Richard Herring: The Headmaster's Son

Richard Herring

Underbelly

*****

Throwing his all into this production; Richard Herring delves back into his life and tries to examine whether it now can be put down to the single formative fact that for several years his father was the Headmaster of his school, putting him in the unfortunate position of being both accused of unfair advantages at school by his peers and of being treated far more strictly by his father.

So it's with this as a basis that he goes off into a rollicking journey through both his own neurosis and the problems that face the average teenager anywhere. It's baffling why Herring has failed to ignite the popular consciousness in the same manner in which his peers have, but it may be something to do with his own self-deprecation seeming far more alarmingly apparent than in most others. Not that this detracts from the show: instead it brought the audience closer to him, as he clawed back old memories and moments of crippling embarrassment from his early days, even going so far as to read entire passages from his lengthy diaries and happily ridiculing the masturbatory habits of his teenage self for the benefit of the crowd.

It's rare to see someone so comfortable with his own shortcomings, real or imagined, and as a result his honesty to the point of near madness, combined with his hysterically funny tone and brilliant timing, show why he is one of the leading hidden masters of modern British comedy. If there is any justice in the world, and no doubt both the 40 and the 16 year old Richards would tell you there was not, then this show will be sold out every night.

Graeme Strachan