Richard Herring

RICHARD Herring appears live at Hertford Theatre next weekend. Welwyn Hatfield Times reporter Ross Logan caught up with the comedian late last month ahead of his current UK tour.

Comedian Richard Herring

RICHARD Herring, it seems, is growing up.

Having written a memoir entitled How Not To Grow Up, this might seem like something of a volte-face, but at the age of 44, there are definite signs that the irreverent, former comic partner of Stuart Lee is settling down. And that he likes it.

That’s not to say he’s gone soft. Having deconstructed religion (Christ on a Bike), politics (Hitler Moustache) and sex on previous stand-up tours, Herring is about to skewer another of life’s great subjects – love.

Herring will be at the Hertford Theatre on Friday, January 27, with his new show What is Love, Anyway?, an acerbic personal journey through Herring’s own romantic triumphs and failures.

The idea formulated while performing his recent hit show Christ on a Bike: The Second Coming, the follow-up to his original, debut show.

“I said believing in religion was the same as believing in love,” says Herring, an atheist.

“Some people were quite upset by that, which I thought was interesting.”

It’s more interesting when you consider Herring has been in a steady relationship himself for the past four years.

“That’s about 25 years in Richard Herring years,” he laughs. “This is the most successful relationship of my life.”

So how does his girlfriend feel about him taking to the stage to decry the very emotions they’re supposed to share?

“I think she’s a bit nervous, but she’s aware of what I do,” he says.

“There’s some stuff about her in there, but a lot of people see it as a love letter to her. At the end of it, she’s the one.”

Nevertheless, people’s concept of “love” as a definable, obtainable thing still bothers Herring.

He’s described himself in previous interviews as a “cynical romantic” and he uses the phrase again here.

“I love romance, but then I always thought if you love someone now, how will you feel in 10 years?

“Somebody who just commits to these sorts of things – are they worse or better than me?

“I think part of the problem is people have over-romantic ideas, and think if you love someone that’s it.

“But love’s an ever-changing landscape, and it’s actually quite prosaic and boring. The test is getting through once the excitement wears off.

“My parents have been together for about 60 years and seem alright, but a lot of grandparents and parents go through life together and end up hating each other.”

How is balancing a relationship with the demands of touring?

“You get used to it. It was harder when I was single or at the beginning of a relationship.

“With the job I do, you’re away a lot, there’s lots of temptations, so it’s difficult to find the right person who can put up with that.

“It’s a very easy job to stay young and self obsessed in. When you’re in your 20s, it wasn’t about the tour, but what happens on the tour, or where you’re going after the gig to get drunk.

“I partied quite hard. Now I can’t imagine how I managed to stay up till five in the morning.”

Further evidence, then, of Herring happily settling into middle age.

But that, perhaps, is good news for his audience.

He says: “I don’t think I was particularly happy with myself back then. I’ve got much more boring now. Touring’s less fun for me, but the show has got better.

“It’s really nice and good for my job. I’m not saying I regret going out and getting drunk, but it’s nice being in my 40s and thinking ‘I’m getting better at my job’.

“It’s a really nice place to be.”

In a sweet and rather serendipitous aside, I asked Herring where he was spending Christmas.

He was in Somerset with his mum and dad on Christmas Day.

Then he travelled up the A1(M) to Welwyn, no less, to spend Boxing Day with his girlfriend’s parents.