Richard Herring - Comedy

****

The years are finally catching up on Richard Herring. Before long, he will be in his 40s and this dawning revelation leads him to hint throughout this show that he should hang up his mic before it all gets just too embarrassing. Yet, like his compadre Stewart Lee, Herring simply improves with age. In any case, seasoned Herring-watchers know only too well that what comes out of his mouth can be taken with a massive backpack of sodium chloride. Do we really believe that he would berate burly mechanics for working in a doubly entendred garage or that he finds Maxine Carr remotely attractive (his claim that Steve Martin should be held in lower esteem than Ian Huntley’s ex is another argument altogether).

His niggles and worries are also his keys to success. Being alone again has brought a renewed sense of wit and wisdom alongside an unhealthy barrel of doubt and paranoia. His desperate pleas for sexual congress with young women in the audience are both funny and, he insists, quite genuine. If being by yourself produces this kind of entertainment, Herring should be confined to his own company indefinitely.

(Brian Donaldson)