A generation at The Office
Warning. The following article contains quotes from UK sitcom “The Office”, showing how an expertly crafted comedy inspired a generation. If you are not fluent in The Office language, you may find this confusing. If you do speak “Office“, you may find this entertaining. Or not. It’s up to you. Your own decisions.
15 years ago this month the amusing conundrum that is office life was brilliantly presented to us by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
Watching the show as a teenager, I was blissfully ignorant to the apparent boredom and monotony of regular office “work” and yet somehow felt as though I resonated deeply with these characters.
The awkwardness was so refreshing, the creation of painful moments through the use of silence. This was very familiar to someone still at school and surrounded by those who seemed destined to one day throw a kettle over a pub, and those who would be left floundering using an official territorial army method.
It was while attending university a few years later that the impact of The Office really started to hit home. By this time it had become a private language to those in the know, which turned out to be students who had never worked a day at a sub-branch paper merchant, let alone visited Slough, Winersh or Taplow.
People worth making acquaintance with were as likely to identify themselves through an Office quote, expertly placed into conversation, as they were by a shared love of music or sport. Hearing an off the cuff remark by someone you had never spoken to followed by a shared response of “Fray Bentos” or “8 legs, 6 legs”. No other words required to make a connection.
Those that did become close friends expanded on the language, replacing regular phrases with Office based terminology. A defeat in an argument now ended with “oooh, you’re hard, showing off ‘cause of the…” or simply “go get the guitar”.
The influence spread far beyond university life. Similar interactions over an acknowledged quote have resulted in work-based friendships, as the generation that once laughed at office life from afar took their place at an open plan desk with the accounts team. Don’t be fooled by the name, they are mad.
Recently a university friend and fellow Office language graduate told me how on his first day at a new job he overheard his boss inform an unsuspecting colleague that nicknames are bad.. names. An assertion that the toad is the ugliest of all the amphibians later and a successful career path had been established.
Perhaps a less surprising influence from the Office language generation is on new comedy.
Following the success of Gavin and Stacey (an excellent sitcom in it’s own right) James Corden and Matthew Horne created a sketch show so strongly influenced by The Office that people immediately criticised it for being a copy of David Brent mannerisms.
At The Comedy Crowd we recently interviewed Steve Stamp, writer of hit BBC3 sitcom People Just Do Nothing, who explained how The Office had inspired him and his group of friends to create their own show that they found funny rather than trying to fit the requirements of a production company or commissioning body. The influence here is not as stark as in the Horne and Corden sketch show, but in MC Grindah’s character in particular the Brent effect is clear for those fluent in Office lingo. Undoubtedly Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant have inspired the younger comedian.
So what does this mean?
It’s what Gareth was saying before about if you’ve got your own bone; don’t go after other people’s bones because you’ll lose your own.
It also shows just how engaging and influential comedy can be.
So here’s a question. Have you ever thought about creating comedy yourself and seeing whether you can portray the things you find funny in a way that engages other people and makes them laugh?
Rather than just using Ricky Gervais’ and Stephen Merchant’s quotes in conversation (which we absolutely recommend fellow Office language specialists continue to do), why not see if there’s a weight of intellect behind your comedy?
You don’t need to quit your job or go full time to do it. There are so many examples of people making great comedy as a hobby that finds a fanatical audience and ends up being something more. You can still be someone’s boss or friend. But now you can be a friend first, a boss second, and probably an entertainer third.
Here’s another question. How many comedy shows have influenced you as much as The Office in the 15 years since it was released? Probably not many. Times are changing though with the progress of digital media and new ways to reach an audience. Opportunities are opening up for talented new voices to make an impact. You see the world of comedy is now one big pie… No you don’t want the pie thing.
We believe in talented people getting the chance to find their funny voice and make an impact. But above all we want to see more quality like The Office. If you agree and making comedy sounds like something you want to do, start trying out your ideas with like-minded comedy fans and see what you can achieve.
Who knows, maybe you could be the next writer to go out there and give laughter, and be remembered simply as the man who put a smile on the face of all who he met.
by Jonathan Jayson
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