The Lowestoft protest is gathering pace. I had been asked to be on a BBC Suffolk breakfast show debating the issue, but I didn't want to have to get up that early, or indeed add fuel to the flames. I suppose I should be pleased about the publicity for a gig where I am having real trouble shifting tickets, but I am finding it wearisome. I'd rather have 50 people who know me and my stuff and want to enjoy it than 150 who are turning up to see if something is offensive. And it would be better to ignore me and this minority group of Christians.
The story quickly hit
the BBC Suffolk website. Amusingly rather than quote any of the more sensible things I have written on the subject the BBC chose to quote a silly joke I made about the backwardness of East Anglia (though to be fair I never say that people in East Anglia are backward, just invite you to imagine how backward they might be, so if you decided that made them backward that was your own prejudiced brain). It's quite a funny statement to see on the BBC website, though if anything if more likely to create a protest than anything I say about Jesus. The Reverend Kyle Paisley says without any apparent irony, "We're just using our right as Christians to say how we feel." He doesn't seem to think that I should have the right to talk about what I feel. I am happy for him and his friends to say whatever they like, even if I disagree with them. I don't feel the need to go to his church to do this though. But the Reverend Paisley provides me with an excellent poster quote (and one that is pretty accurate), ""It's infantile. The continual reference to sexual things makes it manifest that Richard Herring hasn't got out of puberty yet."
God bless the Reverend Michael Eden though. His comments are much more Christian and reasonable and he is at least prepared to see the show before making a judgement on it. I hope he will hang around for a chat afterwards. As he correctly realises the show is about creating debate about religion, which I can only reiterate is a good thing for Christians. I am spending 90 minutes discussing the work of Jesus with people who would in the most part never go to church. You'd think Christians would be thanking me for this.
None of it made me very happy though, aside from the initial laugh of me insulting East Anglia on a local website. I felt tired today - perhaps feeling that as I had got home I could now relax, but I still had a gig to do before I got a day off.
Still it was nice to have a sleep in and I also managed to get down to the bank to pay in over £700 in coins for SCOPE. As often happens a confused older patron of the bank became confused by the dual nature of the coin paying in machine and tried to insert their card into the slot, believing the other half of the machine to be free. It's hard to keep up with technology.
I was in Luton tonight, and after the disgraceful behaviour of the Luton Town fans in last year's play-offs (where York City unexpectedly knocked them out of the contest and so the petulant Luton fans invaded the pitch forcing the York players to escape to the back of the terrace) I had a fun time criticising the blameless audience at the Library venue for the trouble. I would be astonished if any of them had been at the game, which made my mock/real fury all the more amusing. It is a wonderful feeling to deliberately antagonise a crowd, when the more usual approach is to suck up to them. I enjoyed berating Nottingham about the Tales of Robin Hood and I enjoyed continually bringing up this thuggery tonight, even though I had told Reliable Time Bending Pete that I would not mention it. I mentioned it as soon as I was on stage. The on stage Richard Herring has a mind of his own.
I felt weary and light-headed in the first half, but rallied a bit by the second. It has been a bit of a marathon this month and I am amazed that I hadn't got ill already. There's still six more gigs to the Easter break though. I hope I can push onwards. Suddenly today there seemed like a long way to the end of the tour.
My new poster has been causing a bit of consternation at my management company, who are not sure if its slightly gruesome nature might put people off the show. I am getting more convinced that after the initial shock it is actually a thing of rather classical beauty. I will post up a version of it as soon as we have something that we are pleased with. We thought about toning it down a little, but in the end Steve Brown the photographer and I have decided to stick to our guns. What would Edinburgh be without an accidentally controversial poster? I am inured to this kind of thing, so forget that others might be more squeamish. Will be interested to hear your comments. But Steve and Stephen Newman the designer (who brought you the Hitler Moustache poster) are doing another amazing job.
By the end of the day my mood had brightened a little bit, especially given that I was home by 11.15 thanks to the magic of Time and Space Bending Pete, so I got to hang out with my amazing girlfriend, which has been a rare luxury over this busy month. God can't be that pissed off with me or He wouldn't allow me such happiness as this.
