Remarkably for someone who doesn't claim to be either an actor or a professional stand-up comic, Ricky Gervais has now triumphed in both fields. Animals Live is his one-man show at London's Bloomsbury Theatre during which the star of The Office ("That's two BAFTA Awards") presents a "lecture" on the animal kingdom in a shameless bid to inherit David Attenborough's mantle, since the old boy is getting on a bit and can't last forever. The subject is loose and broad enough to allow for plenty of digressions and amiable ramblings about sex, childhood, war and, of course, more sex.

There's something of Eddie Izzard's style in Gervais's approach, especially noticeable when he dissects the Biblical Genesis story for its absurdities; and he has also learned lessons from the father of his Office co-star Lucy Davis, Jasper Carrott. In the best segment, and one that's pure Carrott Confidential, Gervais reads out genuine animal "facts" from a website and comments gleefully upon them. Although his range is limited--he's neither an impressionist nor a mimic--Gervais gets by on a mixture of easygoing charm and bare-faced cheek, which in a short show of about an hour is all he needs to keep everyone laughing. --Mark Walker

Ricky Martin's bravura, swivel-hipped performance of "The Cup of Life" at the 41st annual Grammy Awards handily stole the spotlight from the evening's platinum-edged superstars, and positioned him as poster boy for a Latin-pop crossover boom that dominated media for months to follow. Like most "overnight" sensations (or, for that matter, "brand new" pop trends), Martin's impact was actually the payoff for an extended apprenticeship: anything but a novice, this Puerto Rican native was already a major star in the Spanish-speaking pop realm, having graduated from his early stint as a plump-cheeked member of Menudo to become a sleek heartthrob.

With his chiselled features, flashing smile and sinuous physical presence, Martin can't be blamed for playing to his female fans, and these video clips do just that. The sequence for Martin's breakout English hit, "Livin' La Vida Loca" (also included in a Spanish version) offers a template of sorts: footage of Martin performing the song in a night-club setting is interspersed with location shots of the singer and the siren he's singing about, stitched together with rapid cuts and swirling camera movement that echo the percolating rhythms. Elsewhere, on "She's All I Ever Had", Martin downshifts to the role of earnest balladeer. The objects of his affection are typically drop-dead gorgeous (and, in one instance, teasingly undraped), and the undercurrent of sex approximates the sort of glossy perfection you would expect from lingerie or perfume ads.

The cover-boy route is probably inevitable for Martin, but his vitality is hard to dismiss, especially during the final song--the same live Grammy performance that put him on global pop radar. That joyous appearance confirms that Martin doesn't need supermodel co-stars or retakes to heat things up. --Sam Sutherland