He decided that it’s the audience that’s the problem
By Rebecca Peterson, Assistant Editor
Once-respected comic and winner of the “British Comedian Most Likely to be Confused with Nick Frost” award, Dicky Nerais, has taken to Twitter to air his concerns and grievances regarding the lukewarm reception to his newest comic effort, I Hope This Offends You; Are You Offended Yet? Please @ Me, I’m Very Lonely. While hard-core fans of Nerais have praised the Netflix special, many have criticized it for trying too hard and relying on overblown “shock” humour routines that have long since become stale.
“I mean, there’s some promo material floating around where he’s all bloodied up and his arms are spread like he’s being crucified,” said critic Phil M. Reel in his article on the special. “As a Christian, I’m not really offended or anything, but as a reviewer I just kind of think it’s boring. We get it, you’re an atheist, that’s really not as shocking or ground-breaking as it might have been, say, 50 years ago.”
“He brags a lot about offending people, but I can’t think of anyone who finds him all that offensive,” tweeted casual viewer Kate Ng after the special’s release. “I mean, there’s definitely some unpleasant elements to a lot of his jokes, but I don’t think anyone’s really gonna try to call him out on it at this point. It’s just not worth the effort.”
Nerais’ tweets in response to these criticisms have varied widely in tone and message over the past few days.
“Fantastic reception for IHTOY;AYOY?P@M,IVL! Love my fans!! Let’s keep these hits coming, make your friends and families watch it and let me blow their minds with my wit!!” tweeted Nerais on Monday.
On Tuesday, he said, “Soooo many offended people on Twitter, guys, I’m loving it. Some people just can’t handle the truth! Did I mention I’m an atheist?”
On Wednesday, he said, “If people don’t have anything nice to say they just shouldn’t say it. Critics are too offended by me to really look at my work critically. V disappointing.”
On Thursday, he said, “Anyone who doesn’t watch my special HATES freedom of speech. #ChangeMyMind.”
On Friday, he said, “If anyone has any VALID criticism of my work, I want to hear it. Only cowards refrain from debate.”
According to several sources, he then blocked anyone who responded with a critique for his work. Low estimates count the number of people blocked at 530 Twitter users, with the toll rising every hour.
“I just pointed out that it was a bit funny that he keeps having to point out how witty and clever he is instead of letting his work speak for itself,” said YouTuber Haych Balmy-dude. “I have a much smaller fanbase than this guy does, I don’t know why he felt so threatened. Sort of makes it funnier, really.”
The Other Press reached out to Nerais for comment but was immediately blocked after asking if Nerais had any material planned for future specials that was not reliant on his atheism.
