Richard Herring
- Menage A Un
Richard Herring
Smirnoff Underbelly @ 20:30 Aug 3-27 (not 15), 20:30 (1hr), £9.50 (£8.50)
***
Loneliness and impending middle-aged spread lie at the heart of Herring’s 15th Fringe show and, at times, it’s not difficult to see why he’s still available.

Although Herring is capable of delivering unutterably shocking material other comics wouldn’t possibly get away with, (notably listing why Maxine Carr would make a good girlfriend), when his routine touches upon commitment phobia, and about women in general, it develops an uncomfortably hard edge. It’s a shame because when he’s not trying to peel back the boundaries of taste and decency, Herring’s little flights of fancy make him really worthwhile watching.

The Pomme de Terre shenanigans and the improvised old ladies on top of a bonfire were very funny, as was the anecdote about a doomed attempt to satirise a business called Hand Job.

Sadly, by the end, the show really did live up to its title as material and audience both rolled away spent, leaving Herring thrashing on his own to a rather limp finish. Disappointing.

by Jane Buffham