https://bouquetsbrickbatsreviews.com/2017/03/22/richard-herring-the-best/
22/03/17
The Stand, Edinburgh
Let’s face it, it takes some chutzpah for a comedian to label his
show ‘the best’ knowing full well the torrent of caustic putdowns that
could inevitably follow such an outrageous claim. But after some
discussion, we have to admit that there probably isn’t another stand
up out there who is more deserving of the description. Herring has given
us so much sheer enjoyment over the years.
We first encountered him at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010 with Christ On a Bike: The Second Coming
and every year after that, the first show we would book would be his.
We were distraught when he decided not to do the festival in 2015 and
2016, and delighted when we heard that he’s going to give it another
shot this year. All in all, we’ve seen six of his shows and the beauty
of it is, of course, that every one of them is completely different.
So here he is at Edinburgh’s most iconic comedy venue, offering 90
minutes selected from all 12 of his Edinburgh shows and we figure, if
anybody has earned the right to perform a ‘best of’ compilation it’s the
UKs most hardworking (and in many ways, most criminally underrated)
stand up comedian. He strolls onto the tiny stage, dressed more casually
than we’ve seen him in a long time and launches headlong into his
infamous Ferraro Rocher routine and as each successive clip segues into
the next, the time just flies by while we sit there helpless with
laughter.
It’s not rocket science. Obviously if you pick out all the funniest
bits from over twenty hours of material, you’re going to be left with
real quality and that’s pretty much what we get tonight, the perfect mix
of silly, rude and cerebral. He keeps his Christ On A Bike
material for the end and I still think that asked to pick my all time
favourite, it would be this show, a dazzling tour de force of wit and
invention, coupled with an amazing feat of memory – but that’s not to
demean the rest of it. Herring at his least effective can still knock
spots off most of his peers.
If you’re still unfamiliar with his work, I would urge you to seek
him out at your earliest opportunity. If you can’t make it to a live
slot, don’t forget there’s a whole raft of podcasts out there from his
Leicester Square Theatre interviews, through As It Occurs To Me, right down to his Me1 vs Me2
snooker games. It’s all easily accessible and he leaves it up to you to
decide if you ‘d like to pay him for the privilege of enjoying it.
There are precious few comedians who can offer such high output and
fewer still who can maintain this level of quality. The Best? Yeah,
we’re happy to go with that.
5 stars
Philip Caveney
