Richard Herring

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Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox comedian

Richard Keith Herring (born 12 July 1967)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is an English stand-up comedian and writer whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring (alongside Stewart Lee). He is described by The British Theatre Guide as "one of the leading hidden masters of modern British comedy".<ref name="britishtheatreguide.info">Template:Cite web</ref>

Towards the end of the double act, Herring also worked as a writer, producing four plays. After Lee and Herring went their separate ways he co-wrote the sitcom Time Gentlemen Please, but quickly returned to performance with concept-driven one-person shows like Talking Cock, Hitler Moustache and Christ on a Bike as well as regular circuit stand-up. Herring has created fourteen of these stand-up shows since 2001, performing them for eleven consecutive years from 2004 to 2014 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with annual tours and a final performance recorded for DVD. His 2016–17 show was a 'best of' tour, drawing from these shows.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Herring is recognised as a pioneer of comedy podcasting,<ref>[1]. Beyond The Joke.</ref><ref>[2] Mustard Magazine</ref><ref>[3] WTF with Marc Maron, Episode 98 - Stewart Lee</ref> initially with broadcaster Andrew Collins on The Collings and Herrin Podcast and subsequently with high-profile comedians and celebrities such as Dawn French, Michael Palin and Stephen Fry on Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast. He has maintained a daily blog called Warming Up without a break since 25 November 2002.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His blog is archived by the British Library for purposes of UK documentary heritage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2024 he started publishing the blog (and other material) on Substack where he has 10000+ subscribers.

Early life

Herring was born on 12 July 1967 in Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire, and grew up in Cheddar, Somerset.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He is the youngest of three children.<ref name=fam>Template:Cite web</ref> He attended The Kings of Wessex School, where his father was the headmaster and maths teacher. This later formed the basis of his 2008 stand-up show, The Headmaster's Son. Herring’s mother was also a teacher.<ref name="fam" /> The 2007 ITV comedy drama You Can Choose Your Friends, which he wrote and also starred in, was based on his family.<ref name="fam" /> Some of the same characters later featured in the Radio 4 series "Relativity".

Herring was a student at St Catherine's College, Oxford, where he wrote and performed for a comedy troupe known as the Seven Raymonds as well as the Oxford Revue. He attained a 2:1 in History.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

Lee and Herring

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Between 1992 and 2000, Richard was half of the stand-up comedy double act with Stewart Lee. Their television work included Fist of Fun, Festival of Fun, and This Morning With Richard Not Judy, and they had been collaborating on stage and radio projects since the 1980s.

Lee and Herring wrote material for Chris Morris and Armando Iannucci's On the Hour in 1991 and the duo contributed to the creation of the character that was to be Alan Partridge.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1992 and 1993, they wrote and performed Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World for Radio 4. For Radio 1, they wrote and performed one series of Fist of Fun in 1993, remaking it for television in 1995 and 1996. They hosted a series on Radio 1 in 1994 and 1995, called Lee and Herring. A final television partnership with Lee, This Morning With Richard Not Judy, ran for 18 episodes over two series until being cancelled "as a result of BBC management reshuffles".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Solo work

File:Richard Herring.jpg
Richard Herring performing his show Someone Likes Yoghurt at The Pleasance Theatre, during the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Herring has written and performed in fourteen one-person shows, eleven of them in consecutive years. A Herring show typically starts with a run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, continues with an extensive UK tour and ends with a recorded performance for DVD.

For radio, Herring co-wrote and presented the history-based sketch show That Was Then, This Is Now. For television, he co-wrote Al Murray's sitcom Time Gentlemen Please. He also contributed to the third series of Little Britain as script editor.

In 2005, he presented a chat show called Heads Up with Richard Herring on the Pokerzone channel, in which he interviewed professional poker players and celebrities about their careers and their love of the game. There were 10 episodes in total.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Richard herring.jpg
Performing at the Kings Head pub in Crouch End, London

In February 2007, filming began on Herring's comedy drama You Can Choose Your Friends. As well as writing the script, he also acted alongside Gordon Kennedy, Claire Skinner, Rebecca Front, Sarah-Jane Potts, Robert Daws, Anton Rodgers and Julia McKenzie. The show was broadcast on ITV on 7 June 2007.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>

In January 2008 he began the Collings and Herrin (sic) podcast with Andrew Collins. They celebrated their second anniversary with a live "100th" podcast (it was actually the 105th recording) at the Leicester Square Theatre. On 30 January 2010 the pair began a tenure of sitting in for Adam and Joe on BBC Radio 6 Music on Saturdays mornings, a slot they occupied for more than a year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Herring's 2008 stand-up set The Headmaster's Son earned four 5-star reviews and several 4-star reviews.<ref>Richard Herring: The Headmaster’s Son. Metro.co.uk (5 August 2008). Retrieved on 24 May 2011.</ref><ref>Richard Herring: The Headmaster's Son' review : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide. Chortle. Retrieved on 24 May 2011.</ref><ref>The Six Wives of Timothy Leary | The SkinnyTemplate:Dead link. Festmag.co.uk (10 August 2008). Retrieved on 24 May 2011.</ref> The set covers his experience growing up in The Kings of Wessex School in Somerset where his father worked as headmaster and how this may have been the origin of his fondness for telling puerile jokes. The show was seen by critics as a thoughtful look at his upbringing,<ref name="britishtheatreguide.info" /> and his relationship with his father, to whom the show is dedicated.

Herring launched his show, Hitler Moustache in 2009 to see if he "could reclaim the toothbrush moustache for comedy – it was Chaplin's first, then Hitler ruined it."<ref name="guardian">Template:Cite news</ref> The show discusses broader issues, such as fascism and the British National Party.<ref name="gorman">Template:Cite web</ref> Herring and some of his contemporaries, including Dave Gorman, were angered when material from his show was misrepresented in a Guardian column by critic Brian Logan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="guardian" /><ref name="gorman" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 14 October 2010, his Radio 4 series Richard Herring's Objective was first broadcast. Here Herring attempts to reclaim controversial items, starting with the toothbrush moustache and moving onto the hoodie, Flag of England and Dolly the Sheep. An Edinburgh special about the See-you-Jimmy hat was broadcast in August 2011 and a second series was recorded in October 2011 with episodes about the golliwog, the wheelchair, Page 3 and the old school tie.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 27 December 2010, Herring finished second on Celebrity Mastermind with a final score of 34 points. His specialist subject was Rasputin.<ref>One Programmes – Celebrity Mastermind, 2010/2011, Episode 1, Richard Herring extended chat. BBC (21 December 2010). Retrieved on 24 May 2011.</ref> He was The Pod Delusion "Comedian of the Year 2010."<ref>Episode 65 – 27 December 2010 – New Years Special! » The Pod Delusion – A Podcast about Interesting Things Template:Webarchive. The Pod Delusion (28 December 2010). Retrieved on 24 May 2011.</ref>

In May 2011 it was announced that Fist of Fun would be released on DVD by Go Faster Stripe. The first series was released in December 2011<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the second in November 2012,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> winning 'Best DVD' at the 2013 Chortle Awards<ref name="comedy.co.uk" />

In August and September 2015, he performed all 11 of his previous one man shows, plus a new one, Happy Now?, at the Leicester Square Theatre over the course of six weekends in a season called "The Twelve Shows of Herring".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Happy Now? was taken on a 50-plus date UK tour between October 2015 and June 2016. His 2017 tour show was called Richard Herring — The Best. His 2017 Edinburgh Fringe show is called "Oh Frig, I'm 50!" This was taken on a UK tour in the Spring of 2018.

In 2020, Herring was a contestant on the tenth series of Taskmaster.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was the series' eventual winner. Herring later returned to compete against fellow winners Ed Gamble, Kerry Godliman, Liza Tarbuck and Lou Sanders for the second "Champion of Champions" special, which he also won.

In May 2024 he began a tour of a new stand up show, 'Can I Have My Ball Back?' based on his experience of testicular cancer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A second leg of the tour began on 31 January 2025.

Blogs, podcasts and internet

On 25 November 2002 Herring started his blog, Warming Up, as a way to overcome writer's block.<ref>"Comics Richard Herring and Marc Maron: The punk rockers of comedy", The Scotsman, 11 March 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2016.</ref> He has written an entry for every day, and has over 8,000 consecutive entries. His regular readership is estimated to be around 3,000. Some ideas recorded in Warming Up have been used in his live shows. The first year of his blog is collected in two books, Bye Bye Balham and The Box Lady and Other Pesticles. In the autumn of 2024 the blog also became available on Substack where he has over 10,000 subscribers.

On 12 October 2009, Herring recorded the first episode of As It Occurs To Me, a weekly radio-style stand-up and sketch show made for the Internet. It stars himself alongside Emma Kennedy, Dan Tetsell and Christian Reilly. It currently stands at 18 episodes and 5 bonus mini-episodes. It was nominated for best internet show at the 2010 Sony Awards, though it failed to place. On 7 February 2011, As It Occurs to Me won the first Chortle Internet award<ref>Victoria Wood honoured at Chortle Awards : News 2011 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide. Chortle. Retrieved on 24 May 2011.</ref> On 20 March 2012 he retained it.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, As It Occurs To Me returned as a six-episode web series.

In 2011, Herring began playing himself at snooker for an audio podcast called "Me1 vs Me2 Snooker". On 28 July 2016 he performed at the Tempting Failure extreme art festival<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2020 he started playing this with 32 personas on Twitch and appeared on Comedians: Home Alone on BBC2 in July with an edited frame of Me1 vs Me2.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2012, Herring recorded the first 16 episodes of the long-running Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast with guests including Tim Minchin, Herring's comedy partner Stewart Lee, Adam Buxton, David Mitchell and Armando Iannucci.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was nominated for a Sony Award for Best Comedy alongside a list of BBC produced comedy shows in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The show won the Bronze Award.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2013, Herring won the Chortle Award for the podcast, which again won the award in 2014.<ref name="comedy.co.uk">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>[4] Chortle. Retrieved on 29 March 2014.</ref> In May and June 2013 he recorded nine podcasts with guests including Stephen Fry, Russell Brand and Mary Beard.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His interview with Stephen Fry was covered by national and international news media including the BBC and Sky News when Fry revealed a recent suicide attempt.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The series continued with Harry Shearer, Eddie Izzard and David Cross.

On 17 November 2013, he recorded the first episode of a six-part internet stand-up, sketch and interview show Richard Herring's Meaning of Life, structured around the philosophical concepts of 'Creation', 'the Paranormal', 'Love', 'Death', 'Good & Evil' and 'the Shape of Things To Come',<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the episode being broadcast online between February 2014 and early 2015.

In February 2014, the first Richard Herring Show was broadcast on Fubar Radio.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Herring presented this with comedian Lou Sanders weekly, before quitting the show together; their final episode was broadcast on 24 May 2014.

On 8 March 2018, in aid of International Women’s Day, Herring raised over £150,000 for domestic abuse charity Refuge by responding to anyone on Twitter who asked when International Men's Day was (it is 19 November).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He did the same on 8 March 2019, raising almost £130,000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He repeated the exercise on 8 March 2020 and streamed himself responding to tweets live on Twitch. He raised a further £70,000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2020 he wrote a book about his experiences and toxic masculinity called The Problem With Men which was published on 5 November.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In March 2020 Herring started streaming regularly on Twitch as the world went into lockdown. He produced weekly remote episodes of his podcast, Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast, did a live feed of Stone Clearing most weekday mornings and played himself at snooker (with 32 personas) in the evening. He also did occasional non-director's commentaries for films, as well as a newspaper review with his 128-year-old ventriloquist dummy called Ally and Herring's Twitch of Fun.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In June 2023, Herring announced he would be touring Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast around the UK starting September 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Body of work

Stand up shows

Year Show Cycle
Edinburgh Tour DVD
1994 Richard Herring is Fat<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Yes
1995 Richard Herring is All Man<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Herring’s appearance at Edinburgh in 1995 was the backdrop for a short film by Martin Pickles. 'Fisted: the hunt for Richard Herring', 1996. This comedy is not really about Herring but his recent stardom with Stewart Lee forms the comic device. Pickles was at Oxford with Herring. G.M. Film The soundtrack by Evangelista is produced by band member and fellow comedian Al Murray.</ref> Template:Yes
2001 Christ on a Bike Template:Yes Template:Yes
2002/3 Talking Cock<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Yes Template:Yes
2004 The 12 Tasks of Hercules Terrace<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Yes Template:Yes Template:Yes
2005 Someone Likes Yoghurt<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Yes Template:Yes Template:Yes
2006 Ménage à un<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Yes Template:Yes Template:Yes
2007 Oh Fuck, I'm 40!<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Yes Template:Yes Template:Yes
2008 The Headmaster's Son<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Yes Template:Yes Template:Yes
2009 Hitler Moustache<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Yes Template:Yes Template:Yes
2010 Christ on a Bike: The Second Coming<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Yes Template:Yes Template:Yes
2011 What Is Love, Anyway?<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Yes Template:Yes Template:Yes
2012 Talking Cock: The Second Coming<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Yes Template:Yes Template:Yes
2013 We're All Going To Die!<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Yes Template:Yes Template:Yes
2014 Lord of the Dance Settee<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Yes Template:Yes Template:Yes
2015 Happy Now? Template:No Template:Yes Template:Yes
2016 Richard Herring: The Best Template:No Template:Yes Template:No
2017 Oh Frig, I'm 50!<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Yes Template:Yes Template:Yes
2024/5 Can I Have My Ball Back? Template:No Template:Yes Template:Yes

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Television

Title Released Channel DVD
Fist of Fun<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1995–96 BBC 2 Template:Yes
This Morning With Richard Not Judy<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1998–99 BBC 2 Template:No<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Time Gentlemen Please<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2000–02 Sky 1 Template:Yes
Heads Up with Richard Herring<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2005 Pokerzone
You Can Choose Your Friends<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2007 ITV
Have I Got News For You 2010-2011 (2 appearances) BBC One
Taskmaster<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2020 and 2022 C4

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Plays

Title Year
Ra Ra Rasputin<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1993
Punk's Not Dead<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1996
Excavating Rita<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1997
Playing Hide and Seek With Jesus<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1998
It's Not The End of the World<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1999
I Killed Rasputin<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2014

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Film

Title Year
The Battersea Ripper<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2006
Hard To Swallow (short) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2007
A Very British Cult (short) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2008
While You Were Away (short) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2016
Giddy Stratospheres<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2021
Real Love (Yes It's Real Love)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2022
Unnamed Jamie Adams Project 2023

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Radio

Title Released Station
On the Hour<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1991–92 Radio 4
Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1992–93 Radio 4/Radio 1
Fist of Fun<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1993 Radio 1
Lee and Herring 1994–95 Radio 1
That Was Then, This Is Now<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2004–08 Radio 2
Banter<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2005–08 Radio 4
Bad Habits 2008 Radio 4
Collins and Herring<ref name="bbc.co.uk">Template:Cite web</ref> 2010-11 6Music
Richard Herring's Objective<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2010-11 Radio 4
Bad Language<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2013 Radio Scotland
The Richard Herring Show<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2014 Fubar Radio
Relativity<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2017-22 Radio 4

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Podcasts/vodcasts

Title Released Audio/Video
Collings and Herrin<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2008–11 Audio
As It Occurs To Me<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2009–11 Audio
Collins and Herring<ref name="bbc.co.uk" /> 2010–11 Audio
Warming Up 2011–15 Audio
Richard Herring's Edinburgh Fringe Podcast<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2011–13, 2017, 2019 Audio
Me1 vs Me2 Snooker with Richard Herring<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2011–present Audio
Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2012–present Audio/Video
Talking Cock<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2013 Audio
We're All Going to Die! 2013 Audio
Richard Herring's Meaning of Life 2014 Audio/Video
Lord of the Dance Settee 2015 Audio
The Twelve Shows of Richard Herring 2015 Audio
AIOTM Audio extra 2016–17 Audio
As It Occurs To Me (six-part web series) 2017 Video
Stone Clearing With Richard Herring 2018–present Audio
Twitch channel rkherring 2020–present Video
Ally and Herring's Twitch of Fun 2020–present Audio/Video
RHLSTP Book Club 2022–present Audio/Video
Can I Have My Ball Back? 2023 Audio

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Miscellaneous home media

Title Format Year
Lee and Herring's Fist of Fun CD/Tape 1995
Lee and Herring Live VHS 1996
Michel Leeb – Qu'est-ce que Sexe? (Talking Cock performed in French) DVD 2004
On The Hour CD 2008
Collings and Herrin: The Best of Earth Wind and Fire * *(and water) CD 2010
As It Occurs To Me: Secret Stand Up CD 2010
Collings and Herrin: War and Peace, Crime and Punishment CD 2010
As It Occurs To Me: The Complete Cumpkin CD 2011
10 DVD 2013

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Books

Title Publisher ISBN Year
Fist of Fun (With Stewart Lee) BBC Books Template:ISBN; Template:ISBN 1995
Talking Cock Ebury Template:ISBN 2003 (reprinted 2012)
Warming Up Volume I: Bye Bye Balham Go Faster Stripe Template:ISBN 2008
How Not To Grow Up Ebury Template:ISBN Template:ISBN 2010
Warming Up Volume II: The Box Lady and Other Pesticles Go Faster Stripe 2012
Emergency Questions Go Faster Stripe 2017
Christmas Emergency Questions Go Faster Stripe 2017
Emergency Questions: 1001 conversation-savers for any situation Sphere Template:ISBN Template:ISBN 2018
The Problem With Men Sphere Template:ISBN Template:ISBN 2020
A Guide to Ye Ancient Fcience of Ftone Clearing Sky Potato 2020
Punani Self-Playing Snooker Sticker Album Sky Potato 2020
Would You Rather? Sphere Template:ISBN Template:ISBN 2021
Can I Have My Ball Back? Sphere 2022

Other writing

Awards and recognition

Personal life

Herring was formerly in a relationship with the actress Julia Sawalha,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> some years after joking on Fist of Fun that "My ideal woman has the head of Julia Sawalha and the body of Julia Sawalha."

Before Sawalha he dated the actress Catherine Shepherd as revealed by Sally Phillips in 2022 on Herring's RHLSTP 409 podcast.<ref><https://shows.acast.com/rhlstp/episodes/rhlstp-409-sally-phillips</ref>

He also dated Kelly Marcel<ref>Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> and Sally Phillips.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In April 2012, Herring married author and comedian Catie Wilkins.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They had their first child, a daughter, in February 2015, followed by a son in October 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Herring has raised money for Scope since 2003, and ran the London Marathon in aid of the charity in 2004<ref>Richard Herring Template:Webarchive. JustGiving. Retrieved on 24 May 2011.</ref><ref>Flora London Marathon – Richard Herring Runs The Marathon Template:Webarchive. Original.justgiving.com. Retrieved on 24 May 2011.</ref> as well as the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon in 2011, 2013 and 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In January 2011 he was nominated for a Just Giving Life Time Achievement Award for his extensive work in helping to raise money, awareness and support for Scope.<ref>JustGiving Awards 2011 – donate to charity and raise funds online – Raise money for charity online Template:Webarchive. Justgivingawards.com (10 February 2011). Retrieved on 24 May 2011.</ref> In 2012 he was made a Patron of Scope.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2010 he was made a patron of Humanists UK (formerly The British Humanist Association)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and said: Template:Cquote

In February 2021 he had an orchidectomy to remove a cancerous testicle, undergoing one shot of chemotherapy a month later.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In November 2021 he ran the Hertfordshire Half Marathon and raised £30,000 for the hospitals that treated his condition.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His book about the experience Can I Have My Ball Back? was published in October 2022. In April 2022 it was announced that Herring had become an Ambassador for Movember.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Collections

The University of Kent holds material relating to Herring's career as part of the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> The Richard Herring Collection contains performance scripts, promotional items, published material, and digital documents and scans.<ref name=":0" />

See also

References

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