During the early stages of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown periods of 2020 and early 2021; when the world was forced into a hiatus and the only establishments open were supermarkets and late night pharmacists; artists, performers and entertainers had to find a new way of reaching their fans.

With comedy clubs and theatres closed, and people confined to their homes; if they couldnt bring the audience to them, the performers needed to get to their audience.

And one man had seemingly been preparing for this moment for a decade or more. You may know him best as Mike the Postie in Time Gentleman Please…we simply know him as the King of Lockdown – Richard Herring.

During the late 80’s and 90’s Richard worked as part of a double act with Stuart Lee, writing and perfoming their own work as well as writing on shows such as On The Hour for Chris Morris and Armando Iannucci.

As, reputably, the creator of Alan Partidge, it would have been easy for him to live off the Partridge royalties, but, no. Richard Herring would not be stopped on his journey to become “one of the leading hidden masters of British comedy”.

The Lee and Herring double act saw their Fist of Fun radio show transfer to the TV in 1995, with This Morning with Richard not Judy following the second series of Fist of Fun.

TMWRNJ was shown at Sunday lunchtime, and many would say this was unusual for the type of show that it was. Richards sense of the subversive, stretching the limits of what is acceptable, particualrly on a Sunday was ideal for hangover recovery.

Richard has written for film and TV, including the Pub Landlord sitcom Time Gentleman Please with Al Murray (in which the first appearance of Mike the Postie was made). He has written books, a daily blog which has been running since 2002 and a plethora of stand up shows that have toured after successful Edinburgh Festival runs.

Not being content with being the King of Edinburgh, Richard still wanted to push the boundaries and no matter how successful Alan Partridge had become the Herring machine continued on its path to revolutionise comedy.

As the “pioneer of comedy podcasting” Richard found a new forum to reach his fans, old and new. The Collings and Herrin podcast ran for more than 167 episodes with Andrew Collins and Richard taking a “sideways look” at the news of the day. Again, Richard liked to push the boundaries and podcasting gave him the opportunity to do so with more freedom and “Podcast Ricard Herring” was born.

The award winning sketch show As it Occurs to Me first hit the internet in 2009 and then the podcasting behemoth that is the Richard Herring Leicester Square Theatre Podcast followed in 2012.

The RHLSTP podcast can boast over 340 episodes, as well as many more recorded at the Edinburg Festival, with the podcast being taken on the road before the pandemic of 2020 struck. With a wide range of guests from the world of comedy, TV and film, the podcast format gives Richard the opportunity to chat with his guests not only about their life and career but explore more surreal topics with his Emergency Questions.

Emergency questions are often varied but fan favourites include; Would you prefer a hand made of ham, or an armpit that dispensed suncream? Would you rather have a tit that dispensed talcum powder or a finger that can travel through time? And, of course, the ultimate RHLSTP emergency question – Have you ever tried to suck your own cock?

Richards interview technique is a mix of playful juvenility and a sense of mischievousness, often toying with his guests rather than fawning over them, a trait in so many mainstream interviewers. Many of his friends and colleagues from the comedy world are happy to appear with many of them making multiple appearances. One notable guest that hasn’t returned is Stephen Merchant, maybe one of the only guests who found the teasing a little unwarranted.

When the first lockdown was imposed in March 2020, the last live theatre recording was with Michael Palin, as one of Richards heroes it was a huge relief to manage to get that one in before plans had to change. But, it was during the lockdown that Richard came into his own.

The RHLSTP podcast was already a big hit, and those contributing as ‘badgers’ had access to behind the scenes footage via the website – www.rhlstp.co.uk. The ongoing snooker match between Me1 and Me2 also continued, and the Stone Clearing Podcast following Richards removal of stones from fields during his daily dog walks all provided access to the Herring machine.

Richard was not content with this though and soon found a way to bring the RHLSTP experience into the homes of the fans in need of entertainment whilst stuck at home. Twitch provided the opportunity to livestream interviews, snooker matches and stone clearing into our homes.

It was innovative way of reaching out to the fans, and like with all of the previous podcasts Richard did not ask for a payment or subscription fee. People were reminded of the ‘Badger’ system, of course. And Amazon Prime members were encouraged to take advantage of the free monthly Twitch subscription that was available to them. But, all fans had access to the new interviews being streamed live online and then subsequently released as podcasts.

The lockdowns due to the pandemic affected people in many different ways and we all needed to find coping mechanisms to help our financial situation and, as importantly, our mental health. And Richard Herrings work throughout helped to fill a gap in our lives, also encouraging other permormers and artists to do the same. Facebook live videos from comics and bands, theatre performers streamed online, new podcasts – pretty soon it was clear that the ‘pioneer of British comedy podcasting’ had started a movement.

With things returning back to normality the live shows will be able to resume and an exciting guestlist has been released including Bob Mortimer, Katherine Ryan, Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish, Tim Key and Barry Cryer. These shows will also be available to livestream, although these will be pay-per-view through the Go Faster Stripe box office – http://www.gfsboxoffice.com.

For performers, the lockdown meant that many couldn’t work, couldn’t tour and had no way of earning money. They had to find those new routes to their audience and Richard Herring led the way as he has done for many years. A far as entertainment goes – Richard Herring was certainly the King of Lockdown.

We will be posting links to our favourite eipsodes of RHLSTP and would love to hear from you with your favourites too. Please comment below or contact us via email at hackpost@ordinaryhorse.com.