Ricky Gervais, 50, and Stephen Merchant, 37, comedians, writers, producers

YOU'VE maintained your 14-year friendship through a long run of ups and downs. To what do you attribute its success?

Ricky Jervais and Stephen Merchant

YOU'VE maintained your 14-year friendship through a long run of ups and downs. To what do you attribute its success?

RG: I think the secret is we don't live in each other's pockets. And we have a very, very similar take on what's funny.

SM: Yeah, we laugh at similar things. We share a healthy cynicism about show business and the pitfalls of celebrity. We're not in love with fame - thankfully, it happened to us when we were old enough to process it.

As co-writers, you've produced two international hits, The Office and Extras. Do you envy US sitcoms that have 20 or more writers working on them?

RG: I don't envy them because it all comes back to the economics of the two countries.

In the US they'll ask you to produce a large number of episodes per season. You're expected to have 100 shows under your belt before you'll be considered for your own show. In Britain we do smaller season runs and there isn't the money to pay for small armies of writers.

SM: Writing by committee doesn't work for me. I do much better creatively when I can work with someone like Ricky one-on-one ...

Is comedy an emotional or intellectual exercise for you both?

RG: For me it's emotional. Charlie Chaplin said that a day when you don't laugh is a day wasted. I think humour is an evolutionary survival mechanism - particularly for those who are singled out in some way. Remember your sense of humour and make yourself bulletproof.

SM: It's also intellectual because you're an acute observer, you don't take things on face value and you need pretty good critical skills and a fast uptake.

Are there any subjects you won't touch?

RG: My conscience never takes a day off. Humour should always be authentic. I wouldn't do a racist joke, for example, because it isn't true.

SM: I don't think any subjects are off-limits. It's the way you approach a subject - you can make a joke about race, for example, without being racist. You can send up the racist.

The Office was remade for audiences in France, Germany, Brazil and the US. To what do you attribute its universal appeal?

RG: I think offices around the world are pretty much the same, with similar power dynamics, tensions and pettinesses, regardless of whether you're working at NASA or the local council. That's because you judge yourself by the guy sitting next to you, not Johnny Depp.

SM: Some of those who first saw the show thought it was quintessentially English, but it just seemed that way - the themes of good boss/bad boss, boy meets girl, male competition and bravado can apply anywhere.

David Brent, the central character in The Office, imagines he's far funnier than he is. That's what we're laughing at, isn't it?

RG: Yes, it's David's blind spot that we're really laughing at, not his jokes. Since the first cave man banged his head on his cave door, human beings mostly laugh at people who aren't trying to be funny. The funniest people are often the most grouchy and difficult.

The least funny thing in the world is a clown.

SM: David Brent is like most of us in that there aren't many people who don't think they have a great sense of humour - even those with virtually zero sense of humour. That's why you constantly see the GSOH in the personals ...

Ricky, you've won so many awards - BAFTAs, Emmies, British Comedy Awards. Where do you put all the trophies?

RG: I've had a special cabinet made for them. I used to shove them all over the place and I was worried vanity would strike me back by having one of the things fall on my head.

You've recently been named host of the 2012 Golden Globes - quite a turnaround after you seriously upset Hollywood's elite at the ceremony this year. But the ratings really spiked ...

RG: Yes, I believe they did. Look, I was hired to be an entertainer for the night. So I have a choice: do I pander to the 200 egos in the room or the 200 million people watching at home? Most people were actually pretty good sports about it all.

You also ruffled a few feathers at the end of the Globes when you thanked God - for being an atheist.

It was meant as a play on words, on those winners who say with such flourish that "I'd like to thank God" for their award.

How conceited is that? What it boils down to is their belief that God is blessing them - while conferring famine and war on other unlucky souls on the planet.

You're one of the few well-known entertainers to talk openly about your atheism ...

Well, there is a growing political correctness around religious belief in Europe and America now. Unlike most believers, I don't see one religion as superior to another. Nor do those with faith - no matter what religion they belong to - have a monopoly on good.

You don't have to be religious to have a conscience, to be a kind, moral person. You're also, I believe, less likely to be judgmental of others.

The DVD boxed set of The Office Special Edition is out this week to mark the 10th anniversary of the series

Greg Callaghan