Ricky Gervais

Canadian support act Stewart Francis opens for Gervais’ packed house. He specializes in one-liners with no real bridge or narrative between them and most of his jokes are on the mark. Highlights include:
“They say if you’re nervous, picture your audience naked. Not great if you’re doing a children’s show!”

“There’s so much nudity on TV these days, I just sit there shaking my fist…”

“I think women who don’t think that size matters are just shallow.”

His sharp wit and edgy punch lines keep the audience roaring, until a series of jokes about his invented Scottish wife that close his performance, sadly die on the English audience (perhaps working better on the other side of the Atlantic) and end his support set on a low note.

At the interval we visit the bar, nervous to get back before Gervais arrives on stage. The girl on the bar tells us that we won’t miss Gervais as he has insisted that the bar be closed before he arrives on stage at 8.15 to ensure that all of his audience have taken their seats. “He’s being a bit of a diva about it,” she laughs.

As with his previous tours a video opens the show, with the tone of a public service announcement about climate change. However this turns out to address the apparently more pressing issue of the quantity of ‘cum’ that Gervais consumes on a nightly basis. A fairly puerile introduction that highlights just how little this show will have to do with its title, ‘Science’, unlike Gervais previously themed trilogy of stand-up tours Politics, Animals and Fame.

The recession is the first topic on Gervais cards (which he regularly refers too). Swiftly followed by Susanne Boyle. “Look at Susanne Boyle – if you can – fuck me,” he exclaims, before taking aim at Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden. She ends getting a bashing, as Gervais laments over her lack of talent, before accusing her of blowing Neil Morrissey, while still being married to Les Dennis. The conversation moves on to heroine and murder - naturally.

Science finally comes into the equation as Gervais discusses the evolution of fat people, stating that the majority of fat people would still be unattractive is they lost weight.
“Most of them started eating cause they had nothing to lose.”

He even makes up a new word to describe the obese – ‘blobular.’ And throughout the show champions the return of the word, ‘mong.’

A few jokes about rape and Hiroshima are followed by his tried and tested formula of projecting scans from a book that has caught his eye on to a big screen. This time it is a children’s book that has adapted the Bible story of Noah, which leads him to conclude that God is gay, and on we go to the topic of gay marriage and California passing Prop 8.

Gay-friendly Gervais questions why someone would refuse to allow others to marry when it won’t actually affect them; wondering if there was more too it.
“Do you mind if those guys get married?”

“No.”

“Well you’ve got to wank them off then! Go on.”

To conclude his show Gervais gets sentimental about his unapologetic comedy. “Brits value their sense of humour,” he defends thoughtfully. “We use it as a weapon, as a shield, and as a medicine.” Before returning to the stage for an encore where he tackles 9-11 and terrorism with equal measures of insensitivity and glee!

Despite not being as cohesive as his previous stand-up shows, Science is just as funny. Having watched family-friendly comics Harry Hill and Michael Macintyre clear up on Saturday night’s British Comedy Awards, it is refreshing to see some really brash un-PC humour that dabbles in a bit of racism and chauvinism, all with knowing wit.

Despite his unabashed arrogance, it’s endearing to see that Gervais has not become ‘too Hollywood’ to play the Brighton Centre. Long may it last!