THINK of Ricky Gervais and his toe-curlingly funny comic creation, David Brent, immediately springs to mind. But the 41-year-old behind Brent and award-winning comedy The Office seems almost the complete opposite of the character - self-deprecating, serious, and shying away from any kind of publicity.

Brent's goatee is nowhere to be seen. Nor, thankfully, is his smarmy, self-important manner. What the comedian does have in common with his onscreen persona is that he is very, very funny. And now he has stepped out from behind Brent with a stand-up show, Animals, out on video and DVD.

''I've taken on a much cockier me, someone who celebrates his sort of fame and celebrity and thinks he knows everything, but of course I get it slightly wrong," he says. ''It's much more me than David Brent, but a lot brasher, a lot cockier, a lot more like the pub know-it-all. I still say awful things that you've got to accept are a persona. I think people know I don't mean these things.'' He pauses: ''Or they think I'm really nasty.''

Subtitled Life On Earth (the bits David Attenborough left out), the stand-up show is packed with a mix of obscure facts, real anecdotes from Gervais's life and the comedian's own take on both.

''It's sort of like a fake lecture. It's me pretending I know everything there is to know about the world.''

And divine inspiration - of a sort - was behind one section, Gervais reveals. ''My favourite bit is probably the deconstruction of the Bible. I was away in a hotel room filming The Office, and I just started reading Genesis and couldn't write jokes fast enough. As you've probably guessed I'm an atheist, so I don't believe I'll go to hell for this,'' he adds with a chuckle.

No subject is taboo but Gervais says he has his own self-imposed censor. ''I've never been one of these people who goes up there and just thinks it's funny to offend. Anyone can offend, you can go out there and be racist, homophobic. If I can't justify a joke, I won't put it in. But if I think something's funny and justified, there's nothing I won't put in.

Although nothing is too sacred to be joked about, Gervais takes his comedy seriously, not least The Office, which he created with Stephen Merchant, returning for the last time with a Christmas special.

He says: ''I didn't want to go on and on, for loads of reasons really. Had I done a third series of The Office, not only would it not be as good, but in some way, it would make one and two not as good, it would taint them in a way. If The Office is the best thing I ever do, then so be it.''

A remake is set for America, where Gervais is also set for a cameo role in hit spy drama Alias, playing a villain - he turns down almost every job offer, he says, but is a fan of the American show. And he's scathing of people who'll do anything for fame.

''There are people who, if they're not on telly, they break out in a cold sweat and they've got to be seen somewhere awful or do a bad reality game show," he says.

''Stay in and watch telly, call a friend - make a pie. You don't have to turn up and be seen with people from Hollyoaks.''

Gervais misses anonymity and will be happy to trade in his own fame in one day. ''I wanted to be a zoologist or biologist or vet at one point. I think when all this is over, I'll probably go back to that, do something with animals, go and buy a farm in Devon,'' he says.

He's always had pets and his love of animals has inspired an illustrated children's book, Flanimals, which will be released next year. Gervais and his long-term partner Jane Fallon, 42, the producer behind Teachers and This Life, have no kids themselves.

Instead, Gervais is concentrating on work - more stand-up is planned, as well as another project with Merchant. ''I am very, very excited by The Office special. I just want to see if we've got it right, or if we've missed something or are completely out of touch," he says.

"I'm sure we could lose it at any time. I want someone to tell me then. I want someone to say, 'Rick, sit down. You had a good run. You're not funny any more.'"