Ricky Gervais does “Science” live at the O2

Given the recent ash cloud dilemma, it was a relief to see Ricky Gervais made it to Dublin for his O2 show. Ricky said that he had personally paid €12,000 to fly from New York to Ireland.

The tickets read to be there by half six. I was, and sat for an hour waiting for the rest of the O2 to arrive. Ricky Gervais pulled off a highly entertaining show, and the arena was sold out. The show was oddly named Science, and he himself pointed out in the encore there was not much of that in it.

Mostly packed with men, his jokes relied on fat people and homosexuals. At times he bordered on crossing the line of taste but pulled it back when he felt the crowd cringe, though the man sitting beside me found everything he said, including “hello” hilarious.

The show lasted an hour and a half and covered most un-PC subjects – including the stereotypical terrorist. All jokes though, as he pointed out a lot, did grab eruptions of laughter from the crowd.

The main faults I had with the show was the venue. I don’t feel that the O2 was appropriate for a show of this kind as seats go so high up to the roof. It’s almost impossible to actually make out his face. My main fault with Gervais was that he spent a lot of time apologising for offending people with his jokes, followed by “I say f**k off to anyone who asks me to apologise?”

Overall, Gervais undoubtedly charmed the O2 Arena. I personally found it highly entertaining, and it made for a good night out.