Review for Ricky Gervais: Science

Ricky Gervais is possibly one of the most successful comedians from the UK. This show lists his triumphs with three Golden Globes, four Emmys and seven BAFTAs. With his two shows The Office and Extras, he has conquered both the UK and the USA and then went on to conquer the stand-up world.

I was surprised when I heard that Gervais was not originally a stand-up and so his gigs filmed as Animals, Politics and Fame came as quite a shock by just how good he was. His ability to shock, offend and still be entertaining is surprising and the only person I can think who can do this is Billy Connolly who has commented on Gervais that he is "A total original...some kind of genius in human observation".

His latest show, Science filmed at London Hammersmith Apollo is possibly one of his best. The show covers the Icelandic Ash Cloud and what exactly is an Act of God, the Recession, 9/11, Susan Boyle, a Ken Dodd concert and has some controversial statements such as 'Heroin is like Hobnobs' and the definitions of fat people 'I want fat people to feel comfortable at my gigs, so next time buy two seats!' His impression of autograph hunters is perfect and I do hope he uses that as a character for later on. However, there is one joke that involves the rape of an old woman and is just too dark even for me. However, he does save himself with a discussion over what should be used for comedy which is quite clever and caps with the worst joke in the world, but it was just so perfect that you can forgive him for it.

The DVD also comes with three extra featurettes which are probably funnier than the show itself. Two involve Karl Pilkington (who is possibly the greatest unintentionally funny man I have ever witnessed) one with Ricky and Karl discussing Science and for those who enjoy The Ricky Gervais Show will love Ricky trying to explain anything to Karl and Karl trying to understand it is just perfect. The second sees Karl meeting Warwick Davis (The Ewok Wicket from Return of the Jedi) and Karl's ability to offend but not mean to is the funniest thing I have ever seen. The final one is Ricky in New York and when you see him on David Letterman, appearing on Curb Your Enthusiasm really shows just how big Ricky is over there.

Ricky Gervais: Science is a great disk if you missed his show live and if you are a fan of Karl Pilkington you will love it even more.