RT: Herring1967

Jun 26th, 2009

by Dan.

Have you ever wondered how all those sick jokes that emerge after the death of a celebrity

Well now I can tell you, they are all made up by UK comedian Richard Herring.

When I went to bed last night the news had just broken that Michael Jackson had died. When I open my eyes this morning and did my customary post-wakening checks (Alive? Safe? Location? Bladder Status? New Email?) I happened to scroll through twitter and noticed that Mr Herring had pumped out a staggering number of tweets about the end of the King of Pop’s reign. Here’s a quick selection. If you are a big Jacko fan or have particularly tender sensibilities I advise you to look away now

Herring1967: A candle in the wind. And one for a change who has been actually been on fire. And looked like he was made from wax.
Herring1967: If Uri Geller was any kind of friend he would make him alive again.
Herring1967: I wonder if when Gary Glitter dies that everyone will forget what he did and get cross if you make jokes.
Herring1967: Being reminded that MJ was found not guilty. It’s nice that people still believe in the process of law.
Herring1967: It’s the cherubs that I’m worried about.
Herring1967: According to Sky, Die Hard fans are out on the streets. They should go back in and leave this to the MJ fans.
Herring1967: Heaven is definitely better than earth – Uri Geller has confirmed. MJ definitely there also.
Herring1967: MJ proved innocent under hypnosis by Uri Geller – who is definitely magic and knows about the afterlife.
Herring1967: Is Jarvis Cocker going to the funeral?

What is more interesting however is the buckets of bile and vitriol that he obviously received from the twitterverse. Now I appreciate that many people may find such comments offensive, you may well be one of them, and that’s completely fine. The death of anyone is a tragedy for those around them. But there is a real danger that something akin to the ridiculous behavior that occurred surrounding the death of Princess Diana (Queen of our Hearts) might start developing here. That the twitter may cultivate a mass hysteria about the death of someone that before he died you wouldn’t have left your children with.

As the story broke the news media quoted twitter extensively, citing a mass outpouring of grief throughout the entire internet. The 24 hour news channels need to fill their space with something, And lets face it there’s only so much standing outside hospitals saying “We’re still not sure of the details yet. Back to you John” one station can show (about 23 hours of it if past experience is anything to go by). But by reporting on a supposed mass outpouring of grief this only fans the flames of the hysteria. People start to think that everyone else can see the emperors new clothes so they should be able to too.

Hopefully I’m wrong about this. Hopefully it’s a flash in the pan. Michael Jackson and Princess Diana (Queen of our Hearts) are completely different entities after all. Certainly you can’t see newspapers like the Express and Mail getting behind a mawkish eulogizing campaign behind the man they dubbed “Wacko Jacko”. Most likely things will move on within a couple of hours and by tomorrow morning we’ll be back to the normal drudge of news.

But in this internet age where the world is bound ever closer together we need to be wary that everyday events don’t get blown out of all proportion. That the death of an emotionally scarred stranger or the discovery that a middle aged Scottish woman can sing doesn’t take on more significance than it deserves. The popular consciousness has a way of running away with us if we let it, and while the death of Michael Jackson is undoubtedly sad we must remember that it’s not a personal loss.

Or that’s my take on it anyway.

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Posted in: General.

28 Comments on “RT: Herring1967”

#1 slugs on the refrigerator
on Jun 26th, 2009 at 9:52 am

excellent post, Dan. Yeah, its defo the sycophants that get me. Whether people know him or not, the obsequiousness doesn’t end. I don’t want to be harsh, but I am not sad he has died…not that I wanted him to go, but I didn’t feel anything about a man I didn’t know. Sad for his family and it stops there.

And I hope you are right about the news moving on tomorrow. The culture of inflating the unimportant and blocking out real issues is the main reason I no longer watch the news.

Kat

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Dan Reply:
June 26th, 2009 at 10:43 am
@slugs on the refrigerator, the problem with the news in situations like this is that by reporting the over reactions of individuals it can cause society as a whole to over react. This morning I had turn off in disgust as some woman from the mojo awards panel was taking about his death affecting the nation “just like Diana”. Bah.

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#2 mark
on Jun 26th, 2009 at 9:53 am

Well said. Agree with all of this.

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Dan Reply:
June 26th, 2009 at 10:43 am
@mark, Thank you sir.

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#3 Oli
on Jun 26th, 2009 at 10:07 am

I’d like them to stop playing his music so much on the radio. It’s good, but it can be over-played.

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Dan Reply:
June 26th, 2009 at 10:44 am
@Oli, you think this is bad, just wait until the queen dies. You won’t be able to go near the radio for weeks due to somber music.

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#4 Idaho Dad
on Jun 26th, 2009 at 10:20 am

I got a bit melancholy when I heard the news and started playing his songs and quickly realized I don’t like most of them. Man in the Mirror is nice, and Billie Jean is a classic, but the word “over-rated” keeps coming to mind.

I’m actually more affected by Farrah Fawcett’s death.

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Dan Reply:
June 26th, 2009 at 10:45 am
@Idaho Dad, the two “celebrity” deaths that affected me emotionally were Jim Henson (I was about 14 and was very upset, him being a hero of mine) and a radio DJ called John Peel, who was just one of those people you never considered could die.

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#5 Xbox4NappyRash
on Jun 26th, 2009 at 11:39 am

I like the Gary Glitter line.

With exposure to sunshine, moonlight and good times ruled out: now the coroners say cause of death was ‘boogie’.
Xbox4NappyRash´s last blog ..Hey, you, whatsit…

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Dan Reply:
June 27th, 2009 at 12:21 am
@Xbox4NappyRash, my personal favorite was the Die Hard one.

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#6 Rol
on Jun 26th, 2009 at 12:20 pm

On the one hand, I found Herring’s gags pretty funny… on the other, MJ meant far more to be than Princess Bloody Di ever did (and I didn’t even count myself a Jacko fan).
Rol´s last blog ..Who Killed Michael Jackson?

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Dan Reply:
June 27th, 2009 at 12:23 am
@Rol, i know what you are saying. And i don’t object to people feeling a pang of sorrow for an icon lost. but the media fueled frenzy is ridiculous. Just look at all the top news stories on yahoo for example. Every single one of them is a MJ reference.

And unfortunately it shows no sign of slowing.

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Rol Reply:
June 27th, 2009 at 10:05 am
@Dan,

Yeah, I know. Which is why I decided to take down my own post on the subject – I just didn’t want to be involved in another media-fed mass mourning.
Rol´s last blog ..Scrap Metal

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#7 JJ Daddy-O
on Jun 26th, 2009 at 2:49 pm

All I could think when I heard the news was “Oh crap, here we go with a 2 week long cable news fest”. The mourners, the funeral, the relatives, arrgh. Boy, am I glad I don’t have cable TV. (Yes, I am one of those people)

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Dan Reply:
June 27th, 2009 at 12:25 am
@JJ Daddy-O,no we don’t have cable either. But then again few over here do (we do have satellite TV though, owned by Rupert Murdock no less, so all my high ground has sunk without a trace)

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#8 Erin
on Jun 26th, 2009 at 3:14 pm

The thing about him was he was an icon, a living legend. That being said, when my brother made a joke about it (Charlie Gibson: “Even with the sad news of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, I hope you have a good weekend.” Kyle: “Yeah, because they sure won’t.”), my mom admonished him. “He was an icon!” she explained. “Yeah,” said Kyle, “but I didn’t know him.”
Erin´s last blog ..Exercising really is a mood lifter

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Dan Reply:
June 27th, 2009 at 12:27 am
@Erin, that’s the point I’m making I think. We don’t actually know this guy. and it’s not like we’ll miss his creative output either, because basically that stopped a long time ago.

I feel sad for hi,m and his family, but not to the poiint i wan it to dominate every single bloody news story.

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#9 Arjan
on Jun 26th, 2009 at 4:47 pm

when my grandfather died it took only a couple of hours before some jokes were made about it (my dad said something along the lines of couldn’t he keel over some other day..it’s inconvenient today). It was a way of coping.

In these kind of public deaths..I find it even more strange that fans who are actually complete strangers act like someone said something extremely offensive about a family member of theirs..

..I had a little wtf come over my lips when I heard last night btw..
Arjan´s last blog ..Pinkpop (music festival)

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Dan Reply:
June 27th, 2009 at 12:28 am
@Arjan, I too was shocked by it all i must admit. He was one of those people you just didn’t expect to die.

Melt maybe, but not die.

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#10 Catherine
on Jun 26th, 2009 at 10:06 pm

Controversial! Hadley Freedman got completely flamed on the comments for writing with similar sentiment: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jun/26/michael-jackson … Personally, I feel a wee bit sad, but, balcony-dangling and veil-wearing taken into account, I wouldn’t hire him for baby-sitting, no. No matter how much he needed the £….

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Dan Reply:
June 27th, 2009 at 12:29 am
@Catherine, The sad thing is Hadley Freeman hit it right on the button.

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#11 Morticia
on Jun 26th, 2009 at 11:24 pm

It is so glad to know that I am not the only one who feels a bit bemused/concerned/just plain wtf is going on when there are these massive displays of ‘faux’ grief when famous people die. I know I’d feel different if it was someone I cared about but even so I like to think I’ve have a sense of proportion about it. I wonder if sometimes people aren’t grieving about the pfamous erson who has actually died but someone else they actually knew who has died and now it’s okay to let that grief out in the guise of it being for someone else. Either way I think it’s a sad state of affairs.

Yes it’s sad – but surely it’s only really sad for the people that actually knew him and for those who feel he is part of their lives but didn’t actually know him in person then they have their cd’s and dvds to watch, I do hope this doesn’t turn into another ‘Lady Diane’ grief wagon.

Part of me also thinks it’s sad for the children whose lives he affected adversely as they’ll never get an answer or redress now.

I love Richard Herring….though I love Stewart Lee just a little bit more….

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Dan Reply:
June 27th, 2009 at 12:30 am
@Morticia, I’m in two minds about the Lee vs Herring issue. Although of course it is possible to like both. Do you listen to the collings and Herrin podcast? it requires a strong stomach, but is very good.

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#12 Nat
on Jun 27th, 2009 at 3:36 am

I suppose it’s not right that I guffawed at the Queen of Hearts bits eh?

A CNN reporters said some thing to the effect of “He’s touched a lot of people…”
Nat´s last blog ..Do you need help crossing the street?

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Dan Reply:
June 27th, 2009 at 8:44 am
@Nat, it was my intention that you guffawed at it, so I suspect it’s me who’s really in the wrong.

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#13 ImPerceptible
on Jun 27th, 2009 at 4:58 am

My first thought was where is my copy of the original Thriller album I bought in the 80’s and what is my ebay password.

Sad, but true.
ImPerceptible´s last blog ..Sometimes Things Get Complicated

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Dan Reply:
June 27th, 2009 at 8:45 am
@ImPerceptible, wasn’t that the biggest selling album of all time? I imagine there will be a fair few of them knocking about.

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#14 James (SeattleDad)
on Jun 28th, 2009 at 3:40 am

On Twitter, DCUrbandad said he was going home to open a pepsi, put on a single white glove, and crank Thriller.

My response: Don’t forget to hug your Monkey and please don’t dangle any babies over a railing.

Then I began wondering if I was going to get some flack for that. It was just an offhanded attempt at humor. Probably shouldn’t have tweeted it in retrospect. But thankfully, no one really gives a damn what I say anyway.

I was sad that he died. Tragic that anyone dies at a young age. But it is odd that once someone is gone thier transgressions are so easily forgotten.
James (SeattleDad)´s last blog ..This Many!

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RT: Herring1967

28 Comments on “RT: Herring1967”

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