David Walliams says the new comedy show he’s working on with Matt Lucas will be ‘edgy’, in the vein of controversial stand-ups such as Dave Chappelle, Jimmy Carr and Ricky Gervais.
The pair have faced a backlash for some of their characters in Little Britain and Come Fly With Me – with scenes branded racist and offensive.
But speaking about their reunion project, Walliams suggested they hadn’t completely toned down their sense of humour for modern sensibilities.
‘It’s little bit edgy,’ he told Abbey Clancy and Peter Crouch on their Therapy Crouch podcast. ‘There are jokes in it that, I mean, are in terrible taste – I mean not in terrible taste – but, you know, like, like, Little Britain was, like Come Fly With Me, like a lot of comedy is, which is, on the edge.
‘It's walking a line. Some people might be a little bit shocked.’
When asked what he meant by that, Walliams replied: ‘Do you watch Netflix comedy specials? Dave Chappelle, Jimmy Carr, Ricky Gervais? They're all really way over the line, edgy.
‘They're very exciting and funny and shocking and all these things and the thing is, a lot of people – not everybody, but a lot of people – like it that way, don't they?’
He likened his comedy to Monty Python’s Life Of Brian and Mel Brookes’ The Producers, which were both considered offensive when they were released.
He added: ‘I’ve always liked things that are on the edge, but I do think it depends where you're doing it and what time you're doing it. I like edgy comics. Jimmy Carr, I think is amazing. Frankie Boyle was incredible… I've always liked the rude stuff, and the dangerous stuff and the shocking stuff.’
While details of the new project and which platform it might be for are scant, Wailliams said he and Lucas wanted to create ‘entirely new characters’ rather than revive old favourites.
He added: ‘It's good fun writing together, it does make a change from writing on your own, which is quite lonely [compared to] the two of us bouncing off each other.
‘And also, you know, Matt is such an amazing performer with all his voices and everything, it's brilliant to see. And he can key into a performance a lot quicker than I can, so we've had a lot of fun.’
Walliams also revealed he visited Lucas on the set of Gladiator 2 in Malta when he was on the island to host a film award ceremony.
‘I got to see Matt, and got to see the sets. It was very exciting, because a lot of things are CGI now, but Ridley Scott likes to build – I mean, there will be CGI in the movie – but it's like walking around ancient Rome. It was one of those surreal experiences…'
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