Richard Herring

Richard Herring is a comedian who isn't afraid to push the boundaries for his art. He is constantly looking at how he can change the audience's views on what is tasteful and funny.

Richard started his comedy career back in the late 80s with his long time friend and writing partner Stewart Lee, whom he met in a corridor at Oxford University. Stewart Lee was doing well on the stand up scene and brought along his friend; Richard subsequently got signed to the same management company.

They wrote together for On The Hour (the radio precursor to The Day Today). Richard, together with Stewart Lee, performed in many sketch shows before going into a duo and naming it 'Fist of Fun'. 'Fist of Fun' went on to the radio and then TV and at the same time Richard still performed solo, taking his first show Is Richard Herring Fat? to Edinburgh in 1994.

He has taken a show to the festival almost every year since 2001 to critical acclaim. He has courted controversy along the way, most notably with his 2009 show Hitler Moustache where he intended to reclaim the toothbrush moustache back from fascism to comedy, from Hitler to Chaplain.

Read our interview with Richard Herring here.

Richard's comedy is decidedly dark and as a comedian he is certainly fearless. His shows will have a different theme each time he performs but a lot of it will focus on his own life.

He likes to talk about his sex life or lack of it and he's persistent with women, even if they don't like it. He likes to reminisce about his childhood, or more specifically his childhood view of sex.

One example of his black humour is a 10 minute piece about having a relationship with Jesus and working out when he can ask his new boyfriend a sensitive question about their love life. He will then of course dissect the entire piece as to why it isn't offensive in any way.

Richard Herring first appeared on our screens in 1995 in 'Fist of Fun', having featured on the radio with Stewart Lee in both 1993 and 1994.

The TV series of Fist of Fun lasted two series and then the duo transformed their show into This Morning With Richard Not Judy in 1998, again lasting for two series.

Since the turn of the century, Richard has spent most of his time on his writing and live work but has had time to present the Radio 2 show That Was Then, This Is Now and Banter on Radio 4 with Andrew Collins. The two built up both a friendship and partnership and now offer a weekly podcast called Collings and Herring.

Richard has also written two of his own books, Talking Cock and How Not To Grow Up, a memoir about how he approached becoming 40.

The comedy world needs people like Richard Herring. Without him, we may be stuck with everyone telling you the difference between men and women. Every year the public and critics alike await Richard Herring, wondering just what he's going to talk about next.

Did You Know?:

One of Richard Herring's first comedy sketches was the song 'My Penis Can Sing'. He'll be the first to admit his humour hasn't progressed that much since.