He's obviously a talented writer. I prefer Extras to The Office, because I like the celebrity cameos and the Merchant/Gervais combo, but his stand-up is definitely weak. I've seen his Science stand-up and to be honest, he just relied upon being offensive to Christians. I'm an atheist but I think being offensive for offensive's sake is the easiest thing to do as a comic, especially someone with the power of Gervais who won't have to deal with any flack from what he says. His XFM shows with Merchant and Karl Pilkington are also gold, but the second series of An Idiot Abroad is too forced now. It's too self-aware. EDIT: Forgot to say. His best projects always involve Stephen Merchant, some say Merchant is actually the creative brain behind the writing. Moreso than Gervais.