TV comedy icon admits he’s ‘utterly exhausted’ and can no longer sell out shows as he begs fans to buy tickets for tour
TV comedian Richard K Herring has revealed that he’s struggling to sell out shows – as he begged fans to buy tickets for his tour.
The stand-up comic, 57, admitted he’d found it tough to get a packed audience over the last few years.
Richard took to social media to issue a plea, writing: “Don’t know where my London RHLSTP audience has gone, but thought tonight would be a sell-out.
“I am talking to Edinburgh comedy award winner Amy Gledhill and the legendary Chesney Hawkes! Last one of 2024. Use it or lose it London.”
He then responded to a number of fans on the same post.
One fan wrote: “t’s so strange. It must be something to do with people working from home? Or a change in the after-work drink culture?”
Richard shared his thoughts, saying: “People still coming out if it’s a HUGE name (though I thought I had that in most of the shows this run) – pre Covid we’d sell half the tickets for every show, but post it’s been harder. And yes Monday nights are trickier but Tuesday didn’t work either.
“Might need to rethink the way we do them (or if we carry on doing them), but the audience is such an important part of this show. Had a very good run of it, so maybe it’s coming to an end (though the recent shows have been great I think). More in 2025.”
While another fans suggested more celebrity guests could be the way forward.
But Richard explained: “I don’t think it would make any difference to audience numbers for me sadly.
“I love getting big names on, obviously, but what I’ve always liked about this podcast is that it introduces newer people too.
“It’d be nice to get the crowds in regardless, but totally understand the reasons why not. I think change of management at Twitter screwed things too.”
Richard admitted that he was weighing up his options for the long-term – with a possibility that he might have to stop altogether.
“Lots of options. Stopping all together is just one of them. But could go no audience for a bit. I could interview people who aren’t available on specific Monday nights. It’s been a long old ride though. Half of me wants to do it til I die and half wants to try something new,” he wrote.
“It’s not really a show that you can do for too many days in a row. The tour of it was utterly exhausting (and the stand up tour, though with more dates was not).
“I am researching all day and then improvising for 2 hours +. So three days in one place is a bit much.
“Having said that I am considering a 10-12 day run at the Edinburgh Fringe next year.”
Fans can still get their hands on tickets for Richard’s Leicester Square theatre podcast tour, with four dates running from February to April.