Looking for an image? try our Online Photo Library | Text version | May 17, 2012

Richard Herring’s comedy show prompts protests

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Church groups are planning to protest outside theatres hosting a ”blasphemous” comedy show.

Richard Herring's comedy show prompts protests

Comedian Richard Herring, 43, is currently touring Britain with his stand-up show Christ On a Bike – The Second Coming.

But Christians living in the town of Lowestoft, Suffolk, have slammed the show as ”blasphemous” and ”vulgar” for its portrayal of biblical characters.

Several groups are now planning to picket local theatres hosting the stand-up gig in protest against its content.

The Reverend Kyle Paisley, from Oulton Broad Presbyterian Church, Suffolk, has slammed Herring’s humour as ”infantile”.

He said: ”When I looked at the flyer, I marked three things – the vulgarity, the blasphemy and the downright dishonesty of the man.

”We’re just using our right as Christians to say how we feel.

”It’s infantile. The continual reference to sexual things makes it manifest that Richard Herring hasn’t got out of puberty yet.”

Church youth worker Matthew Pickhaver added: ”We plan to peacefully stand outside the theatre and give out a simple tract about the real Jesus.”

Herring first toured with his show Christ On A Bike in 2001 and will be performing at Lowestoft’s Marina Theatre on 28 April this year.

The comedian describes his stand-up routine as a humorous look at Jesus ”combining childlike guile with rigorous academic research”.

Writing on his blog the Herring has hit back at his critics by describing them as ”backward”.

He wrote: ”Some of the more backward people of East Anglia (and imagine how backward that must make them) are planning on protesting, which is probably great news, as that is the one that is selling about the worst so far.”

Herring is no stranger to controversy and grew a Hitler-style moustache for his last stand-up tour in 2009.

He is famous for writing Al Murray’s TV breakthrough series Pub Landlord, Time Gentlemen Please.

Adrian Hearn

Twitter: @swns

Related tags.

Discussion

  • Boook

    how can he get away with it? he could never do that to muslims, could he? its blasphemous and vulgar, just as described.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_HQDSAJUUEZWFYZHY6EOKEEYSWA gunbroker

    as boook says, he could never do that to Muslims….true…but regardless of that little irritating point of our politically correct society….this is not blasphemous.

    it would be in Islam of course, but in Christianity, blaspemous is strictly related to accusing Christ and or the Holy Spirit of operating under the power of Satan.

    so while this may be infuriating, it’s not blasphemy.

    and to all you Christians out there who think it is horrid….especially you ministers….perhaps you should take a close look at the unbiblical crap you preach like “Jesus died for the sins of every human being” …. or “Doing good deeds will get me to heaven” before you bitch about “christ on a bike” which is just about as ridiculous.

    as God stated in the bible….Judgement begins in the church….so you might want to pay attention to what’s going on in the house of the lord, before you get your knickers in a twist over some silly twat on a bicycle.

blog comments powered by Disqus

Related Stories

Yes, Minister: Liam Fox photographed with porn star Cathy Barry

Firefighters become YouTube hit with Sugababes cover

Ronaldo: fans are jealous of my looks

Carpenter builds mobile sauna

Cheeky sheep charge into Boots ‘farmacy’

Self-taught painter becomes leading marine artist

Horse racing fan proposes to his girlfriend on live TV

Father-of-two keeps the streets safe – dressed as a ninja

Wannabe superheroes guard streets of English town

Lovesick seal jumps over metal fence

Duckling stays alive thanks to a MIRROR

Workmen resurface road around parked car

Fat cat Cilla Black loses half of her body weight

Secret nuclear plant snapped by Google Street View

Euromillions winners from Largs, Scotland, celebrate £161m win

DJ spends 24 hours on a log flume

Octonauts product launch brought forward following huge demand

JK Rowling’s childhood home for sale

Newlyweds dedicate wedding ceremony to Marmite

Batman stuntman plunges through house roof

Contact us about this story
(We try to reply to all your e-mails within 48 hours). You can also register with us to recieve updates.

Popular

Powered by Disqus