Not so long ago, Ricky Gervais was a comedy colossus. The Office and Extras, of course, a clutch of awards and popular stand-up tours off the back of those TV successes: all then led to blandishments from Hollywood.

Now he’s facing some fairly rough reviews of his latest film (and directorial debut), and there were early criticisms of his latest stage show Science, with which he occupied the New Theatre for three days last week. A sell-out it may have been, but those criticisms are justified: the bubble might just be on the point of bursting.

Gervais came on to a pointless set of Gothic archways and Frankenstein laboratory gimmicks, and proceeded to make no mention of science at all until the 79th minute of his 80-minute gig. What he did do was sneer. At Susan Boyle, Amanda Holden, Ken Dodd. At (dangerously) autograph hunters. At fat people. There seemed to be an awful lot of mention of the male gay sex act (Julian Clary joked about that rather better the previous week).

He was on cleverer Office-like form when deconstructing a children’s book about Noah’s Ark, but the humour still remained a touch predictable.

The audience on the night I went whooped at the start of the show and laughed most of the time, but certainly not uproariously. I don’t know what Ricky Gervais should do now: probably spend some time with his long-time collaborator Stephen Merchant and try to come up with yet another TV triumph. He’s reported as saying that this stand-up tour may be his last for some years; he should make up his mind decisively on this matter.

I should like to recommend Gervais’s warm-up, the Canadian one-liner Stewart Francis. But I won’t use up too many words on him now; he’s doing a show in his own right at the North Wall Arts Centre on Novembe 1, to which I’m very much looking forward.