Richard Keith Herring
(born July 12, 1967) is a British comedian and writer. He has been described, by the British Theatre Guide, as "one of the leading hidden masters of modern British comedy" [1] and by The Guardian
as "a reliable Fringe pleasure". GQ said of him, "In years to come, (he) will be remembered as the best comic of his generation mastering every comedic art form".
Herring's comedy has included standup, comedy plays, radio comedy and several TV shows. Herring has worked with a number of other comedians, including Ben Moor as part of the double act Herring and Spaz, and with Stewart Lee, as part of Lee and Herring. Other notable works include the radio series, That Was Then, This Is Now
and various live shows including the acclaimed Talking Cock
and the resulting book of the same name. He has also had a successful collaboration with Andrew Collins who worked with him on the radio comedy series Banter; and hosted Herring on Collins's 6Music show; and a well reviewed podcast.
His 2008 stand up set 'The Headmaster's Son' earned critical respect with four 5 star reviews and several 4 star reviews. [2] [3] [4] [5]
His 2009 show 'Hitler Moustache' was the subject of much controversy, but also received universal critical approval and sold out for the entire Edinburgh run. Stewart Lee said of the piece, "I think the 20 minute bit about why racists are less racist than you is an all time great slice of stand-up that stands comparison with the best bits of the best comedians ever. The rest of the show is rubbish though, obviously."
|
RICHARD HERRING TICKETS
|
Career
Herring was born in
Pocklington,
Yorkshire, but grew up in
Cheddar,
Somerset, and was educated at
St. Catherine's College,
Oxford, where he wrote and performed for a comedy troupe known as the
Seven Raymonds as well as the
Fringe favourites the
Oxford Revue.
thumb Theatre,
Edinburgh, during the 2005
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
With Stewart Lee, Herring wrote material for
Chris Morris and
Armando Iannucci's
On the Hour
(1991). It was during this time that the duo contributed to the creation of the character
Alan Partridge. In 1992 and 1993, they wrote and performed
Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World
for
Radio 4. For
Radio 1, they wrote and performed one series of
Fist of Fun
(1993), which was later remade for
television. They also hosted a series on Radio 1 in 1994 and 1995, simply called
Lee and Herring
. A final television partnership with Lee,
This Morning With Richard Not Judy
, was a victim of
BBC management reshuffles.
In 2002 Herring played the role of Renchard in the
Doctor Who
Webcast Real Time
, together with Stewart Lee as Carey and
Colin Baker as
the Doctor.
Since cordially ending his informal partnership with Stewart Lee, Herring has written and performed thought-provoking one-man shows to critical acclaim. Most noteworthy of these shows were
Talking Cock
– released as a book in 2003 – which
The Guardian
described as "man's answer to
The Vagina Monologues
. " Like
Patrick Marber (a long-standing rival who was described as "curmudgeonly" or "a Cornish curmudgeon" in
Fist of Fun
), he has also written and produced several plays.
Herring co-wrote and presented the history based sketch show
That Was Then, This Is Now
(Or
TWTTIN)
, a 6 part series produced for
Radio 2. A second series was commissioned and aired in September and October 2006. On the broadcast of 2 September, he urged listeners to edit
Wikipedia's
Mother Teresa entry to suggest that she grew up with the middle name "
Gonk". It took a whole 3 months before someone carried out his plan, although his own page had been edited in the same manner within days of the broadcast. A third series of the show began broadcast on 29 November 2007.
He has also written for television, most notably penning a large portion of
Al Murray's sitcom vehicle,
Time Gentlemen Please
, on which Stewart Lee worked as script editor. Herring has also contributed to the third series of
Matt Lucas and
David Walliams' popular TV sketch show,
Little Britain
, as script editor.
On 25 November 2002 Herring started his
blog Warming Up
as a way to overcome
writer's block. He has kept the blog updated regularly ever since and as of 28 March 2009 has not missed a single day. It is estimated that he has a regular readership of over 3000. Some of the ideas from
Warming Up
were used in his 2005 Edinburgh show
Someone Likes Yoghurt
, his 2006 Edinburgh show
ménage à un
and his 2007 Edinburgh show
Oh Fuck, I'm 40!
. In December 2008 the first six months of this blog was published in a book called
Bye Bye Balham
.
In 2005, he presented a
chat show called
Heads Up with Richard Herring
on
Pokerzone (
Sky) in which they interviewed professional
poker players and celebrities about their careers and their love of the game. There were ten episodes in total.
Herring also made weekly appearances on
Andrew Collins'
BBC 6 Music radio show on Saturday afternoons, where the two would discuss the weeks papers. Occasionally he hosted the show in Collins's absence and joined him for the whole of his final show on 31 March 2007. Herring is also a panellist on
BBC Radio 4 gameshow
Banter
, which is presented by Collins.
In January 2007, Herring's live stand-up show
Someone Likes Yoghurt
was filmed in Cardiff and released on DVD on May 16 by the independent distributor
Go Faster Stripe. A recording of an earlier show,
The 12 Tasks of Hercules Terrace
, was released on 5 March 2007. Herring returned to Cardiff in June 2007 to film his third DVD,
ménage à un
. This DVD was released on 19 December 2007. He recorded
Oh Fuck, I'm 40
on March 21 2008. This DVD was released by Go Faster Stripe on 9 December 2008.
In February 2007, filming began on Herring's new comedy drama
You Can Choose Your Friends
. As well as writing the script, Herring also plays one of the characters alongside
Gordon Kennedy,
Claire Skinner,
Rebecca Front,
Sarah-Jane Potts,
Robert Daws,
Anton Rodgers and
Julia McKenzie.
[6] [7] The show was broadcast on
ITV1 on 7 June 2007.
In January 2008 he began producing the
Collings and Herrin
(sic) podcast with
Andrew Collins.
His 2008 show,
The Headmaster's Son
earned critical respect with his four 5 star reviews and several 4 star reviews. The set covers his experience growing up in a school in Somerset where his father works as headmaster and how this may have encouraged him to make puerile jokes. The show was seen by critics as a thoughtful
[1] look at his upbringing, and his relationship with his father, to whom the show is dedicated. It follows a similar vein to Andrew Collins' work where he often looks back at his past and in particular his childhood.
The original idea behind his 2009 show,
Hitler Moustache
, was to see if he "could reclaim the
toothbrush moustache for comedy – it was
Chaplin's first, then Hitler ruined it."
[10] The show discusses broader issues, such as fascism and the
British National Party.
[11] Herring and some of his contemporaries, including
Dave Gorman, were angered when comments he makes in his show were grossly misrepresented in an
The Guardian
opinion column written by critic Brian Logan. In his piece about offensiveness in comedy, Logan failed to communicate that Herring's line "that racists have a point" is accompanied by a critical commentary of democracy.
Amateur video of a was mounted on
YouTube and has been viewed by more than 500,000 people. In
Warming Up
, Herring noted ruefully that this was more than had ever seen him perform his prepared material.
He has also written for the new Andrew Collins
Talking Heads
-style programme
Batteries Not Included
, shown on the
Dave channel in the UK. He is the main contributing writer for
Phill Jupitus' voiceovers.
Personal life
Beyond saying he is often taken by actresses, Herring generally keeps quiet about his love life, although he stated recently in his blog that he has a girlfriend. He was formerly in a relationship with the actress
Julia Sawalha, according to
The Daily Telegraph
:
So taken was he that the Oxford-educated stand-up comedian even set up a shrine to her on Fist of Fun
, the television programme he wrote and acted in with Stewart Lee. "My ideal woman has the head of Julia Sawalha and the body of Julia Sawalha," went the running gag. [12]
When Stewart Lee pointed out that it would be easier just to say that his ideal woman was Julia Sawalha, Richard added "No, Stew, you're not listening. I said the head of Julia Sawalha and the body of Julia Sawalha. I said nothing about them being attached."
Richard is a supporter of
York City Football Club.
[13]
Selected works
Radio
- On the Hour
(1991) [14]
- Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World
(1992)
- Fist of Fun
(1993)
- Lee and Herring
(1994)
- That Was Then, This Is Now
(2004-8)
- Banter
(2005 - 2008)
- Collings and Herrin
(2008 - present) (Podcast)
Television
- Fist of Fun
(1995)
- This Morning With Richard Not Judy
(1998)
- Time Gentlemen Please
(2000)
- Heads Up with Richard Herring
(2005)
- You Can Choose Your Friends
(2007)
DVD and video
- Lee and Herring Live
BBC Video (1996)
- Time Gentlemen Please
(episodes 1-6) (2006)
- The 12 Tasks of Hercules Terrace
(2007)
- Someone Likes Yoghurt
(2007)
- ménage à un
(2007)
- Oh Fuck, I'm 40!
[15] (2008)
- Time Gentlemen Please
(both series box set) (2008)
Stand up
- Richard Herring is Fat
(1994)
- Richard Herring is All Man
(1995)
- Christ on a Bike
(2001)
- Talking Cock
(2002)
- The 12 Tasks of Hercules Terrace
(2004)
- Someone Likes Yoghurt
(2005)
- ménage à un
(2006)
- Oh Fuck, I'm 40!
(2007)
- The Headmaster's Son
(2008)
- Hitler Moustache
(2009)
Plays
- Ra Ra Rasputin
(1993)
- Punk's Not Dead
(1996)
- Excavating Rita
(1997)
- Playing Hide and Seek With Jesus
(1998)
- It's Not The End of the World
(1999)
Edinburgh shows
- Old King Cole
(1987) by Ken Campbell, played Faz. Oxford Theatre Group. Abbey Laird Theatre
- The Seven Raymonds KMnO4
(1987) OTG. St Mary's Hall
- The Oxford Revue - Waving at the Pigeons
(1988) OTG St Mary's Hall
- the dum show
(1992) with Stewart Lee, Steve Coogan, Patrick Marber and Simon Munnery. Pleasance 2
- Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World Live
(1993) with Stewart Lee, Ronnie Ancona and Alistair Macgowan.Tom Baker on video. Pleasance 2
- Ra Ra Rasputin
(1993)with Ben Moor, Sally Phillips, Andrew Mackay and Claire De Vries. Pleasance Upstairs.
- This Morning With Richard Not Judy
(1994) with Stewart Lee and Sally Phillips. Pleasance Attic.
- Richard Herring is Fat
(1994) with Kevin Eldon and Sally Phillips. Pleasance Upstairs.
- Richard Herring is All Man
(1995)with Sally Phillips and Tom Binns. Pleasance Upstairs
- Lee and Herring Live off of TV's Fist of Fun
(1995) with Peter Bayhnham. Pleasance One?
- Lee and Herring Live
(1996) Pleasance One?
- Punk's Not Dead
(1996)with Paul Putner, Ewan Bailey, Jason Freeman and Paul Reynolds. Dir Jeremy Herrin. Pleasance Upstairs.
- This Morning With Richard Not Judy II
(1997) with Stewart Lee, Richard Thomas, Trevor Lock and Natalie Brandon. Pleasance Cabaret Bar
- Excavating Rita
(1997) with Paul Putner, Catherine Hood, Jason Freeman, Trevor Lock and Natalie Brandon. Pleasance Above.
- Playing Hide and Seek With Jesus
(1998) with Paul Putner, Emma Kennedy, Selina Boyack, Matthew Pidgeon, Amelia Curtis and Matt Wilkinson. Dir. Jeremy Herrin. Pleasance Above.
- Lee and Herring
(1998) George Square Theatre.
- It's Not The End of the World
(1999) with Paul Bown, Rebecca Lacey and Ruth Grey. Dir Jeremy Herrin. Pleasance One.
- Christ on a Bike
(2001) Dir Jeremy Herrin. Pleasance Dome
- Talking Cock
(2002) Dir Jeremy Herrin. Pleasance Above
- The 12 Tasks of Hercules Terrace
(2004) Dir Jeremy Herrin. Pod Deco
- Someone Likes Yoghurt
(2005) Pleasance Above
- ménage à un
(2006)White Belly, Underbelly
- Oh Fuck, I'm 40!
(2007)White Belly, Underbelly
- The Headmaster's Son
(2008) White Belly, Underbelly
- Hitler Moustache
[16] (2009) White Belly, Underbelly
- Collings and Herrin Podcast Live
[17] (2009) Belly Laugh, Underbelly
Writing
- Fist of Fun
with Stewart Lee BBC Books, 1995. ISBN 0563371854; ISBN 978-0563371854
- Warming Up
blog (2002-present)
- Talking Cock
Ebury Press (2003)
- Warming Up Volume I: Bye Bye Balham
Go Faster Stripe ISBN 978-0-9560901-0-2(2008)
- Guardian How To Write
(contributor) edited by Philip Oltermann The Guardian ISBN 0852651384 ISBN 978-0852651384 (2009)
- The Atheist Guide to Christmas
Contributor (Editor Ariane Sherine) The Friday Project ISBN 978-0007322619 (2009)
- How Not To Grow Up
Ebury Press (2010)
References
- http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/otherresources/fringe/fringe08-83.htm
- metro.co.uk
- chortle.co.uk
- festmag.co.uk
- richardherring.com
- Warming Up 29 January 2007
- Warming Up [hat_Was_Then,_This_Is_Now_(Radio_Series) richardherring.com
- http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/otherresources/fringe/fringe08-83.htm
- Open door
- 'There isn't a "New Offensiveness"'
- Writing wrongs... : Dave Gorman is angered by a 'dangerously bad' piece of journalism
- 'They told my parents I was dead', ''The Telegraph'', September 2000.
- Warming Up
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/onthehour/
- Richard Herring - Oh Fuck, I`m 40
- http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/event/10000570-richard-herring-hitler-moustache/
- http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/event/10000574-collings-and-herrin-podcast-live/