As noted here earlier this week, comedian Richard Herring (@herring1967) objected to Monday’s Guardian G2 feature on offensive comedy. Herring felt that quotes and examples from his shows were used out of context, giving the impression that he was a racist. He used his personal blog and Twitter account to air his frustration while others (including fellow comedians) used their own platforms to express surprise at the article. Other supportive blog posts sprang up, and tweets quickly flew round, condemning the original Guardian article. Following his complaint, the Guardian gave Herring, and Australian comedian, Brendan Burns, the chance to respond in print in today’s G2. Find them at these links:
- “There is no New Offenders movement: We don’t have a clubhouse. Standup comedian Brendon Burns responds to Guardian critic Brian Logan’s attack on ‘the new offensiveness’.”
- “There isn’t a ‘New Offensiveness’: Standup comedian Richard Herring defends his ‘Hitler Moustache’ act after comments made by Guardian critic Brian Logan.”
Richard Herring’s latest blog post can be found here; an interesting account of writing the article, and the searching questions he asked himself about the whole thing.
Response to the response: Journalist Brian Logan offers his explanation here, and this article has the comments open…