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Glad to see Jonny from Parcel Force tweeting his delight at receiving some gifts from strangers this morning. He seems to have got about 10 gifts so far, which is lovely. I did have visions of him being swamped by 100 parcels, which would have been brilliant, but it's still cool that others joined in with this and he got some good swag (including a Postman Pat DVD which I am sure he will love - it's like someone took his life and put it on screen). He was feeling down at work on Thursday, but today a few total strangers made him feel happy. I would have preferred it if he had become so overwhelmed with gifts that it had become inconvenient and a hassle and it had made him hate humanity. But this result is second best. If you want to send him a gift, his address is in Thursday's blog. I am guessing a few more gifts will arrive late. Especially if they've been delivered by Parcel Force, hey? Am I right?
As I listened back to menage a un and Oh Fuck I'm 40! (I thought these shows were going to be easy, but they both have some real challenges in both learning and editing down) I got round to signing and bagging up the programmes for the kind people who donated to have their name mentioned. You're all getting a little extra surprise (don't get too excited). And I drew one more T-shirt as a reward for someone who has bought tickets to all the shows. It's good that I have that extra job to do at this busy time. But I only have myself to blame. And as I have given away the “Free Hot Dog†T shirt from “Oh Fuck I'm 40†I also made a version of that for me to use. It's not really good enough, but it will hopefully get a laugh.
And in a productive day (if you don't look too hard at the rubbish I was producing) I also put together the Hercules episode of The Twelve Shows of Richard Herring Podcast. You can get it here or subscribe on iTunes, before heading off to Farringdon to see what bits I could remember from this week's shows. I am not sure what the audience made of the Jesus stigmata love bit, but as shocking as some of this stuff is I am able to slightly admire the younger me for his commitment to what he's doing. And though there's obviously some shock value in it, it is more about being from the perspective of someone who is focusing in on the wrong thing and missing the bigger picture. And it does make a nice point about what we choose to be offended by. Though there is still some stuff in this show that I am uncomfortable with as an older, less unhappy man.
I think the most interesting thing about working through the shows is trying to work out who I am as a comedian. There's such mishmash of styles and ideas in these shows, some puerility, some edgy offensiveness, some unexpected sweetness and vulnerability and some hard hitting political stuff. Maybe I needed to concentrate on just one thing and maybe I haven't truly worked out who I am or who my clown is yet. But in other ways I like the fact that I am so hard to pin down, that you can't take anything for granted and you don't know what way the next bit might go. Comedy is about surprise, but most successful comics seem to find a persona and then mine it for its familiarity. I can fully understand why my stuff seemed too unpredictable and odd for TV types, and maybe it really only works in the context of a 60-90 minute show where you can view all sides of me and try to work out what I mean and don't mean. But I am increasingly returning to the viewpoint I held then that there's nothing wrong with shocking and offending people, especially if there's a good reason behind it, but occasionally even if there isn't. It's good to get the subjects out there and promote discussion. menage a un has stuff about sexism, racism and disablism that sometimes straddles both sides of the argument. But it's much better that we talk about that stuff and in a sense discussing consent via having sex with Jesus is an interesting way of talking about the bigger and more serious issues.
These shows are packed with ideas, especially given how both of them have a 15-20 minute section where I am deliberately as boring as possible about one tiny idea. Other comics would have stretched these 12 shows into at least 18. I like the fact that I have to boulder onwards to get it all in.
I think by doing this I might ultimately work out why I am not a successful or great stand-up yet, but maybe by going back over this old ground and being forced to analyse myself I might become a better (if not more successful one). Or maybe I will just confuse myself and ask why I am not doing the kind of crazy, fucked up shit I was doing as I approached my fortieth birthday. Or maybe I'll just decide that I should stop at 12 shows. I don't know yet, but it's a fascinating, confusing and enjoyable journey (for me at least). Come along to some if you like.
