Comic who is courting controversy with show (From Gazette)

Comic who is courting controversy with show

8:00pm Tuesday 19th April 2011 in Leisure

COMEDIAN Richard Herring is not one to shy away from controversy.

Christ on a Bike: The Second Coming is a reworking of his first and favourite solo stand-up show, Christ on a Bike.

It’s billed as a humorous look at Jesus, “combining childlike guile with rigorous academic research”, and comes to Colchester Arts Centre on Thursday.

But the touring show has angered Christians across the country. In Lowestoft, they plan to protest outside, claiming the show is blasphemous and vulgar.

Talking about the controversy in his blog, Richard writes: “I suppose I should be pleased about the publicity for a gig where I am having real trouble shifting tickets, but I am finding it wearisome. I’d rather have 50 people who know me and my stuff and want to enjoy it than 150 who are turning up to see if something is offensive.

“The Rev Kyle Paisley says without any apparent irony, ‘we’re just using our right as Christians to say how we feel’.

“He doesn’t seem to think I should have the right to talk about what I feel.”

For past shows, Richard has cleaned out the elephant enclosure at Colchester Zoo and relived his troubled childhood as the son of a headmaster, all in the name of comedy.

For last year’s show, Hitler Moustache, Richard even grew a tache in the fuhrer’s style.

Richard says: “It was a joke at the top of the show, but basically I started thinking about racism and how little things, like a moustache, can conjure up all kinds of thoughts in people.

“I kept it on for the entire run and, I must say, after about 30 or 40 shows, I was getting a bit fed up with it.

“It’s actually surprising how little reaction I got from people. Usually, they’re just bemused.”