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British Comedy Guide reviews HM

8.40pm, Richard Herring: Hitler Moustache
Underbelly
4.5 Stars

Richard Herring.Edinburgh veteran Richard Herring helped prove the old adage that all publicity is good publicity prior to this year's event. Having been accused of all manner of nasty things in a now infamous Guardian feature about offensive comedy he was then paid by the same paper to write his own rebuttal, got much comedy mileage out of his alleged infamy for a few weeks and sold tickets a lot quicker than usual. Not that he'd expect any empty seats under normal circumstances anyway, as Herring at Edinburgh is a bit like Elvis in Vegas: the career (and waistline) may fluctuate but it's always a must-see show.

This year's offering is harder-hitting than usual as the prime comedic premise of wearing a Hitler moustache for a few weeks in an effort to reclaim it for comedy - Chaplin having worn it first - precipitates a full-on rant about apathetic voters, race relations and a jokey proposal for curbing the rise of the BNP that, actually, would probably work. The gags, meanwhile, are magnificent.