Ricky Gervais kept his end of the bargain you make with an artist when you buy tickets to attend a performance, the first of two in Chicago. He was thought-provoking. He was funny. And he probably was offensive if you weren't a fan, but you probably weren't in the audience anyway. He sticks to his material and doesn't do local, but he did do a shout-out to Chicago and make generous donations to two local charities (PAWS Chicago and Gilda's Club) which made the audience love him even more. Every joke or set-up has a point. You needed to listen and wait before jumping to conclusions. A joke about Caitlyn Jenner brought laughs until he gently reminded us that she actually killed someone driving. The opening act, local Kevin Bozeman, did a good job of warming and loosening up the primarily white audience with some funny, pointed comments about being black and living in the suburbs. Note, the show starts and bars close exactly at 8 p.m. Tip your bartenders well.

Scotiabank area should stick to sporting events Too large of a venue for comedy Nothing enjoyable about watching someone on a massive stage where you can squint and squish them between your thumb and finger The sound was echoing so eveN if you closed your eyes it was just not meant to be

I'll first qualify this by saying maybe the venue was too big but he's a superstar comedian, you would think his funniness would transcend that. I disliked the feeling that it was a rehearsal for a Netflix series. Also, the "woke" banter was unnecessary. It was as if this hidden audience was there and in the comfort of the venue, he rebutted their protests. And last annoying thing is I hate listening to very rich people talk about their very rich problems. Ricky, you weren't speaking to little ol' me last night. Not to worry, I'm still a fan but not to pay $500 for my family to see you.

Love a lot of his material, including what’s on Netflix but found the show boring.