Comedy routine of Biblical proportions
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Richard Herring takes his Christ on a Bike tour to Inverness.
THOUGH it might not seem like it from either the title of his show or its publicity pics, Richard Herring promises he is not out to cause offence to Christians.
The erstwhile comedy partner of Stewart Lee — who had his own share of religious controversy as co-writer of "Jerry Springer: The Opera" — is back on the road with his "Christ on a Bike" tour, a comedy look at the life of Jesus.
For the resurrection of the comic’s first solo show, inevitably given the "Second Coming" subtitle, posters show a Messianically garbed Herring astride a chopper.
Even without hearing any of the gags, that should be enough to test Christians’ capacity for forgiveness, with Herring even joking on his Twitter site about raising a "Nerd Army human shield" to protect him at his Inverness show on — appropriate or not — Sunday at The Ironworks.
However, Herring does not see the show as being deliberately provocative and reckons there might be only three jokes in the show which, if taken out of context, might cause offence to Christians.
"I like to take on big subjects, subjects I’m interested in," he explained.
"I’m quite obsessed about Jesus. I’m not religious, but my mum and dad are, so it’s a personal look at religion.
"It’s not meant to be disparaging towards Christians or Jesus and a lot of Christians come and see it. My parents have seen it before. They see most of my shows."
Religion for Herring is not just a suitable subject for comedy, the suggestion that it should not be questioned or used as a subject for comedy makes it all the more appealing as a subject for a show.
There is also, he adds, a lot of fun stuff in the Bible, though other parts of the show have more personal origins.
"Some of the things in the show come from me being eight-years old and saying to my mum: ‘Why does the Bible say this?’" he revealed.
"It doesn’t have any answers. It’s quite clear that I don’t know any more than anyone else."
Herring, however, has done his homework, immersing himself in Biblical criticism as background for the show and putting the stories of Jesus in a historical context that even many Christians are unaware of.
"Quite a lot of vicars and ministers come to the show," he said.
"Though they don’t agree with Richard Herring my conclusions, they respect my research. I know my Bible pretty well.
"If you look at the Good Samaritan parable about helping strangers, it’s as much about Jewish purity laws. I find it interesting that there are people who believe in a religion and don’t look properly at it.
"One of the professional clergymen who came to my show said he would love to address the Bible in the way I did, but it would be too controversial."
The show itself is a highly personal one and as much about Herring himself as Jesus, though that is not the only reason it might be very hard for any other comedian to take over.
It also includes a complex routine on Jesus’ genealogy that proved a major test of Herring’s powers of memory.
"If anyone manages to steal that routine, they are welcome to have it," he laughed.
Herring — who believes that if everyone stuck to any religious philosophy — the world would be a better place, does not consider any of his shows to be offensive, though he acknowledges his humour is not for everyone.
"If I am offending anyone, I want to offend them for a reason," he continued.
"Comedy is a form of drama and I think it is right that people have their views challenged."
Religion is not the only contentious topic he has tackled.
For his show, "Hitler Moustache", he attempted to reclaim the toothbrush moustache, as worn by Charlie Chaplain, for comedy, while at the same time challenging assumptions about race and racism.
"I had to walk round with a toothbrush moustache for a year, so the joke was really on me," he said.
His next show moves on from religion and politics to sex, or at least love. Partly inspired by his Jesus show, when it occurred to him that a large part of his audience would deny the existence of God, but at the same time would firmly believe in the existence of love.
Still, it should be less controversial than his current tour. Or should it?
"Most Christians get what Christianity’s about. They get turning the other cheek," Herring said.
"Very few e-mails I get are from people saying that I’m going to hell. I wouldn’t want to believe in a God like that anyway."
Richard Herring’s "Christ on a Bike" tour comes to The Ironworks on Sunday. Doors open 7.30pm.
