You just want to love everything Richard Herring does and he is, as List points
out, 'The King of Edinburgh'. There's always an abundance of warmth, wit and
passion in all of Herring's routines.
And this year is no different. Taking as its cue Herring's youthful misunderstanding
of the lyrics to Lord of the Dance, Lord of the Dance Settee sees Herring meander
through events of his youth.
Hilarious and silly, Herring is delightfully skilful in wringing every last ounce of
comedy out of his stories and tonight the audience shows no doubt of their
appreciation of this. You can always rely on Herring to win over an Edinburgh audience. The highlight of the show is his retelling of Dave Manager from the local fried chicken take away where Herring grew up. Here is Herring at his best, mischievous in his meticulous deliberation of all possibilities of what Dave Manager could be. Is his surname manager? Or is he the manager? And on it goes. The audience is with Herring all the way and he only stops when he has exhausted all possibilities and the audience love him all the more for this.
Tales of Ted Rogers and the scary knitted boy in the woods keep his routine bubbling along. Bringing it to a close is Herring's usual dose of quiet humanity. This year though it is highly personal and something that is obviously (and rightly) truly meaningful to Herring (which if you want to find out, you'll have to get yourself a ticket!), before flicking back to the silliness.
At the beginning of the show, Herring was at pains to point out that his act this year would differ from previous outings. This is telling as Lord of the Dance Settee is more slight than, What is Love?, or Christ on a Bike. There's something missing, as if Herring has been distracted by other things. However, don't let this stop you from seeing the show. Even a below par Herring still surpasses, and is far more worthy of you splashing out on a ticket than, most comedians at the Fringe. Still not to be missed. If only for seeing Herring sporting a sombrero and dancing. It may be slight, but it's superior slight.
