‘Ray Charles has killed more Jews than happy marriages have ended in divorce.’ Believe me, try as hard as you can, the context around which this line is delivered near the beginning of Hilarious simply cannot be guessed at. But then second guessing genius is a wholly pointless exercise.

When Louis CK played a short tour of the UK a couple of years back, there was an actual audible thump of microphones being hung up across the British comedy community as everyone decided that the game was probably done, and no one really had much of a reason to carry on with their work. A genius was in our midst, spreading the word of his misanthropic yet beautifully cultivated take on this life. For once, Ricky Gervais was spot on when lavishing his new US buddy with praise.

As with the finest observational-confessional comedy, CK’s premises spring from the obvious and universal but where he takes them is a world apart. Among the Hilarious topics are being single at 41 and trying to step back on the dating treadmill, having a three-year-old daughter who acts pretty much like a three-year-old, how optimism is akin to stupidity and why white people have no right to bleat about anything (ever!). ‘I don’t know why I’m such an asshole,’ insists Mr CK. An asshole, maybe. But an undeniably brilliant one nonetheless.