WithWOW What’s On WalesOnline
Was it tricky recording the new series of your BBC Radio 4 comedy Relativity?
IT’S on the radio at the moment actually. I’ve been listening to myself in the bath.
We recorded it in January with Alison Steadman, Phil Davis and the rest of the cast, so luckily we had it in the can before the pandemic came along in March and April.
I suppose it would have been just about possible to record it with us apart but we didn’t have to. I do draw on my own family while writing the series [the show focuses on the relationships between four generations of the same family]. I have two kids now, five and two years old.
I’ve been sort of lucky that lockdown has not been a massive hardship. I live in the countryside in Hertfordshire and there are lots of walks around, but it’s been difficult getting work done and writing in lockdown. The five-year-old sort of understands, but not the youngest, although we’ve all become a lot closer spending so much time together.
What are the work arrangements? MY wife [comedian Catie Wilkins] and I have tried different things – one writing in the morning and one in the afternoon, or on different days, but it’s never optimum.
My wife was in one room the other day talking to Ricki Lake in America and I was talking in another room to American comedian Bill Burr for my podcast. (Laughs) It was all very international.
You were one of the first to see the potential of podcasts and have interviewed many big names for your awardwinning Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre podcast. What have been stand-out moments?
IT must be up to four or five hundred interviews by now. You learn every day how to do it better.
It’s a positive thing. I play a cheeky version of myself and get to pick the guest and mess about with fantastic people in comedy. Getting Michael Palin was like a dream come true for me. I cannot remember anything about it, but the fact that he came on and made nice comments about me and enjoyed himself was wonderful.
I also had James Acaster and Richard Osman on recently.
What revelations have come out during interviews?
THE big one was Stephen Fry. He was relaxed and happy and very funny and then I asked one innocuous question, which had come from the director’s son, which was ‘What’s it like being Stephen Fry?’ and he started talking about a recent suicide attempt.
He was trusting the audience and me and felt comfortable talking about it. Sometimes with the podcast, I take the leap and think ‘will it work?’
With Stephen Merchant it didn’t. [Richard prodded Merchant over his relationship with Ricky Gervais, who has gone on to massive success in the US. Merchant suggested Richard was trying to get him to bad mouth his former comedy writing partner.]
It was a misunderstanding and I felt a bit bad afterwards, but the interviews are an absolute pleasure to do.
You get to speak to brilliant people who you like
A LOT of the time we have never met before but the chemistry is there nearly all the time and they get the freedom to say what they want.
It’s just two people talking. It’s not 10 minutes edited for TV. There is time to tell a story and that is what I wanted. I research a day or two beforehand but, of course, we’re doing them at the moment without an audience in the theatre.
What else has been keeping you busy? I WORK from home anyway, but there is something very stupefying and stressful about doing it full-time. It does come together in the end, but it takes a real effort.
I’ve just written a book called The Problem With Men: When Is It International Men’s Day (and why it matters). That comes out in November and is available now on pre-sale. It’s something I’ve talked about on Twitter for almost a decade and I thought I’ve really got to do it.
What are you looking forward to? A FEW more evenings in with my wife and a little bit of wine.
We recorded it [Relativity] in January with Alison Steadman, Phil Davis and the rest of the cast, so luckily we had it in the can before the pandemic came along...
■ The new series of Relativity airs on Fridays at 11.30am on BBC Radio 4 and is available to listen to on catch up for 30 days after transmission on BBC Sounds. Go to richardherring.com for details.