Currently Rich and Stew are working on solo projects. Rich is currently writing a one manplay to take up to the Edinburgh festival and Stew's first novel will finally be in the shops (priced £10 - a bargain).

PRESS RELEASE

Stewart Lee's novel, THE PERFECT FOOL, is published by 4th Estate on Monday 16th July. Researched and written over eight years, this is Stewart's first novel. Having written and starred alongside Richard Herring in two series of both BBC2's FIST OF FUN and THIS MORNING WITH RICHARD NOT JUDY, he has also toured the world as a stand-up in his own right.

THE PERFECT FOOL charts the progress of a collection of misfits, spread across the wide open spaces of Arizona and the narrow streets of South London, all unwittingly caught-up in a quest for the Holy Grail. Mr Lewis believes he was once an astronaut; Sid and Danny's Dire Straits covers band isn't exactly filling the pubs of Streatham; Tracey travels between Las Vegas and the Mexican border, fleeing the suspicion that she's a serial killer; Bob, a Native American clown, no longer finds anything funny; Luther, an acid casualty 60's rock star, has long since forgotten the most basic chord shapes; and Peter Rugg lost a cigarette down the back of a Portobello Road sofa thirty years ago and is still looking for it.

These seemingly unrelated individuals eventually collide in the deserts of the American South West, where they form an uneasy alliance. Stewart Lee's first novel combines an eclectic range of characters and cultures with an instinctive comic touch.

PRESS RELEASE

Jesus Christ - Son of God, Saviour of Mankind, Miracle Worker, Superstar.

Richard Herring - short, fat, middle class man from Cheddar in Somerset. Used to be on TV (BBC 2's Fist of Fun and This Morning With Richard Not Judy), but isn't anymore.

At first sight they have little in common. Or do they?

"I'm not saying I'm the new Jesus.... That is for other people to say."

This year Richard realised that he was the same age as Jesus when he died. (Surely, this can't just be coincidence). But has he achieved as much as the supposed Messiah? Some would argue not. But one man dares argue otherwise. The fact that that man is Herring himself should not be allowed to cloud the issue.

Deluded? Insane? Arrogant? A blasphemer liable to inflame a holy war? They said the same about Jesus... And David Icke.... And Charlie Manson.... And Hitler... And the bloke who sits on the top step at Balham tube station drinking lighter fluid... That's not the point. The point is that they said the same about Jesus. If you have ears, you will understand.

"I intend to find out who Jesus really was, how he would feel about the terrors that have been carried out in his name and, most importantly, to determine if he ever actually did walk like a lady and wear a bra"

During the hour Herring will attempt to recreate (and top) some of Jesus's most famous miracles, including turning water into wine, casting out demons, curing a range of maladies (this may cost extra) and feeding the entire audience with one deep fried Mars Bar. (though hundreds may turn up, no-one will leave wanting to eat any more).

"It is said that faith moves mountains. Using the combined faith of all the people who come to my show, by the end of August I promise to have moved Arthur's Seat to Dunfermline."

This is Herring's tenth coming to Edinburgh ("Lo, for I have been crucified many times, but see I do walk amongst you once again") and Christ on a Bike will be the eighteenth show Herring has written and performed at the Fringe. As always his child-like sense of fun is tempered with a scholarly and darkly philosophical undercurrent.

Special Offer to Journalists - If you recognise me as the new Messiah and more importantly give me a good review or some nice pre-publicity, then you will have a guaranteed place for you and the partner of your choice in my father's house. He's got a very nice bungalow in Cheddar.