Richard Herring: Hitler Moustache Review

• 4th Nov 2010

Richard Herring might not have been as successful in recent years as his former double act partner Stewart Lee, but there’ll always be an enthusiastic audience for the comic, who has consistently produced interesting, well-received stand-up sets over the years. The overarching idea behind last year’s excellent Hitler Moustache is right there in the title and on Herring’s face – the comedian is attempting to ‘take back’ the titular facial hair, in his view stolen by the dictator (‘the worst thing he did’) from Herring’s comedy hero Charlie Chaplain.

Herring gets a lot of anecdotal mileage from his experience of having the moustache, from a hilarious account of getting mugged in Shepherds Bush to a lengthy rumination on the commitment he’s had in the past to various comedy stunts. There’s a general theme of prejudice and bigotry: political correctness and the BNP might not be the most original sources of comedy these days, but Herring’s riffing on these ideas is good enough to feel definitive. There’s plenty of sincere left-wing outrage in his occasionally ranty stories, but a humble and self-deprecating demeanour offset this so that he never appears preachy.

It’s an epically-proportioned set but Herring has enough about him to keep it from dragging and his engagement with the crowd in the small arts centre – his treatment of one stone-faced punter is especially funny – gives the gig an intimate vibe that’s lacking in the average arena show.

Adam Richardson