Stephen Merchant | Full Q&A | Oxford Union
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Merchant is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office (2001-2003), co-writer and co-star of Extras (2005-2007) and co-host of The Ricky Gervais Show in its radio, podcast, audiobook and television formats; the radio version won a bronze Sony Award. He is also known for his voice role as Wheatley in the 2011 video game Portal 2.
Merchant appeared as himself in the BBC series Life's Too Short (2011-2013), which he co-wrote and co-directed. He also voiced the computer program ConRad on The Simpsons in the 2016 episode "The Girl Code", co-developed the Sky1 travel series An Idiot Abroad (2010-2011) and performs as a stand-up comedian. He starred in his first play, Richard Bean's The Mentalists, at London's Wyndham's Theatre from July to August 2015. His varied endeavors have earned him three BAFTA Awards, four British Comedy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award.
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Steve actually got offered to do the voice over work for Portal 1, but Karl never passed the message on. Money for old rope...
Is that what they're saying, "money for old rope" ? I've never heard that expression before and I could never make out exactly what the last word was. I thought it was 'money for old rote. "
th-cam.com/video/uVUteofq9ok/w-d-xo.html (53 minutes 19 seconds in) is where Karl tries to explain the origin of the phrase, "Money for old rope" - I don't think it's true! haha :)
Hahaha
Do you want a game of Tug-o-War? It's up to you, you own it. E.
I should've known it was a girl so....
"HE'S DONE YOU AGAIN STEVE!!!"
HES DONE YA AN HES NOT EVEN HERE!
baldy hardnut karl is that you
How's he done me? My parents live in Bristol
Ricky: Ha! Jokes on you, they couldn't clean the flat.
Steve: I don't know who's laughing at who now?
Man alive.
Who else listens through all the xfm podcasts on world of KP before bed on a systematic basis
Me. About to put one on right now in fact.
Free M8son I'm back round to season 9 #7 where are you?
I don't simply on the basis I'd be busy laughing instead of sleeping.
Usually pilkiboys, bald Manc or dr yak
Why is it we do this? I started out as white noise to help me sleep, but now I don’t know why.
It just feels comfortable, and I know them all so well now, that sleep quickly follows.
Eyes that pop out of their head......Steve
What's 1.6?
Drop your trousers.
I pissed myself laughing when I read this comment
Don’t have a go at the eyes cause that’s astigmatism. That’s why it’s bulbous.
spider5600 just people that make you do a double take when you see em
Steve Merchant
spider5600 never laughed so hard when I first heard it😂 also the bit about pool where he pushed the glasses up and they touched his eyeballs fucking creased up
Often overshadowed by Gervais, Merchant remains a criminally underrated writer and performer. And judging by this he offers a great humble insight, good video!
He's done well enough. Don't feel sorry for him I'm pretty sure he's more successful and richer than you.
Rarely mentioned is his HBO series & movie "Hello Ladies". Both are gems!
Well said.
The quality of Ricky’s solo work shows how vital Stephen was to their partnership. Ricky has his head up his own arse anymore while retreading the same old comedic ground.
Watch anything rick has done since they stopped collaborating. Absolute dog shit
Those students should watch their debit cards with Steve around
It'll be a big round of drinks , he's not made of money!
Yeah, when he was on the student campus and there was already a bank card in the machine with the pin in and he took 30 quid out for himself. Karl would have only taken 20, because that's just 1 note...? Don't quite understand Karl's logic there. But I never do anyway.
Ah, I love it that so many people get that really obscure reference!
Well he was traumatised when that old woman gave him nothing when Steve found her wallet😂
I'm sure they're safe with their 3 wallets.
Steve is so underrated, proper sharp shooter with his one liners.
Jackson Brown but his eyes... 😅
Haha this is also an important factor!
0 0 look at this bitterly jealous man haha amazing! Gonna re buy more Stephen Merchant stuff and laugh even louder knowing how annoyed you get!
0 0 ronburgundy.idontbelieveyou.gif
0 0 "what I like to do when I'm a self made millionaire is go on TH-cam and throw hissy fits about Stephen Merchant and call names to people who like him" said not one self made millionaire, ever.
The fact that Steve isn’t afraid of talking positively about people that he’s worked with. He gives people credit when it’s due in a modest way I love that.
"i'm surprised you need glasses Steve. You've got a good set of eyes on you"
He's done you again!
What does that insult even mean?
YabbilyDoobily karl is always making fun of how large steven's eyes are.
It’s the eyes
Really impressed with the interviewer. Very rarely can Stephen get 10 minutes into an interview without mentions of Ricky, but she put a big focus on his own work first. Great interview.
Shame about her grating giggle All the time 🤮🤮
Utterly delighted to find the comments full of Karl quotes and XFM references.
Omg imagine Karl giving a talk at Oxford.
"Alright"
'the way i look at it'
He can give his old man having a Twix lecture!
ha ha ha
@@zendon3 lmao
Please get Karl on this Q&A!! And on everything else!
i demand the right to upvote 30 million times!
Karl needs to be on QI
Rob Singfield "the blue whales heart is the size of a small family car"
Karl "who's stuffing Nissan micra's into whales???"
He’s got a new show coming out called sick of it
@@some_guy9092 yep and I cannot wait... been way to long with out Karl in our lives
Karl "how big is 1.6 inches?
Steve "drop your trousers"
Once, during ping-pong, Lucy pushed the glasses up and it touched your eye.
Steve: Yeah...
Eyes bulging with imagined riches
Patrick O'hAodha he looks like a sub teacher who's only back from a rough patch... Wife left, kids don't respect him etc
Patrick O'hAodha Haha! It's nice to hear callbacks to the old days. Mechant! Who are you call sad?
Good ole Steven Mitchell
He does burble a lot
35million isn’t riches?
A true British export we can be exceptionally proud of.
With a touch of a California accent there
*bristolian export
@@nolikeygsomnipresence270 there isn’t lol
You should be. Love him in the US
The XFM shows and podcasts are timeless, addictive and help thousands of people to sleep nightly.
So true 👍👍👍
I listen to it on my massage chair, fair better than whale song
When Karl's knockin' about in me 'ed,, tellin' stories and that, I fall right asleep.
Miiiiiillions!!
Every work trip, I listen to it to help me sleep
steve is really good at elaborating on a question, he doesnt give one word answers and he doesnt ramble, its impressive
"Schindlers list in spaaaace"
hhahaha
😂😂😂
I hope Steve reads these comments, he's so funny and seems like such a great bloke. Genuinely enjoyed this!
i put him up there with elvis
Costello?
@@readventurekids I found it funny if nobody else did 🤣
It's great how open he was to talk about Ricky and Karl. Same can't be said for Ricky's q&a unfortunately.
At what time does he talk about them?
sam-zare-guitar: There isn't a certain time he talks about them. He mentions them quite a bit throughout the whole Q&A.
sam-zare-guitar 10:00 mins in he does a significant amount
Dan Ricky mentioned Karl and the podcasts a bit
Peep Peep: he sure did, that was only briefly though. Steve mentioned them multiple times.
He's a very clever comedian really. He sets his audience up right from the start and gets everyone listening to him in a very clever way within the first 10 minutes. Great storyteller too which you get from xfm
I also love that he doesn't put on an act like some actors and comedians feel they must do when the spotlight is on them. He's just himself all the time.
I reckon we'll blend...
all our food
We’ll all go ugulee
CrisisofConsciousness - Natural evolution of the trouser.
I thought you were going to make a point about race!
BAD KARMA FOR MAKING ME PRESS ENTER FOR NO FUCKING REASON
I think Steve is the funniest of the lot. He has an imperceptibly good sense of timing for his jokes.
You have an imperceptibly good sense of timings for his jokes, mate, if anyone has..
@@itsMrNoble Amazing
Did you see that film last night ‘Gaylords Say No’?
Men in Black... there's this thing in it
clemensetz 😂😂😂
It could’ve been your brother
Honestly Steve it could've been your brother.
Of course it could, and you look like the humanzee
"What, a bald, mancunian tosser!?"
"Nah, weirder than that"
Steve gave each and every attendee a copy of Executive Decision.
Illegal briefs.
Children of the corn
And Stigmata
Ladder 49
What an arbitrary list of prizes
Oi lanky, you’ve left your phone
Did you have to do the 'lanky'?
But you turned around so you knew he was talking about you
He's done you again Steve
Play a record
It's an "achiement" to be so tall 😃
'were you a tall baby?'
LMAO remember the one where steve said some girl on the train pinched his arse, and karl was like she must have been four feet becoz steve's arse is four foot off the ground omgg hahahhahahah
Where did you see that question?
@@babbisp1 karl pilkington once asked him in the xfm radio station (a rather moronic statement) "were you a tall baby"
Same interview, same location, 1 year apart...
Ricky: I, I, I, my project, me, me, me
Steve: we, we, we, Ricky was amazing, us, us, us
Yea... because Steve would not have been successful without Ricky
Spot on! I totally agree
The Office was more Steve's creation than Ricky's, so, if anything, Ricky wouldn't have made it without Steve.
"The Office was more Steve's creation than Ricky's". Really? How do you know that?
They were both lucky to find each other as neither of their careers may not have taken off. Both of their stand ups are quite weak and their solo projects don't have the same depth as their collaborative work.
WET-KNEE HOUSTON
De Trout Spinners
Play a record
Deli Meat Tree
Christ! De berg!
Dan yell bed in field
People who haven’t seen the podcasts will be so confused at this comments section...
FANNY LIKE A SPLIT TENNIS BALL
It's not his volt
Wayne king
Galileo don’t talk to me about science please make me television
“What’s tomato with you?”
*ripped
Stephen comes across so well in this interview. His respect for comedy, writing and Gervais is really clear and gentlemen like. Legend
He's also really lovely about Karl. Which he doesn't have to be, after all they don't work together anymore and Ricky was more Karl's friend than his.
@@thesprawl2361 I feel like Ricky loses interest in his friends over time (finds "better" ones) but I'd like to think he and Karl are still mates.
@@arturobandini4078 I think, and I'm just guessing here, that maybe Karl looks back on the time he spent as Ricky's 'best friend' and feels a tiny bit regretful of how much he let Ricky get away with, how much he let Ricky treat him like a shiny new toy(Ricky used those words to describe Karl repeatedy). That's just a feeling I've no idea if it's true.
Whereas with Steve, even though they argued a fair amount, Steve never treated him that way. So maybe their relationship is cleaner, less sullied.
@@thesprawl2361 Steve has said in the past that he genuinely loves Karl, and they would argue because they were good friends
Man moths?
Like a bit of weird art.
That's so much better than an upright lizard
Steve's now the best looking out of the lot of them now... He's kept his looks.
At one point, near the start, rick was the best looking one and Steve the opposite - now it’s the opposite
Alfie Mitchell gervais looks like a fat lesbian now
And do you say that you've aged well Steve ?
Yeah,i've kept my looks
Mhmm
You've just got used to how he looks
Wibble
It seems to me that a lot of Merchant's subtle gags aren't reaching their targets here. Such an intelligent comedian.
No smart people at Oxford? 😆
@@jonnysupreme being academically smart doesnt mean being smart in everything else
Agreed, social privilege doesn't necessarily mean wit and intelligence, Stephen seems wasted on these set of idiots, he is such an interesting clever articulate man, and there's virtually no interaction. Fucking hell, I wish Karl was there he would have called them all out lol😁
Fantastic interview! Loved the interviewer not hogging all the talk time, never interrupting and giving the audience a whopping 40 minutes to ask their questions. 👏🏻👏🏻
Stephen Merchant’s answers were great. Very considered and honest. Really enjoyed it.
Loved 'Hello Ladies' such a great show, they shouldn't have cancelled it.
Eimear O'Connor hopefully Merchant one day makes “Merchants Navy” or “Merchant of little Venice”
IKR!!!! it was actually really good and funny. but i wish they'd all reunite
Much better than Ricky's solo efforts too.
You cancelled it, mate, if anyone did...
"You're the one who's sad and lonely"
He's done.you again!
Is Steve really touchy about the way he looks?
@@odw_99 Oooh, what's this? Where's this coming from?
@@odw_99 Would think most people are?
Marina Weaver th-cam.com/video/INfVabuCCSY/w-d-xo.html it’s from this
Anyone had a chat with a yoghurt yet?
"It's the mammal, right, that's got.. sort of the pointiest eyes. Eyes that pop out their head..
Steve"
He could have been your brother
The older Steve gets the more you can see the likeness
Of course he could Ralf, and you look like the humanzee!
When he talks about The Office "we" "us".....
Complete opposite of Ricky!
I would say he is in fact more intelligent and capable than the majority of the room.
Look at 'is eyes. Usually in an exam 'e sits at the back, right.. so 'e can see all the other exam papers and read the answers..
Certainly taller with pointier eyes.
I mean, 20+ years more life experience vs 18 year olds…
It's nice that he just answers the questions about working again with Ricky. Ricky himself goes all weird and doesn't really answer the question in regards to working with Steve in the future.
So awesome Steve actually said the words ‘Karl has a head like a fucking orange’ during a talk at Oxford university
Stephen Merchant is so underrated and its a crying shame he doesn't get the recognition he deserves. I heard that Merchant wrote around 70% of The Office. Notice the difference between Merchant and Gervais - when Merchant talks about The Office its always "we", when Gervais talks about it its always "when I wrote".
He's certainly a good speaker and keeps you interested, I'd love to see more of stuff like this
Why don't they use their big Oxford brains to arrange the chairs in the right direction?
Wild Animal Channel hahaha. Lol. Teehee.
yea lol they're all facing each other instead of steve and the interviewer
the chairs face each other because that room is normally used for debates and is lead out with 2 opposing sides of the argument debating each other face to face, almost like the seating format of parliament. they must keep the chairs that way out of tradition to that
petergiffen100 sorry but not correct look at all the other Q&A and you will see the difference
I love Wild Animal Racing! Fancy seeing you here!
It's amazing the difference between this one and Ricky's. Stephen brings up the other people that helped him like Ricky or Karl etc while in Ricky's he never actually mentions Stephen at all when talking about the office or extras
I love Stephen Merchant! 💜 He's actually my favorite of the three, though, I admit that it's very hard to put Karl second to anyone. I just love Stephen's quick wit...and quieter laughing. 😋
Thank you for posting this interview!
Fascinating Q&A, honest view on freedom of speech with lot of truth. Loved it!
I love the fact that like 90% of the comments here are quotes from the Podcasts/XFM. FFS Steve, Ricky and Karl, DO SOMETHING ELSE!
A Quality Imperialist i was thinking the same thing. Its boring after the billionth comment
Play a record
A Quality imperalist and claude greengras..Do we need them..?
This is the first cryptic clue. The initials are A, Q and I.
The mixed-raced fella made of water is mischievous but sees the world how it should be.
That’s A, Q and I.
Wonder if he had to go home to Bristol with a sore throat after talking this much
You were at home with ya mum and ya dad
He's done you again
loving parents... so sue me
How does she completely gloss over his multi-character turn in Pirates of Penzance.
Thumbilina Thumbilana SIIIIIING
Hahaha thank you for reminding me of this
Evano Stefano THUMBELINA DAAAANNCE, THUMBELINA SIIING
The title card “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” comes up, she goes “stupid name for a film!”
Ethros64 Ehhh? How old was he?
Mr yakamoto is on, asking if the deal has gone through?
Oh god it’s not subtitles is it?!
Vince Ritchie chin chan chan chin chan
Steve, was this better than when you played 'Rage Against The Machine' at that Boy Scouts disco?
Or better than being an unlikely lust object
The scout masters where telling him to turn it off but he said no
FIERY WITH BEAUTY TRUMP BOARDROOM EDITION this is what they want
Ah, I'm loving all these really obscure references that people are getting in the comments
@@kingsizehomer The head of the scouts then had him killed and now all the scouts gather there every year with candles to pay their respects, and then the film ends
Good to see merchant sticking up for karl
She had a problem with her marrow.
With er marrow n that
What’s the point in getting to know her, spending money on her, if she’s going to die on ya
GOD! NO! That's not a normal thing to say!
N that
Bought er some Opal Fruits
After watching Afterlife, it's quite clear that the main comedic genius behind The Office and Extras was Stephen Merchant.
Afterlife was so disturbingly bad. Amazed he got away with making that mawkish shite without any self awareness.
@@DaddyMorphosis couldn't agree more. I'll never understand how 3 seasons ever got the go ahead.
@@DaddyMorphosisno taste
Absolutely brilliant! Really interesting hour of discussion. I have just watched a re-run of Extras and reminded myself of how great it was. So well written and unique in so many ways.
Fair play. Steve is such a nice bloke. One of the funniest people.
Very very talented man , even though it wasn’t that popular he’s recent work I am a fan of , but the combination of him , gervais and Karl have brought so much laughter to my life . With xfm office podcasts extras idiot abroad ! Just brilliant work
I love Stephen Merchant. Purely genius!
Karl never gave Steve back the 50p change.
"But Steve! It's only 50p!!"
"Karl!!! It's not up to you to make the decision!!"
In my opinion, I think Steve Merchant is funny. I think he should do some stand up, radio work, theatre productions, TV show writing, voice over work or podcasts.
Excellent interview, Steve is a good talker.
I really like Stephen Merchant. A very witty, intelligent, articulate and reasoned man, and with a little humility too which makes listening to him so compelling.
“I kinda feel...like you’d be approached a lot.”
How could anyone possibly find anything on An Idiot Abroad offensive? Other than someone not understanding why certain landmarks are popular and aren't impressed by them, that's just an opinion about something that's objective as it is, what in that show is offensive?
As if people need a good reason to be offended nowadays.
I know. It's like they're just attention seekers looking to cause trouble or grief to hard working people because they get a kick out of being acknowledged by someone.
the only people that find that offensive are SJW, borderline autistic leftists.
It was such a boneheaded millennial question. You could tell it just baffled him. Terrible interviewer, but SM is so damn talented, it doesn't matter who interviews.
The more one endures these truly surreal times in which we now sadly live the more one reaslises that "offensive" has increasingly become a cypher/euphemism for 'too close to the truth' more often than not.
Indeed, that's certainly true of Karl Pilkington declaring numerous worldly 'wonders' to be dumps, rubbish, or just plain underwhelming via 'An Idiot Abroad'!
It's 'offensive' to some expressly because he's (arguably) correct in his forthright observations...
Thank you for such an amazing interview. It was as good as the interview of Coldplay in XFM.
Steve: They didn't say anything about me! I got off pretty well
Karl: Well.. No one likes to pick on an invalid
“If we’re gonna start totting up”
The amount of XFM/Karl Pilkington references here is brilliant.
It's lucky his landlady didn't need to insepct his flat, otherwise he'd have had to miss this.
Or sick with his parents in Bristol
Karl: “Why couldn’t we do any work in the week? Why weren’t you here?....cuz you were at home with yer mam and yer dad”
Ricky: “ohhoohhhhhhhooo”
He is sort of the unpopular one but is a great middle ground for Ricky and Karl in the podcast and is a vital part. The 3 of them work perfectly
Someone needs to timestamp where he talks about ricky or karl. but anyway. it seems ricky has 'fallen out' with steve, and karl POSSIBLY. none of us will ever know. only the 3 of them will. either way I just want the three of them in a room together again for a reunion podcast. and when i say this im not kidding. I listen to xfm and all the podcasts on repeat non stop. I hardly listen to music because ricky steve and karl, IS my "music". and it upsets me that the three of them might not be on the best of terms. but a great interview none the less. I always thought steve was very underrated and underappreciated.
Never watched / listened to anything with Stephen in it that isn't totally captivating. Brilliant session..
I'm so happy to see all these quotes, I thought I was the only one still listening!
25:00 She probably never listened to the XFM show if she thinks that "An Idiot Abroad" is offensive.
Christ knows how they stayed on air- saying things like the gods Fuk Luk and Sau, and Ricky going into a cockney accent when he’s talking about Immanuel Kant
Ru22eLL not really
Ru22eLL only a select few mate calm down
Ru22eLL no it really is just a select few honestly dude, even at most unis
Ru22eLL yeah I do actually, UK, what about you?
Mr and Mrs Merchant, you’ve given birth to a basketball player.
24:51 - She just said "An idiot abroad" was tongue in cheek and offensive. Utter bollocks.
Could listen to him talk all day, this Q&A was long overdue.
Always loved Steve's stories on the podcast.
Would kill for Ricky Steve and Karl to be in a room again talking absolute tripe 😩❤️😂
Merchant managed to articulate his views on comedic offence better than Ricky managed to over 30 episodes of self repeating podcasts.
I love Ricky but man he’s really begun to grate recently.
edd1e316 He’s actually become David Brent. Inflated ego with none of the self awareness that comes with humility. “Fuck off. Im rich and famous. You’re a nobody. I win”: his response to any criticism.
Thank god thought it was only me who thought that, downloaded them all a while ago and it was as you said.
His scene with the sexy pen and Robert De Niro, comic gold !!! Too much funny.
What a tough crowd. He made me laugh a lot but the room over there is so quiet!
They're all too clever.
I’d assume they’re pretty uptight at Oxford. Stiff upper lip and all that.
The audio is edited to remove some such sounds.
One of the few entertainers who's as funny unscripted as he is when he's written something. He's an absolute genius when it comes to writing, particularly the timing. Gervais is fantastic too, and in my opinion, plays the character better than Steve does (his stand-up), but there's no way the office would have taken off if one didn't have the other.
Karl on the other hand....easily the funniest bloke on the planet, and all totally unintentional
@Queenie QC You can tell how hard Steve worked at comedy. He's obviously got a natural talent for it. But it's clear he's really studied comedians and writers.
Thx Oxford. Enjoyed this.
great interview thank you really enjoyed it.
He’s abhorrently underrated. Fantastic mind, well spoken, funny as hell. XFM!
oggy oggy oggy
thomas .....?
Isn’t “oggy oggy oggy” to do with Cornwall !? Is Bristol close enough.
Oh ok arr
Oink oink oink
Knock knock knock knock knock...
Stephen was the 'heart' in everything he did with Ricky. It's obvious from looking at the stuff Ricky has done post their split, that the emotional punch which went hand in hand with the cutting comedy was missing.
Derek felt too clumsy. The sentimentality in The Office and Extras felt like a natural consequence of the story, whereas Derek seemed a maudlin attempt at replicating the same thing. I still like some of Ricky's solo stuff, but Stephen gave their work some acidity and sophistication.
I agree. Ricky is not much without Steve and Karl.
Does he mention why they split or does anyone ask him during this?
That’s a very interesting idea, I hadn’t realised that but wouldn’t be surprised that the very poignant aspects of their work is down to Merchant.
Brilliant. Such a great writer and actor. I really appreciate the interview. Thank you
Very talented guy. Loved his cameo work on Modern Family and Big Bang Theory too.
Good to see the post office alien from Men in Black II getting a Q&A at Oxford University.
hi steve, just watched hello ladies (series and movie) for the first time, great stuff :)
What a trerrible interview with such a fascinating guest . Who needs Oxford?
The Office (both UK & USA) was amazingly one of the best of it genre that I have ever seen. As Stephen said, they don’t always translate well, and the irony in the USA version was so surprising given that we don’t think they get it.
I have watched both versions several times and I feel qualified to say it because of that fact and also I have seen a LOT of comedy given I am 70, not 16 as most commenters on here seem to be. ( side note…Mrs. Brown’s Boys is the unfunniest…it depends on offensive language to get laughs.)
Does anyone remember the Ken Dod story. The first time he tells it he’s the one saying it, and then the next time he tells it as his dads perspective