Thanks for meeting us for the interview.
You have a book out.
A book calledHow Not To Grow Up.
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You know all about it.
I dont need to be here.
Ive been reading the book and I think its fantastic.
How did it come to be that youre writing a book?
It had been quite a turbulent year for me.
I realised in the course of that show that there was this idea of kidults.
Its in the book, really.
I decided to push myself and work a bit harder.
So I came up with some book ideas and there were various different ones.
Well, I got three months in.
There was also the idea of doing a book about theFortyshow.
And Jake liked the idea and he pointed out elements of the blog.
Not having to be like our parents.
So, he said that was the book.
I agreed to it and thought lets see how it goes.
I wanted to do it more honestly.
I wanted to write a bit more truthfully.
Were they things that you left out of the book even?
There are things that I left out, because theres only so much you might write about.
You always go for the more comic thing.
If anything, I was probably having a bit more sex than I talk about in this book.
But I dont think its as interesting to talk about successes as it is about failures.
Its fairly honest about everything.
This is how I became really fantastic and successful.
So, I think that people can openly relate to that.
I think that there were lots of funny things.
That was one of those routines where I thought can I do this?
Im interested in being as truthful as possible.
It was a very difficult and sad time and I wanted to get that across and write about that.
No, its not.
Its quite interesting, Steve Martins, its a very short book.
A lot of comedians really like it.
I quite liked it but he really glossed over a lot.
I would have liked some more details.
I just dont see the point in doing that.
Hes good at what he does, obviously.
Did you not get his DVD every single year its been released?
I think Ive got one of his DVDs somewhere.
Ive never watched it.
People keep giving me his stuff.
But I think hes a fascinating character.
Hes told a story, made it funny on stage, and its become the truth.
In fact, it isnt that at all.
In both senses of the words punch line.
I think if you wrote a very serious book about that time it would be too much to bear.
They obviously havent read Zoo magazine.
And anyone who is a womaniser, I mean, the term womaniser is a pejorative term.
As I also have in some of my previous work.
Im fascinated by the difference married girl/single girl, married person/single person.
So, people pay for the book.
They get the podcast for free.
And youve been doing the podcast for quite a long time now.
And theres 10As It Occurs To Mewith another series coming up soon.
A bit too soon.
At least you dont have to plan for it.
That would ruin it!
And, obviously, I blog, which Ive done for seven-and-a-half years, which is free.
I found it very hard around the year and two year mark.
Ill just see what comes up.
Im now aware that Im three-quarters of the way to 10 years.
Maybe that will be enough of it.
There are times where youve had enough of it and you want to give up.
I think also, with the book, I just realised what a massively vital tool it is.
If youre a fan of the blog you will recognise bits and chunks of the book.
When I went to read the blog back, Id even forgotten it happening.
I wouldnt have remembered 80% of the things I have.
I had so much material and I was writing 12,000 words a day.
There was a week where I pretty much put most of it together.
It was incredibly useful and I think once youve realised that…
I think people mostly get it.
I tried out two or three little ideas.
I think a lot of people like hearing the progression.
The idea ofHitler Moustachealmost did come up in a podcast, I think.
Those ones are the rough ones.
I think it does.
Ive always been very open about that.
The blog gives a very open… it shows what its like to be a comedian in the 2000s.
In the first decade of the 21st century thats what its like to be a working comedian.
So, thats quite an interesting record for anyone to look back at.
People do enjoy the soap opera of it and the pay off of it.
So, hopefully, it doesnt put too many people off.
I dont get too many complaints about it.
And I was doingAs it Occurs To Meand the podcast and not really doubling up on material.
Im writing the blog.
I think youve got to accept that Im producing quite a lot of stuff.
I mean, in the last few years Ive produced a lot of stuff.
You did mentionHitler Moustacheearlier, which I wanted to ask you about.
It seemed that with this show you had something that you wanted to achieve.
Do you feel like it was a success, that you had some success with it?
I think it was a successful show and I think it definitely worked.
It feels like a very complete show and it had a point.
Theres always a serious point behind everything I do, even if its quite hidden.
But I hadnt anticipated it turning into quite such a political show as it was.
Events turned it into what it was.
But I think that if its getting people talking and getting people interested then…
I really enjoyed it.
It was after I saw that show that I came up and spoke to you.
I dont know if you read…
I did read it.
To be honest, it does happen all the time and Ive been in that position.
It happens a lot and so you get used to it.
Very nice and giving in return.
You learn to do that.
Its a nice thing to have people like you that much that theyre confused when they meet you.
Its confusing for me because I dont think of myself in that way.
And I am quite good at that generally, but your brain goes to jelly.
And hey, I dont remember that particular incident.
So, it doesnt really matter, and you bought my DVD.
I have them all.
I cant remember either, so it’s possible for you to bluff your way through here.
The Sky aspect didnt bother me at all.
I earned a lot of money from doing it.
I basically wrote an American-style sitcom, pretty much on my own.
The series was 22 episodes and I wrote, I would say, 80% of it.
It was incredibly difficult.
When I see them now I think the writing is very tight.
Im surprised at how much they let us do.
Its incredibly full of swearing and some quite unpleasant ideas, but I really like that broadness to it.
And I think it would.
I think its a really brilliant satire of that attitude.
Thats the character, rather than the scripts.
Nearly everything that I like now I hated the first time I saw it.
I think it just takes a little while.
I hatedThe Officethe first time I saw it.
Its a blur to me, the whole thing.
In terms of my career, I think it was a good thing and a bad thing.
I earned a lot of money, just because I did about six years work in two years.
It was six years of well payed work that I had done in two years.
So, I had money left for the first time in my life.
But, in a way, Id burnt myself by doing it.
Where am I going to go and what am I going to do?
I mean, even comedy fans werent liking it, and that was very disappointing to me.
We got no recognition at all, apart from Sky giving us a second series, which was nice.
I did plenty of work in that time.
I didChrist On A BikeandTalking Cockand there was stuff going on.
But it put the brakes on in a lot of ways, I think.
I think thatTime Gentlemen Pleaseis in the same ballpark as that.
Sort ofCheerscrossed with aCarry Onfilm.
Is that the right way for your career to go?
So, Ive actually got this freedom and autonomy that a lot of successful comedians dont have.
I had a lot of money and you kind of think, Whats the point in working this hard?
Whats the point in going round clubs for 20 or writing?
And I realised, I guess through all of this, that creating the work was more important.
People could listen to it, and, if its good, more people will listen to it.
So, theres this incredible freedom now where you are released from the broadcasters.
I am doing Edinburgh.As It Occurs To Mestarts up in a week, more or less.
Im doingChrist On A Bikeagain in Edinburgh, which is the show I did in 2001.
Im gonna have another look at it and probably rewrite it.
It was my first ever solo show and it was my favourite show and its not on DVD.
Again, I dont think it got the credit it deserved.
His two main interests are covered in that.
I want to have another crack at it.
Its got my favourite ever routine that I did.
Im doing more podcasts with Andrew in Edinburgh.
So, there are lots of things coming in.
I want to get to writing more plays.
Id love to be writing drama for TV.
So, just more of the same and well see what happens.
Richard Herring, thank you very much for your time!
