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Huffington Post Q&A

Edinburgh Festival Comedy: 10 Questions With Richard Herring

The Huffington Post UK | Posted: 20/07/2012 10:17


He needs no introduction - not to comedy or Edinburgh Fringe fans, at least. Yes, the brilliant Richard Herring is the latest comedian to do our Edinburgh Q&A - and with an amazing 32 Edinburgh shows already under his belt, he's returning this year with a reworking of his 2002 hit: Talking Cock: The Second Coming.

Pitch your Edinburgh show in 25 words or less.
Man's answer to Vagina Monologues. Saw a gap in the market and couldn't resist the male urge to fill it. Illuminating for men AND women!

Your best Edinburgh moment?
Getting off the train at Waverley station and smelling the hops in the air from the brewery.

And your worst?
1987-2007 inclusive. It's mainly all a horrible nightmare of depression and paranoia. I've only started to enjoy it in the last five years.

You've got one hour free in Edinburgh - what do you do?
Would love to say I go and watch experimental theatre or walk round the National Gallery. Or even just get drunk with a string of nubile youngsters. But these days if I have a spare hour, I sleep or watch Catchphrase repeats on Challenge TV.

Which Edinburgh landmark/venue/place would you give a five star review to?
The Tempting Tattie, a baked potato shop on Jeffrey Street, has kept me sustained and alive over the last quarter of a century. It's under new ownership this year, but I hope it's exactly the same: massive and cheap jacket potatoes served by a grumpy Scot.

Give us a secret Edinburgh tip!
If you want to see some of your favourite comedians naked (and are the same sex as them) then pop down to the Virgin gym in the afternoon and hang around the showers.

Deep-fried haggis or deep-fried Mars bar?
These days I try to be healthy during the Fringe, so the furthest I will go is an orange cheese and mango chutney baked potato from the Tempting Tattie.

Kilt or trousers?
There is nothing worse than a foreigner trying to dress in the national costume. I will be sporting trousers, but may call them troosers when speaking to locals.

Arthur's Seat or Arthur Smith?
Both are Edinburgh institutions, but Smith wins for me. He epitomises the Fringe with his brilliant and experimental and hilarious shows, but he's always great value if you happen to bump into him in a bar. A truly great Briton, and he isn't so knackering to climb.

Complete this sentence: “In Edinburgh, I will be mainly...
...working. It used to be my holiday, where I would see the show as an inconvenience when I really wanted to be drinking and talking to girls. Now, the shows are all I care about and the drink and women are obstacles to be avoided (apart from my wonderful wife).”

Richard Herring’s show Talking Cock: The Second Coming is at 20.15 at the Udderbelly - Cow, 1-26 August. Find out more and book tickets here.