Mandarin-speaking expat maths teacher Michael Herd will be back on home turf tonight as he prepares to take the Lanarkshire comedy scene by storm.
After spending the last 14 years teaching trigonometry and pythagoras’ theorem to school kids in Shanghai by day, while moonlighting as a comic by night, the East Kilbride dad has returned to Scotland for good.
And the up-and-coming comedian told Lanarkshire Live he has high hopes of making a name for himself on the Scottish comedy circuit with his hilarious take on life in China already bringing the laughs at the world renowned Edinburgh Fringe and prestigious The Glee Club Glasgow.
Tonight the 38-year-old will share the stage with mentor Des McLean as the EK Comedy Club returns to East Kilbride Sports Hub.
Des helped Michael hone his craft with comedy coaching sessions over Zoom during lockdown and Michael says he can’t wait to bring his new material to a home crowd.
“Although I have been doing up to three shows a week in Shanghai and across China and raised my profile as a booker, I’m starting from the bottom again here, the expectations are a lot higher,” he told Lanarkshire Live.
“I did a gig to 12 people in a Glasgow pub and felt like I was just getting in the way of their pint.
“But the EK sports club holds 100 people so I will feel nervous but I enjoy it more when there’s more people to perform to.
“I do hope people I’ve known since childhood will come to see me.
“I credit Des for building my confidence, our sessions have made a huge difference.”
After “hussling” his way onto open spots at this year’s Fringe, the seasoned storyteller has landed high profile slots at Glasgow’s legendary Glee Club and Hot Water Comedy Club in Liverpool.
Michael added: “The Fringe is the world’s biggest comedy festival so it just goes to show if you hussle well enough you might get lucky.
“I did mostly roast battles, which is basically silly and ridiculous insult comedy, and lost three in a row so maybe I’m not as brutal as I thought I was!
“The Glee Club has been the biggest one so far, it’s the top comedy chain in the UK so that was a big deal, I was really pleased getting that.
“My biggest show in Shanghai was a 50-minute headline set in front of 75 people and I would always get the cliched ‘the only Scottish person doing comedy in Shanghai’, ‘did you guys understand him’, ‘English is also his second language’."
Michael’s self-professed cynical and geo-political, anecdotal style has won him plaudits from big names on the local circuit, but the funnyman admits he wasn’t always so funny.
“I was never the class clown”, said the former St Bride’s pupil, “I just got on with my work and was quite introverted at school so no one would have expected me to go into comedy.
“I moved to China after visiting a school friend who had set up as a teacher there when a vacancy came up.
“I caught Shanghai just at the point it started to boom and become really popular.
“I went to an open mic one night and thought if they can do it so can I.
“I had a bit of a reputation for my terrible dad jokes at Calderside Academy in Blantyre where it did my probationary year, but my first time on stage in China went better than expected.
“There were lots of opportunities for stage time that I would never have gotten here without having to wait my turn.”
Michael has now set up home in Perth with wife Lucy and 10-month-old son Lawrie.
And, despite living through Shanghai’s “insane” zero-Covid lockdown, Michael joked: “From Blantyre to Shanghai - I can’t wait for my wife’s reverse culture, she’s in for more of a culture shock than me.
“To live there and go through their insane zero-Covid lockdown where we couldn’t leave our apartment for a month and had food delivered by the government was pretty brutal.
“We never caught Covid so didn’t experience the full force of the strictest lockdown in the world but it was extreme.
“Shanghai is still closed off but I’ll be back for a visit as soon as it starts to open up.”
Hailing his protégé’s recent success, Des McLean said: “I genuinely looked forward to working with Michael every week - from the east end of Glasgow to China via zoom.
“He has a real passion for comedy, would always come up with loads of new material each week, and his take on life in Shanghai was funny and fascinating! Look forward to seeing him in 3D in EK.”
Tickets for tonight’s EK Comedy Club with a headline performance from Susie McCabe cost £10 and are available on the door. Doors 8.30pm.
Michael’s next Lanarkshire performance is at JunkYard in Hamilton on August 23.
Check him out at Michael Herd Comedy on Facebook and mikeherdsolo on Instagram.
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