CAN I HAVE MY BALL BACK? IS FUNNY, HUMBLING AND A LITTLE MAD!

By Ruth Thompson | @ruth.thompson_ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Press Invite

As audiences wait to watch Richard Herring and his first stand up show, Can I Have my Ball Back?, after a 6 year break, they are treated to every song imaginable that has reference to the male anatomic part that the show is dedicated to. Drinking beer as someone sings about having balls in their mouth is certainly a interesting way to start the show and definitely sets the tone!

The show at Leicester Square Theatre opened with Herring talking about his family and his strange relationship with his daughter who calls him by his first name explaining he’s not quite sure she’s ever called him ‘Daddy’. Using the screen behind him he pulls up funny drawings she’s created of him showing him in peril, think eaten by a crocodile whilst also falling into lava. This relationship with his family and kids is the backdrop as he details his experience being diagnosed with testicular cancer in lockdown.

IT’S WONDERFUL TO SEE SOMEONE IN THE PUBLIC EYE TALKING SO OPENLY ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE AND EXPLAIN THE PROCESS

Apart from a slightly questionable puppet segment three quarters of the way through the show, the routine is heart-warming, funny, humbling and very eye opening. He explained the signs that made him to the doctor, detailing that he put it off as so many do and reminding the audience it’s best to go early and that they’re nothing to worry about. The audiences is silent as Richard Herring explains what he was thinking when he thought he might die, the things he worried about and his need to try to make perfect memories with his family in case he wasn’t going to be able to in the future. All of course interspersed with jokes about the explain the nurses, doctors, and procedures, and the man his wife would surely marry when he was gone. Unhappy that this man would inevitably drink the whisky collection he was saving for a special occasion!

Fortunately, Herring had an orchiectomy (removal of a testicle) and survived to tell the tale. It’s wonderful to see someone in the public eye talking so openly about his experience and explain the process, praising the NHS for their help in his treatment and recovery. Although expressed in a funny way it definitely felt that there was a positive serious tone within the theatre, a reminder that Herring is one of the lucky ones and that getting checked as soon as possible is as important as ever. The show had QR codes to gain more information about testicular cancer and areas to donate to charities for men’s health. As a woman watching it was wonderful to have my eyes opened further to the issue and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Although I was laughing nearly all the way through the show, I did actually learn a lot of interesting facts. Facts such as if you were to remove a testicle from one man and insert it into another it would only ever produce the DNA of the original owner. Not a very practical thing to know but fascinating, nonetheless. Silly facts and jokes like this cleverly woven throughout the show keep the audience laughing and clapping proving that Richard Herring is a natural on stage. Everyone should think about watching the show, it’s a heavy topic that he’s managed to make incredibly light at times and it’s a truly important conversation to be had!

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Photographer: Ellis O’Brien | Copyright: Avalon