Skip to main content

Review of Richard Herring: Happy Now? at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Long before the show started last night there was something that slightly felt wrong to me. On the stage was the quite usual projection of our star of the night, this time an apparently contented family pose. What differed from all the previous stand ups I had seen though was a quote: "At the very top of his" The Scotsman. Now I had happily used my money to purchase a ticket and was seated for the show, I needed at that point no sales pitch, in my mind it just seemed weird to have it up there on the screen.

However putting aside such wayward thoughts I was ready to see Richard Herring's stand up for the first time. Originally part of a double with Stewart Lee, Herring has become a huge success on the comedy circuit with Happy Now? his twelfth show in as many years. He must be doing something right? Sadly for me after the show, I wasn't entirely sure what it was.

Unlike the recent comedy shows I have seen, Happy Now? is a tremendously rigid performance based on his new found life as a 48 year old first time father. There is very little audience interaction which for me makes a comedian appear more confident on stage. The quick witted bouncing off the audience tells much about a stand-up and Mr Herring offered nothing of this, although while he did have some vague observation of the front row, he got involved in little exchange with them. This was basically a play masquerading as a stand-up, rehearsed and ready to go, with the only requirement from the audience being to laugh.

In absolute fairness many of them did, I myself rarely got above a rigid grin. There was an uncanny feeling with Herring's act and some of the audience that I had arrived at some sort of happy gathering of fans. There were groups of people scattered around the theatre that were happily loving every minute of proceedings. They were in on it almost like "I love this guy, I am going to laugh at everything he says". However unlike those recent shows I had seen from Ed Bynne and Katherine Ryan (and her fabulous support Stephen Bailey), there was an awful lot of us that didn't seem to be in on the joke.

There were moments I gladly enjoyed, including rather surprisingly the discussion of his self conscience informing him of ways he might end up killing his baby. This was edgy and darkly funny, but this certainly was not to everyones taste. I also enjoyed his rather clever picking apart of a welcome mat and its gramatical issues, a clever piece of work well constructed. However for every success there were many dull meandering stages where we seemed to be going nowhere. Most painful and excruciating of these was the first ten minutes or so (it seemed much more) coming out of the interval, where he tried to sell us his merchandise. If it had been funny, it might nearly have been excused. However that ten minutes was unquestionably one of the worst periods of time I have spent in my many, many hours in the theatre.

Herring also has for me a tremendously unwatchable stage presence. Pacing about is fine and many comedians do this successfully. However here coupled with that twitchy constantly endless fiddling with his hair, made the whole thing a putoff. I know we can't help mannerisms, but I have never been so distracted in my life by such a thing on stage.

There is some heart in the work and I don't think Happy Now? was ever intended to be full of belly laughs, it is a more thoughtful piece. However it still missed much of the required elements of a night of stand-up. It may well be a case of "it's me, not you", however I know others felt the same. Herring used Marmite in his one of his pieces relating that you either love it, hate it or actually just don't mind it. Sadly for me, I am much nearer the hate it. You however at the back were clearly loving every single minute.

««½


Performance reviewed: Saturday 5th March, 2016 at the Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton.

Richard Herring: Happy Now? was performed at the Royal & Derngate (Royal) on Saturday 5th March, 2016 only but is on a tour until June. Website for details: http://www.richardherring.com/gigs/

For further details about the Royal & Derngate visit their website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Calamity Jane at Milton Keynes Theatre

Should you never have seen Calamity Jane before, as I hadn't before catching it on its UK tour's arrival at Milton Keynes Theatre this week, you may still very well know a little about it by its name alone. However, barring a couple of well-known tunes, I knew far less than I thought, and it was an excellent experience of discovery. The story of Calamity Jane recounts the town of Deadwood and, specifically, the tomboy Calamity Jane, full of tales and daring deeds that may or, more likely, did not happen. When the local theatre owner fails to bring the American star promised to the stage, Calam sets it upon herself to get the biggest star of the country to grace that darn stage. Calamity Jane is, at its core, just a jolly old-fashioned musical, filled to the brim with disturbingly simple but very catchy numbers from Sammy Fain and lyrics from Paul Francis Webster. Some you will no doubt recognise, such as Deadwood Stage , Just Blew in from the Windy City , and Secret Love . ...

Review of Lord Of The Dance at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

The stage show Lord of the Dance possibly needs little introduction to most people, as it has become a legend and now, in this touring version, subtitled rather immodestly, 25 Years of Standing Ovations, it reaches a landmark anniversary. Those that do not know of the show would probably well know its spiritual fathers Michael Flatley, and even more likely Riverdance , from which Lord of the Dance sprung with a proper spring in its step. During the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, Riverdance hit the world by storm as Michael Flatley and his troop of dancers possibly presented the most famous part of Eurovision ever, certainly of the non-singing variety at least. Here, this touring show brings that same style Flatley created from traditional Irish dancing across the country once again and it is truly something special to see. The concept of the show is simply a battle between good and evil told through dance, and some captivating and stunning songs performed by Celyn Cartw...

Review of Murder She Didn't Write at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Murder She Didn't Write , stopping off for a four-day run at Royal & Derngate on a lengthy UK tour, treads the now well-worn path of an improvisational evening of theatre entertainment. Unsurprisingly, from the title, this show from Degrees of Error's takes a murder mystery as its inspiration, with the story influenced by ideas from the audience each evening. Due to this, Murder She Didn't Write and a review are very much an individual affair. What I saw in my evening at the theatre will differ significantly from what the audience will see the following evening; however, the fine performers will remain. The touring cast, in no particular order, is Lizzy Skrzypiec, Rachael Procter-Lane, Peter Baker, Caitlin Campbell, Stephen Clements, Douglas Walker, Harry Allmark, Rosalind Beeson, Sylvia Bishop, Emily Brady, Alice Lamb, Sara Garrard, Peta Maurice and Matthew Whittle. For my performance, Skrzypiec, Procter-Lane, Baker, Walker, Bishop, and Clements were on stage alongsid...