2007 Edinburgh Fringe
Richard Herring ﾃや Oh Fuck, Iﾃや冦 40
Robert Wringham ﾃや 23 August 2007
When you die, Richard Herring reckons, you go into a big room filled with judgemental babies. Each baby represents a potential sperm/egg combination that never made it into reality and you must justify your existence to each and every one of them, one at a time.
ﾃや弩hy did you watch the Hollyoaks Sunday omnibus for three and a half hours when youﾃや囘 already watched them all individually at 6:30 on weeknights?ﾃや one of the babies will lament before claiming that he could have found the cure for cancer if only heﾃや囘 been given the chance of life.
This, of course, only happens after a long trek up a hill of life; a clinging to the shaggy grass at the apex and a final descent ﾃや徙ver the hillﾃや, through death into the infinite abyss.
Does everyone think along these lines when they reach middle age or is it just Richard Herring? I imagine that everyone has similar anxieties about their uselessness or their lack of achievement but Herringﾃや冱 surreal imagination somehow results in an afterlife room of a billion talking babies.
This isnﾃや冲 a comfortable thought for Richard, who confesses early in the show to being a ﾃや弃aedophobeﾃや: an aging individual who hates children but is mysteriously not championed by our paedophile-hating ﾃや忤horish coquetteﾃや of a society.
If youﾃや决e a Herring fan youﾃや冤l really enjoy this yearﾃや冱 show. Itﾃや冱 precisely what youﾃや冤l expect: more self-depreciation; more bizarre sexual confessions; a childish pushing of the boundaries of taste; and pedantic analyses of things that nobody else would think about for more than five seconds. Particularly rewarding is a discussion of a t-shirt depicting the slogan, ﾃや廨ive me head, ﾃやtil Iﾃや冦 deadﾃや. As you might imagine, this bit goes on for quite a long time.
Itﾃや冱 all good stuff though and another example of Rich doing exactly what he does best. Itﾃや冱 impossible to imagine but he seems to be more ﾃや彝ichard Herringﾃや with every passing year. How much higher he can turn up this volume remains to be seen but, as ever, heﾃや冤l keep going until people start walking out. Didnﾃや冲 they understand that this was a test of endurance?
Itﾃや冱 become a sort of Fringe tradition: going to Herringﾃや冱 gigs to see what outrage heﾃや冤l cause this time. Weﾃや况e already seen a show entirely dedicated to the comedic institute of ﾃや鰐nob-gagsﾃや; a one-hour show about his yoghurt addiction; a piece of one-man theatre in which he proves that he is Jesus; and a show in which he reports his experiences of trying to out-do Hercules. His career is an ongoing pushing of the limits and just when you think he must have approached a fever pitch, he reveals a new cul-de-sac of childish experimentation. How heﾃや冤l top ﾃや楼h Fuck Iﾃや冦 40ﾃや next year is anyoneﾃや冱 guess but I imagine that heﾃや冤l implode somehow like a supermassive star finally inverting and turning into a black hole.
Imagine that! A chubby, aging comedian literally turning into a quantum singularity and sucking everyone out of the room into a void of nothingness. Fringe 2008. Youﾃや冤l see. Itﾃや冱 the only place Richard Herring can go now.
Oh Fuck, Iﾃや冦 40 at the Underbelly (White Belly).
From
http://www.thegroggysquirrel.com/articles/2007/08/07/2007-edinburgh-fringe/richard-herring---oh-fuck-im-40/
