Comedy genius casts a cynical eye on love

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

"PREPARE to leave behind your humdrum life", came over the sound system, a reference to Richard Herring's now traditional dig at us citizens of Nottingham for allowing the Tales Of Robin Hood to be replaced with a Tesco Express.

This year's touring show from Richard tackled the subject of love, to find out if it really existed.

Big such subjects are of course a walk in the park for the man who has tackled racism and Jesus (that wasn't the same show), and so it was time to explore, and maybe destroy love.

The word love gets thrown around with a reckless abandon, so are we in danger of losing out on the true meaning?

When your dry cleaners leave a printed note bearing the words "we love our customers", are you allowed to reciprocate? Is it necessary to announce how you love your children, when loving your children should really be a given?

This exploration of the concept took us through his own romantic failures and successes, including stirring our own memories of playground courtships, in which you communicate and ultimately get dumped via a message from one of her friends.

Reciting a poem he wrote as a teenage virgin jealous of another lad's promiscuity, he showed that he is at ease sending himself up for comedic effect.

Mixing comic set pieces about going out with Julia Sawalha and not wanting her to see the TV routine about stalking her in Silence Of The Lambs, and the logistics of building a Ferrero Rocher pyramid, with a tear-jerking finale about his grandmother to the sound of Debussy's Clair De Lune.

Richard Herring showed once again that he is one of the most skilled comedians on the live circuit. Now please let him back on the telly.