Was Ricky Gervais's 2011 Golden Globe presentation performance art at its very best?

I would say he was doing a homage to stand-up comedy, as you would find in a New York comedy bar or an English Workingman's Club, telling jokes about celebrities. But the celebrities he was joking about were in the room with him. This has been done before on British TV, when they had the 'An Audience with ...' and someone like Mel Brookes or Joan Rivers would rip into a British celebrity-packed audience. Can't wait for the DVD.