"What I hate," explains Richard Herring towards the end of his gig, "is when someone takes a joke and stretches it way beyond its natural lifespan." By this point he has been talking about yoghurt for over a quarter of an hour.
Such is the Herring method. Take a theme, such as Kipling (Rudyard and Mr), and wring it strenuously of all its comic potential. Then wring it for a further five minutes. Then consider out loud whether it has now been over-wrung. Then wring it some more.
At times this is like being taken a long, reluctant trudge up a hill, but then Herring stops, gets his breath back, and points out some wonderfully funny views. Such as: "Actually, shunning menstruating women is the only good piece of advice in the Bible." Or: "All the religions are right when they say that all the other religions are wrong."
For such a friendly and relaxed performer, he can be surprisingly confrontational and graphic. Sex with animals is very fully explored, for instance, while religion is kicked unconscious. Some listeners approve, some don't. But Herring's punchlines carry the day, just about. Although it would have been cleverer not to use one of them - "someone likes yoghurt" - as the title of the show.
