NEVER one to shy away from angry headlines, comedian Richard Herring is following his politically-charged 2010 tour Hitler Moustache, which tackled the issue of racism head-on, with his latest stand-up routine, Christ On A Bike.

The show runs tonight at the Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne and will see Herring explain what he has in common with the Son of God... and why Christians shouldn’t be offended.

It’s all in a year’s work for the Yorkshire-born comedian, who rose to fame as part of double act Lee and Herring with Stuart Lee, and famously helped create the classic Steve Coogan character Alan Partridge back when he was a comedy writer at the BBC.

True to its title, the subject of the show is Jesus.

“It’s nice,” he says, “to tackle the big subjects.”

Appearing on stage, aptly dressed in socks and sandals, Herring questions whether he has achieved as much in his life as Jesus did, drawing comparisons between them.

“I’m not saying I’m Jesus,” he says to the crowd. “That is for other people to say.”

Herring, 43, admits he’s “obsessed” with religion, and explains the reason he thinks Jesus is popular is because everyone feels they have something in common with him – and the religion.

“You see yourself in him. I mean, Tony Blair can be a Christian and still go to war in Iraq.

“You can justify whatever you’re doing by cherry-picking the bits you like.

“That’s why it works but that’s also why it creates massive problems.”

Herring was brought up as a Christian and has studied the Bible. The comedian’s parents made him go to church every Christmas until, aged 22, he decided he’d had enough.

But losing his faith hasn’t quenched his interest, and it was while reading up on the Bible that he was struck with the idea for the show.

While some of the more outlandish elements of his routine involve him imagining himself in a bike race with Jesus and comparing himself to the Son of God, some may find the simpler moments funnier.

He analyses the Ten Commandments, for example, breaking them down to expose what he sees as their underlying hilarity and illogicality. There’s also an impressive sequence in which he recites the long opening passage of the New Testament by heart, then whittles it down to a lengthy acronym which he also recites over several minutes.

“I suppose it’s an impressive little party trick,” he says modestly.

“When I first did the show I thought, ‘Is it possible to learn the passage?’ Then, ‘is it possible to learn the acronym?’ “I spent two days hammering away at it and got there. The hardest thing is doing it backwards.”

He also refers to one woman who wrote to one of the tour venues and vehemently complained about his choice of subject matter.

“I think that woman’s obviously just come across me in the brochure and has been a bit surprised by the title,” he said.

“I don’t think the show actually is offensive.

“I read out the letter because I think it’s funny that a Christian could act in such an unchristian way and be pompous and pious at the same time.

“If you’re an extreme Christian you might not like the show but there are quite a few Christians who come and they all tend to enjoy it because it’s a discussion of the subject rather than me putting the boot in.”

So confident is he that his Jesus jokes, in the context of the show, are not offensive that he’s not worried about his parents seeing it when his tour swings by their home town of Cheddar. Or does he have another excuse not to worry?

“I really admire my parents and I admire their morality, this is about pointing out their foibles and my own foibles,” he adds.

“They ask Jesus to forgive me every night and he does forgive me because that’s his job!”

• Richard Herring appears at the Tivoli Theatre Wimborne tonight.