Children with cancer, paedophiles, the holocaust, fatal nut allergies, animal cruelty – almost no topic is off the table when Ricky Gervais comes to town.

With his new Humanity tour arriving at Ipswich Regent for two dates, the Reading-raised star weaved a web of witty observations around a string of delicate subjects.

His show looks at ways in which jokes about a dark or insensitive subject don’t always need to be offensive. “Laughing at bad things doesn’t make us bad people” – that’s the essence of the evening.

Of course some will always find a way to be offended, which is incorporated to great effect into the set, as Ricky regales the theatre with a selection of his regular Twitter contretemps with those quick to take against his observations.

Of course we should all soon be referring to him as Bobo, once he completes his transition into a chimpanzee (part of a section analysing the reaction to his Golden Globes wisecracks about Caitlyn Jenner, and her driving skills).

With strong support from warm-up act Doc Brown, a Dad-rapping stand-up, the evening proved satisfying for the crowd filling out the Regent.

Ricky returns for a second sold-out show at the Regent tomorrow.