Robin Ince
Robin Ince is an old friend of Ricky Gervais's, arguably most notable for his role as Ricky's support act in the 'Politics' and 'Fame' tours. He was also a co-writer of 'Meet Ricky Gervais'. He appears in the extra features of the 'Politics' DVD, with the commentary over Ricky's stand-up containing a diary written for him by Ricky Gervais. The commentary was later released as a podcast. He also appeared in one episode of The Office as Stuart Foot, an applicant for the position of David Brent's PA.
Robin has been mentioned a handful of times on the Xfm Shows. Karl mentioned his first meeting with Robin in the 13 April 2002 show, where he recalled Ricky telling him that Robin once suckled milk from a cow's udder. Ricky also said when Robin was a child he had to sit on cheese and ham to get rid of a case of worms. Steve claims that Ricky tells these stories to everyone who will listen. On 26 April 2003, Ricky expressed his frustration at Karl for creating a scene in a pub, stating that he didn't want to go out with Robin because he found him annoying.
Ricky has stated that he, along with Karl and Steve, falls into the category of 'friends with defects', as he possesses relatively small thumbs (which prompted Steve to ask if he had to drink a pint with two hands), wears glasses and waddles funny. He is also a frequent receiver of Ricky's torment, as shown in the 'Living With Ricky' feature on the 'Politics' DVD, which includes repetition of annoying noises, Ricky hiding in Robin's dressing room, Ricky filming Robin at inappropriate times or giving Robin aggressive abuse. However, like his behaviour with Karl, he doesn't consider it to be bullying and describes it as more akin to '...[squeezing] a kitten cos you love it so much,' as well as using the term 'wrong love'.