying with laughter and the vicar thinks we’re crazy. We’re there crying, and crying with laughter.’

Gervais, an atheist, insisted the joking was not tasteless.

‘I remember at my dad’s funeral where we were mucking around and laughing and we had to go over to the vicar and say “Sorry about that. He was 83. If he was 50, there would have been less laughter”.

‘I wouldn’t do it at someone else’s mum’s funeral. I think that’s the difference. I don’t think there’s any taboos in humour.’

Gervais also recalled the time he told his mum he formed the New Romantic band Seona Dancing.

He said: ‘I went home one Christmas and said, “Oh I meant to tell you, I want to join a band.” We actually had just got a record deal.

‘And she went “Rockstar is another word for junkie”. And I told her the advance and she went “Mick Jagger bought his mum a house in Wales”.’

Gervais also discussed his decision not to have children with his long-term partner Jane Fallon, saying: 'That is a conscious decision we have taken. It's just those first 16 years. And they don't give you anything back. Babies are scroungers.'

Gervais’s selection of records to take on to the imaginary island include Cat Stevens, Neil Young and the Sex Pistols' Anarchy In The UK. His luxury item was 'a vat of Novocaine'.

Published: 23 Jun 2007