Gervais on form as 'Science' comes to life

By Chris Shaw

Ricky Gervais’ new stand-up tour ‘Science’ continued this week as the star of The Office and Extras arrived in Manchester.

With Liverpool not on his schedule, local fans had to travel to The Apollo theatre, which held three performances on the latest leg of a mini-tour around eleven cities in Britain.

The show began with Gervais arriving on stage driving an electric scooter and launching straight into a tirade against Britain’s Got Talent, poking fun at Amanda Holden. Other celebrities on the 48-year-old’s radar included Susan Boyle and Ken Dodd.

Gervais also found time to mention Karl Pilkington, a son of Manchester and his co-star in the record-breaking series of podcasts ‘The Ricky Gervais Show’.

The show itself had very little to do with science, despite the elaborate stage set, but was more like an hour-long view at the life of a famous and successful comedian. Gervais riffed on various themes, from religion to society’s perception of comedy, and kept the sell-out Manchester crowd laughing throughout.

‘Science’ is Ricky’s fourth live tour, after the success of ‘Animals’, ‘Politics’ and ‘Fame’, but is his first in Britain since 2007. Tickets were steep at £35, particularly given the how short the show is for a comedy gig, but as Gervais says: “You get what you pay for.”

America has been the focus of Ricky’s attention in recent
years as his transition into films has taken off. He is currently
starring in ‘The Invention of Lying’, a film he co-wrote, and has
also featured in Hollywood movies ‘Night at the Museum’,
‘Ghost Town’ and ‘Stardust’.

There is very little left for Gervais to conquer considering he
has also published several books, written and appeared in
an episode of The Simpsons, and been a member of a pop
group back in the 1980s.

Support was provided by Canadian comedian Stewart Francis
who warmed up the audience for 25 minutes with his quickfire
one-liners. Francis was funny, though at times quite shocking,
but the pace of his routine can become tiring.

The tour runs until shortly before Christmas and visits Blackpool and Sheffield along the way.