At the start of 2021 Richard Herring was diagnosed with testicular cancer. For a man whose output includes a stand up tour titled ‘Talking Cock’ and who regularly interrogates our attitudes towards masculinity, it was a diagnosis that came with additional layers of complexity. Mixing Rich’s personal story alongside what defines masculinity and ‘maleness’ in society, ‘Can I Have My Ball Back?’ is not your typical cancer memoir. Whether they’re nuts, or bollocks, or gonads, or family jewels; from the phrase ‘grow some balls’ to infamous WWII songs about Hitler; Rich unpicks the tangle of emotions around his own testing times.