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to them. However, Gervais emits his trademark chuckle when I ask whether he’s a prolific songwriter. “I don’t sit at home with a guitar on my lap all day twiddling – I have the odd idea. These songs were written over a few years. I

wrote a couple for The Office ... I wrote Equality Street for a Comic Relief sketch on the ten year anniversary, and then I did a couple of gigs and wrote a few more. Finally, I wrote some more specifically for the film. So it was quite gradual and organic. “I suppose I’ve written 15 songs over 15

I’ve done that. We’re all a bit like Brent because what I put into him are the things that we all care about. We all want to be loved; we all want to be popular; we all want to think we’re making a bit of a difference every day. I just magnified that and made him desperate for all those things. And that’s what we see in him. We see all those things that we care about.” As well as his amiability,

"If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried." “Put the key of despair into the lock of apathy. Turn the knob of mediocrity slowly and open the gates of despondency - welcome to a day in the average office.” “Eagles may soar high, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.” “I know an alcoholic and it’s no laughing matter – particularly for his wife. She’s got alopecia, so not a happy home life.” “You have to be 100% behind someone, before you can stab them in the back.” “Accept that some days you are the pigeon and some days you are the statue.” “There's no 'I' in 'team'. But then there's no 'I' in 'useless smug colleague', either. And there's four in 'platitude- quoting idiot'. Go figure.” “Who says famine has to be depressing?”

years, so I certainly wouldn’t say I’m prolific, but it’s great fun doing them and it had to be real,” he continues. “The joke isn’t that they are terrible songs or comedy songs or badly performed, the joke is that it’s a middle-aged tampon rep singing songs that he knows nothing about. He believes in them, and that’s what’s funny. He believes he’s helping the Native Americans; he believes he’s sorting out the prejudice to the disabled.”

Gervais is an intelligent and engaging man to interview, and it’s obvious during our conversation that he thoroughly enjoyed returning to the role. Whether it’s delivering acerbic asides as host of the Golden Globes, or his active and erudite presence on social media, his fast wit is an indelible talent. Stand-up is his next focus and something he’s hopeful he’ll bring Down

We're all a bit like Brent because what I put into him are the things we all care about

Watching Brent remains an uncomfortable, even excruciating, experience that still leaves you shifting awkwardly in your seat. It’s like the unexplainable calm that preludes a traffic accident; the inability to reach out and prevent what is about to happen. Of course, this visual discomfort is accentuated with the realisation that there’s a little bit of David Brent in us all. “The first time you watch David Brent, you go, ‘Oh my god, what a prat! Thank god I’m not like that,’” laughs Gervais. “Then you realise, actually

Under – a location he’s yet to visit. “I think stand-up is me at my most honest, which is what you should do,” says Gervais.

“You should always be trying to tell the whole truth more and more. The older I get I think the truth is everything. You know what, don’t give a f-ck what people think about it, or whether they like the truth, you’ve just got to f–ing say it.”

• David Brent: Life on the Road is out Dec 14

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