Why Richard Herring goes after the big fish of comedy

Comedian, writer, presenter and one-time wearer of fascist facial hair, Richard Herring is set to tackle his most challenging subject yet: love

RICHARD HERRING has a reputation for embracing difficult subjects. Having tackled religion in one show ( Christ on a Bike) and fascism for another ( Hitler Moustache, for which he grew the infamous square of facial hair), he's now touring a new title: What is Love Anyway?Yes, the name comes from a Howard Jones hit.

Write about what you know, the adage goes, so was there a specific catalyst for this show? “It’s mainly come out of last year’s show, which was about Jesus and my relationship with religion,” says Herring, talking a mile-a-minute, “but at the end I conclude it’s alright to believe in God, if you want to. I projected that love is similar to religion in that it’s faith-based. The audience laughing at religion stopped at that point. So it was interesting to investigate – what it is, what it means to me, is it true? I had a few vague ideas [on the subject] beforehand and it’s nice to choose a specific subject and run with it; why we all believe in love when we’re more cynical about other things.”

A confessional tone shouldn't prove surprising to Herring's fans, and his prodigious output reveals a man with plenty to say: The English comic is a prolific blogger, a keen advocate of Twitter, a podcaster, a BBC Radio 4 presenter, a regular panellist on TV (including Have I Got News for You) and the author of numerous semi-autobiographical books.

Has he learned anything about himself from working on his latest show? “I always do,” he replies immediately. “It’s like therapy. I investigate my own life [for it], so it’s much more about me than anything else, as was the Jesus one. The basis is looking back at stories in my life and how it affected me.

“I’ve been with my girlfriend for four years, and I’m 44 and not married, so it’s an apt point to look at [the subject]. Hopefully other people will identify with the show too.”

The big subjects aren’t intimidating to the comic, obviously, but love is arguably the biggest one of all – one that has its definition evolve constantly. “It’s very hard to define,” he agrees, “because it differs from culture to culture and time to time. It’s interesting that we have a set idea of where it’s meaningful and not meaningful. For example, falling in love is such a strange thing, so does it make a difference if someone falls in love for six minutes or 60 years? Different cultures encourage having affairs, or multiple spouses, so there is no correct answer to what love is. And then there’s a fairy tale idea that there’s a soul mate for everyone and people just accept it. Love is more prosaic than romantic – to make a relationship work is a lot to do with compromises.”

It's possible that What is Love Anyway?will give Herring a break from confrontation. Search for "Richard Herring heckler" in YouTube to see how HE tackles abuse. On a bigger scale, the comic claims he was misinterpreted by a mainstream news article that labelled him (and other comics) "The New Offenders". Herring was afforded a chance to write a rebuttal in the same paper.

He describes his relationship with the press as “good on the whole”; as well he should, since the average Richard Herring gig review is a rave.

“The thing is someone will misrepresent you and the nice thing is that you’re able to respond immediately,” he says of “The New Offenders” incident.

“The journalist hadn’t seen the show and was trying to adapt it into his argument. And I was able to respond, which is nice. I was walking around with a Hitler moustache [at the time] and making a joke about hating other races, so that puts one in danger.

“Journalists like me and respect me as a whole and I respect them too. I do a lot [of communicating] on the internet and have a right to respond. If someone says something untrue, it’s worth standing up to it.”

And does this journalist still write about Herring? “He still comes to the shows . . . but he doesn’t give them as good reviews as he used to!”

Richard Herring will be performing in Whelan’s, Dublin on January 6th