“Comedy is meant to take us to other places and challenge us.”

So said Ricky Gervais towards the end of his first night at the Brighton Centre.

And it’s hard to think of other places Ricky could have taken us over 90 minutes – with routines about the Hiroshima atom bomb, his attempts to reclaim the word “mong” and the now de rigeur rape joke, the staple of all edgy comedians.

From the opening video appeal – which could never be described in the pages of a family newspaper – it was clear this was not a show for the kids, underlined by a gruesome tale later on about an open-air Ken Dodd gig.

One of few nods to the show’s title was in Ricky’s Frankenstein-esque set, although he did take a pop at creationism in his dissection of the Noah’s Ark story. It was a shame Eddie Izzard had used similar subject matter only two weeks before.

Science showed Ricky’s slightly arrogant superstar persona is still very much intact after three live tours, complete with his knowing pops at political correctness, which he editorialised on an imaginary typewriter.

Anyone who loved his previous live shows will certainly enjoy this one, but if your only experience of Ricky is The Office and Extras, it might be best to steer clear.