Richard Herring - Oh F**ck, I'm 40!

The theme of the show is the landmark birthday of a man who freely admits to still watching both the evening editions and the Sunday omnibus of ‘Hollyoaks’. The male mid-life crisis is hardly an untapped vein of comedy, and the title ‘Oh Fuck, I’m 40!’ seems like the kind of name you might see on Hugh Grant’s latest Hollywood outing, which might get his fans go see his show with a little trepidation that Herring might have softened or matured slightly since last years excellent ‘Menage a un’.

Moments into the set, as he puts forth the case for why society should admire him for his hatred of children, it is clear that gleeful and ingenious pedantry is still the major source of this man’s comedy, and that he has, thankfully, not matured at all.

With 20 years of fringe appearances under his belt, Herring seems very comfortable straying from the script, taking jokes off the subject completely or, more often, to new and more outrageous extremes. A large part of the set outlines his frustrated attempts to have sex with women half his age. Despite his lack of success in this quest, and the self-mocking honesty of the routines based around it, there seems to be a mixed reaction from the audience.

There seems to be a divide in live comedy audiences, between those who want to be charmed, and those who want to laugh. What to you do when you know a show deserves five stars, but you think that some people won’t like it? Give it three stars? Four? For what it will sure be the funniest thing in the fringe this year, it just wouldn't be right...

5/5

David Gow