Comedian Ricky Gervais talks new voice app, Just Sayin'
- Gervais is creative director for the venture
- App 'will be to radio what Twitter was to newsprint'
- Comedian loves to review movies, poorly
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Comedian Ricky Gervais has a new app, Just Sayin', a voice tool to post spoken updates to Facebook and Twitter via the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
The app, which just launched, is the brainchild of David Hayden, CEO of San Francisco-based CloudTalk, who approached Gervais about partnering with him on the app.
Gervais, the creator of the British version of The Office and frequent talk and award show guest and podcaster, brings his large audience of 3 million Twitter followers to the party. He serves as creative director for the venture. We met up with Gervais recently in a suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Just Sayin'
"I embrace what's new. I got into podcasting, before I knew what it was, as an experiment, for a laugh. We don't know where Just Sayin' will go. It's exciting, because you don't know what will happen. (The app) is another form of social networking. It will be to radio what Twitter was to newsprint. You can be the first to put your opinion out there."
Heavy tweeting
"I like to annoy people, I like to agitate. I want to see what the reaction is. One of my favorite pastimes is arguing with creationists who think the earth is 5,000 years old. You can't lose, and you can't win. That's a nice debate. It's an exhibitionist match."
Bad movie reviews by Gervais
On Just Sayin', Gervais picks up his long-time habit, first started in his podcasts, of reviewing movies poorly. "They're terrible, un-insightful ... often I haven't seen the film. (People) get the gag right away. Movie reviewers want to be erudite and often pompous, and they want to talk about the art of the movie. I deconstruct that. I'm just an idiot."
Bringing next TV show to Netflix
His controversial British sitcom, Derek, set in a retirement home, will play on British TV and here online via Netflix, next year. "Netflix is the future. I want it to be seen by as many people as possible, without compromising. Netflix gives you total freedom, and they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. An artist's got to eat!"
How he starts the day
"I get up, have a coffee, check e-mails, and then Twitter is probably next. I want to see if any of my Tweets caused a global catastrophe."(Dressing up as Hitler and tweeting didn't cause warfare, but many folks were outraged.) "Just because they get offended doesn't mean they're right, does it? People take it too seriously sometimes. They sometimes don't realize it's a joke."
Some random Gervais tweets
"The most annoying part about people believing in an afterlife is that they'll never get to know they were wrong."
"Since when did people stop assuming I might be joking? We have to stop putting 'Don't drink' on bleach. It might weed out the idiots."
"We're all going to die one day, so chill out and enjoy the ride. Please RT to raise awareness."
Inviting Twitterverse feedback on Just Sayin'
'"I don't reply to everyone. It's a spectator sport. I'm not there to do one-to-one on people. I'm not a politician, I'm not a guru. I'm an entertainer. I try to make it interesting for as many of the 3 million followers I have." And how did he get so many followers? "I don't know. Justin Bieber has 28 million, doesn't he? That puts it into perspective. My hair let me down."