Review of Richard Herring's 2001 One Man Show, "Christ On A Bike"

Description:

This year Richard Herring realised that he was the same age of Jesus when he died.
But has he acheived as much as the supposed Messiah?
Some would argue not. But one man dares argue otherwise. The fact that that man is Herring himself should not be allowed to cloud the issue. During the hour, Herring will attempt to recreate - and top - some of Jesus's most famous miracles, including turning water into wine, curing a range of maladies (this may cost extra) and feeding the entire audience with one deep fried Mars bar.

Review:

Richard Herring's had a busy year - churning out an unprecedented number of scripts for Al Murray's enjoyable Sky One sitcom. Yet somehow he's still found time to write this top-notch solo show, in which he compares his life to that of Jesus, humbly hinting that he may be the next true messiah.
It's an excuse, of course, to debunk religion - a theme that will already be familiar to Herring's fans, and done in typically droll yet naive style.
But it's a rich vein to mine, and certainly produces a steady stream of brilliant comedy nuggets as the Somerset misfit justifies his own inadequacies by drawing parallels to the life of Jesus. The tight show's a textbook example of how to structure a monologue, with recurring themes and joke callbacks incongruously incorporated into the bright narrative.
And anyone who can get seven fantastic minutes of hilarious material out of just one incomprehensible page of the Bible - including an impressive, verbatim learning of the opaque text - must be touched by the comedy God, at least It's a hugely enjoyable rant - although ultimately revealing very little - underlining Herring's place as one of the finest comedy writers around.

Reviewed by Steve Bennett