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Review: Richard Herring – Hitler Moustache

* Mon Aug 10 2009 Louise Ridley

Review: Richard Herring – Hitler Moustache

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A man who purposefully chooses to look like Hitler should be unnerving, however, Richard Herring is on a mission to re-associate the toothbrush moustache with its original owner, Charlie Chaplin, and by the end of the show you're tempted to join him in sprouting some controversial facial hair.

Herring has been sporting his own 'nasal welcome mat' in the style of the Fuhrer for several months. In the first part of the show he narrates the dilemmas that arise from wearing it in public. Should he be ashamed, or should people not judge him for his appearance? Is the moustache offensive, or are we ridiculous for thinking it so?

He’s done his research into Hitler and Chaplin and has the ability to deliver interesting facts as well as weighty subjects with humour. In laugh-out-loud anecdotes he explores the evil side his bristly upper lip has given him. He’s so sincerely liberal that he can slip in a few ironic racial slurs, as well as slyly implicating our complicity in his jokes about Madeleine McCann and Michael Jackson’s death.

Herring uses comedy as a scalpel to dissect his specimens, unpicking the rationale of a BNP pamphlet by pointing out factual errors with hilarious results. He also stages a brilliant dialogue between his two selves about whether it’s acceptable to say an ethnic slur when quoting a racist.

At one point in the show Herring mentions how powerful it was when Chaplin, the ultimate clown, wrote seriously about his concerns with Fascism. The same applies to Herring when he drops the funny act to deliver an impassioned polemic against people too apathetic to vote. It’s slotted in at just the right moment, when Herring has the audience fully on board with his liberal paradox. His ranting is supported by the fact that the show is also a celebration of silliness, especially of the lack of logic behind racism.

It's political comedy at its most effective and questioning, and should be a defining show of this year's Fringe.

Richard Herring: Hitler Moustache. Underbelly, 6-30 August, 20:40.