Dont get me wrong, I love tennis. The sound of willow against club, the social niceties (I understand this year theyre putting vinegar in the Pimms to prevent streaking) and best of all Cliff Fucking Richard, but sometimes other things are more important, like videoing the re-shot pre-title sequence to a comedy series watched only by about one million people, most of whom, judging by the duty logs, are confused Christians and citrophobic children. Basically. if I cant get This Morning with Richard not Judy taped Ill go nuts. And now, thanks to the ever diminishing sports coverage, Im left Renton-like screaming at the television. (Just one more fucking hit!)
Strangely, this tortuous cold turkey does not seem all that rare for Lee and Herring. They have acquired, over about six years, a solid base of ardent fans, fans that, like another body of fans in particular, tend towards being creative obsessives. So whats so special about their shows that propagates this kind of interest?
Lee and Herring focus on obsession and mediocrity; they are fascinated by fanaticism, realising how stupid that fanaticism is.
Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of the Lee and Herring oeuvre is the fact that they explore the fickle and, to us sad few, familiar boundary between performer and audience. The show borrows the format of morning TV, which in itself aims to extend the viewers living room into tellyland. These arent TV hosts, theyre the smart couple from next door whove popped round to tell you what to do about vaginal dryness whilst holding an impromptu fashion show for kids (and they said Queer as Folk corrupts). This is my friend Suzanne, who lost her husband to a bizarre mutant flesh eating virus....
The front row of the TMWRNJ audience sit on sofas, completing the circle in the studio that is being described within the TV viewers homes, tying together the two audiences. Stand up relies heavily on a relationship with the audience and ultimately a comedian is judged by how much the audience laughs. The comedian must assess the audience and his adapt his material accordingly. This cannot happen directly with the entire audience of a television program, and the studio audiences are often misrepresentative (I mean, they found an audience to laugh at Russ Abbott for heavens sake), yet Lee and Herring manage to maintain a clear concept of who their fans are, and what they expect and want.
This is largely due to the interaction they encourage in their fans, from the gallery and biggest fuck competitions of Fist of Fun, to the cress ads and King (or Queen) of the show element of TMWRNJ. With the inclusion of a website, chat page, message board and mailing list, and a freely available e-mail address for the duo, they are very easy to get in touch with, and most who meet them have found them to be very approachable and normal. It seems like they have reversed a trend. Instead of being friends that make you laugh down the pub and are often told they should do stand-up, they are comedians you could easily imagine propping up a bar with your mates. I think its nice to make people feel involved, says Herring of the fans input, and its important not to become a fool who regards yourself as different to anyone else.
This is clearly no empty statement. Two of the people behind the scenes, Champniss the cartoonist and Sedgebeer the web master, are both fans of the series, and now work with them to varying degrees. We used Champniss because he was the only person who ever understood what the Organ Gang should look like and because hes very talented. Rob [Sedgebeer] asked to do a website of us and did such a great job we were delighted to expand it further and continue working with him. It wasnt cos they were fans, but because they were good, ditto all the people we work with (understanding where were coming from is a big part of it).
The pair are willing to take ideas, quality allowing, on board from their fan base, something that most performers would be too proud to do. Drama especially shies away from such collaberation, and most comedians end up being somewhat overblown, regarding themselves as above all that. But with Lee and Herring the possibility for interaction is there. The Nostradamus wont win the barbecue prediction, which led to a freakish temporal paradox, and equally freakish Star Trek parody, was a suggestion from a viewer, and the recent re-emergence of hobby king Simon Quinlank was in part due to the hard core fans eagerness to see the sociopath return. Of the website community Herring says its interesting to see how things are going down and that can affect what we continue with and what we drop, but its only ever going to be one of many factors.
So obviously there is a line, albeit a fuzzy one. There have been gigs where the audience input has been a strain for the duo, and is no doubt in some way due to their perceived approachability. Also they seem to have attracted a peculiarly young fan base, who is perhaps not always able to distinguish between good heckling and bad heckling. But judging by the studio audiences they do seem to be growing up. Were surprised young people like it so much as many of the references are for people of our generation, Herring says. Also teenagers are amongst the cleverest people (as they are still studying) and the first to like new things. We are delighted anyone likes our stuff.
Ultimately Lee and Herring focus on obsession and mediocrity; they are fascinated by fanaticism, realising how stupid that fanaticism is. Our fans seem to have an ironic understanding of the ridiculousness of being a fan. We are both fans of other things and so understand how people who really like us feel, although find it odd that its us they really like! The split between their stand-up characters highlights their take on fandom, with Herring naively taking on board every fad or trend and Lee being too cool to participate ion anything popular, thus equally bound to the same fads and trends. Herring routinely makes a fool of himself, but is too blind to notice, Lee strives to remain cool and so never seems to enjoy himself. Take these characters, exaggerate them and you end up with the two teachers, both rendered ineffectual by their own desperation for inclusion or exclusion. The other characters tend towards the manic obsessive as well. Quinlanks hobbying, the fake Rod Hulls quest for jelly, Plinys punning.
All in all the duo lend themselves to fannish obsession simply because they are obsessive themselves (Lee has a list of all the people who have ever accused him of being manic obsessive. In alphabetical order). Through Lees rages and Herrings shrine building and deviance, through the way in which they both question each others material, deconstruct jokes before making them, the way in which one will watch the other, guiding the way in which the audience watches, a terrific feedback loop is created, with the fans feeding the comedy and the comedy feeding the fans. Also I think it is important to remember that when Lee and Herring first started there wasnt a voice for the sad lonely thirtysomethings from Balham, and I think, if Fist of Fun had never existed, the world would be an almost unrecognisable place.
Amazing times.
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