Having watched the Lee Nelson show on BBC3 I had decided to get seats that were close enough to feel like part of the action but not to close that Simon Brodkin saw us as a target! Throughout the show, most of the jokes were aimed at pulling apart the audience, their appearance, where they lived or who they had come with. Ultimately, this made both of us feel rather uneasy, hoping for the entire show that we would blend in with the background and not be spotted unashamedly laughing at the downfall of those around us!

Despite being fairly new to the comedy circuit, I actually had a very good time, laughing harder and longer at more of ‘Lee Nelsons’ jokes than I did at Jimmy Carr or Rickey Gervais. I’m not sure what this says about my sense of humour, or even the abilities of the other comedians but I have to say this show, in my opinion, was money well spent!

The problem with Rickys latest stand up show was the lack of new material. Although he delivers his stories and jokes with expert timing in his own unique style, much of the material in Science was taken from previous shows or from the popular Ricky Gervais Audiobooks which have now been ported to an animated series on Channel 4. For this reason I felt a little cheated because I wanted to see something new and fresh but this show was almost entirely recycled. More to the point, aside from the ridiculous scenery and ‘brain in a jar’ stage props there was very little talk of science at all. In fact, this might as well have been called ‘Religion’ as, in true Atheist style, Ricky spent the majority of his time mocking Christianity and the Bible. Not necessarily a bad thing but something I have seen him do many times before.

Ricky Gervais is an extremely funny and talented comedian, but if you have seen his previous shows and listened to his Audiobooks on iTunes or the animated ’Ricky Gervais Show’ series on Channel 4 there really isn’t anything new here. I hope he can find new and fresh material for his next show otherwise his stand up will soon become overwhelmingly stale and I hate to say it, mediocre at best.

Jimmy Carr delivered quick fire one liners with perfect precision throughout the night although the set pieces seemed a little familiar and flat. The real comedy genius shone through when he asked the audience for feedback. During these improvised sections he exchanged insults with members of the audience and tried to meet their requests. This resulted in hilarious altercations which Jimmy inevitably always won.

If you are easily offended then Jimmy Carr really isn’t the comedian for you. If you like quick witted, quick fire one liners then you will love this show, Rapier Wit, I certainly did!