Airing his "Christ on a Bike" one man show for the second time in a decade, Richard Herring played to a sell-out crowd at newly launched "The Laugh Inn" Chester last night.
Resurrecting (or should that be re-cycling?) ten-year old material could well be deemed incredibly lazy, but Herring insists his motive lay in bringing the show to a fresh audience. Herring's army of fans has grown since his first solo Edinburgh show, and giving the bible a good bashing never gets old, does it?
Herring certainly hopes not as he launches into a tongue-in-cheek routine examining the similarities between himself and Jesus at the age of 33. Ten years on, what has the 43-year-old Herring got in common with The Messiah? Are they in fact one in the same? Blasphemy indeed, and anyone easily offended by a spot of religious ridicule should be prepared to turn the other cheek. Having centred his critically acclaimed 2010 show around Hitler's Moustache, Herring playfully observes his career path is starting to take the shape of Pope Benedict XVI. Perhaps next year he'll examine why it's OK to cover up child abuse.
Explaining a certain 'obsession' with Jesus, despite his stance firmly as an atheist since he was 8 years old, he was raised by two dedicated Christians. Herring admits he has wavered from disbelief fleetingly over the years and thus sets out to prove a well-researched point that Jesus is not The Son of God. If it sounds strong stuff, at times it is, and requires far more concentration than your average stand up show. Herring always treats his crowd as intelligent adults, even if his persona is often that of a petulant child.
Resembling a lecture, or perhaps a high-tech sermon, a large projector is used to illustrate passages from The Ten Commandments and The Gospel according to Matthew and Luke as Herring deconstructs their inaccuracies bit by bit to huge waves of laughter.
Here Herring truly comes into his own, revelling in berating the very first page of Matthew, not least for its dreary repetition of the word 'begat'. Displaying a feat of memory to rival Derren Brown, Herring recites each and every name starting with Abraham through to Jesus. He joyfully destroys Matthew's supposed proven geneaology linking Jesus to Abraham with one observation... Jesus wasn't related to Joseph. Mary was impregnated by the Holy Ghost. Every name that goes before Joseph is therefore meaningless, if Jesus truly was the Son of God. A mistake on the very first page!
Beautifully executed, Herring left the crowd in fits of giggles by merely reciting several emails of complaint from God-fearing folk he has received since launching the tour, which inevitably prove easy pickings for Herring's cutting sarcasm. These undoubtedly receive the biggest laughs of the night despite the well-polished biblical musings, Herring is in his element belittling the "passive aggressive" misgivings of those ensuring him God will strike him down one day...probably in the next 10 or 20 years.
Despite being devised over a decade ago, the hook to the show's title feels somewhat thin, with Herring quickly sandwiching in two amusing and ultimately rather solemn dream sequences in which Jesus challenges Richard to a bike race. The fast-paced delivery of which left it difficult for the crowd to keep up with Herring let alone Jesus. Yet, nearing 90 minutes of mirth, it was of little consequence to the crowd, who left grinning from ear-to-ear with an overriding sense that Herring had absolved us of our sins. Or, at least, made us forget them for a bit.
8/10 Proving both Hollyoaks and The Bible have their inaccuracies.
www.richardherring.com
For more information about what is coming up at Chester's brand new comedy venue visit http://www.thelaughinnchester.co.uk/
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