Arts > Comedy

Richard Herring @ Norwich Playhouse

20/03/16

Happy Now is the twelfth stand-up show from comedian Richard Herring, and if you're thinking how time has flown since he first got up on stage to perform Christ on a Bike back in 2001, no one would agree with you more than him. In fact, the show is based on how things have changed for Richard over the last few years; what with him now being married and dealing with fatherhood, making this show somewhat more autobiographical than previous routines, and essentially revolving around the notion of happiness, and whether having what you want will ever make you truly satisfied.

Whilst this sounds like familiar philosophically-tinged territory for Herring, it Invariably boils down to some lukewarm material with bubbles of hot stuff occasionally breaking the surface. In fairness, Herring himself addresses that telling jokes about the 'magic of childbirth' is hardly unbroken ground, and he still comes across as charismatic and likeable, so the fan filled audience seemed as rapt as ever.

Just when it starts to feel like a lull, you're never too far away from the high notes again, with Herring discussing the random thoughts of harm that cross your mind whilst guarding a small child, such as them being impaled by a stalactite of frozen urine, and a very funny debate about what constitutes adultery in a future world where sex androids exist.

I like Richard Herring, but if I was introducing a newbie to his stand-up style, and I had to pick a show to do it, it wouldn't be this one. To paraphrase the man himself, this show is a bit like Marmite. You either love it, or you hate it. Or you think it's just OK. Or you don't give a fuck either way. Well, I don't love it or hate it, and I do give a fuck, so I guess that narrows it down.

6/10