Description:
This year Richard Herring realised that he was the same age of Jesus
when he died.
But has he acheived as much as the supposed Messiah?
Some would argue not. But one man dares argue otherwise. The fact
that that man is Herring himself should not be allowed to cloud the
issue. During the hour, Herring will attempt to recreate - and top
- some of Jesus's most famous miracles, including turning water into
wine, curing a range of maladies (this may cost extra) and feeding
the entire audience with one deep fried Mars bar.
Review:
Richard Herring's had a busy year - churning out an unprecedented
number of scripts for Al Murray's enjoyable Sky One sitcom. Yet somehow
he's still found time to write this top-notch solo show, in which
he compares his life to that of Jesus, humbly hinting that he may
be the next true messiah.
It's an excuse, of course, to debunk religion - a theme that will
already be familiar to Herring's fans, and done in typically droll
yet naive style.
But it's a rich vein to mine, and certainly produces a steady stream
of brilliant comedy nuggets as the Somerset misfit justifies his own
inadequacies by drawing parallels to the life of Jesus. The tight
show's a textbook example of how to structure a monologue, with recurring
themes and joke callbacks incongruously incorporated into the bright
narrative.
And anyone who can get seven fantastic minutes of hilarious material
out of just one incomprehensible page of the Bible - including an
impressive, verbatim learning of the opaque text - must be touched
by the comedy God, at least It's a hugely enjoyable rant - although
ultimately revealing very little - underlining Herring's place as
one of the finest comedy writers around.