Jon Richardson interview

Jon Richardson has a new stand-up DVD out. We caught up with him to discuss life's frustrations, and find out what his Christmas plans are.

Hi Jon. It's nearly December! 2018 has shot past? A good year for you, on reflection?

It seems ridiculous to say it has been a good year for anyone when it has been, politically and environmentally, such a catastrophic one for the planet, but personally I have absolutely no right to complain.

Funnily enough, I still manage to complain at least once every waking hour of every day about something, but old habits die hard.

I have had more of this year to enjoy since my daughter thinks each day should start promptly at 05:30am, but I'll take that over the years of late starts on my own in my bedsit every time.

You're known for liking things in your life ordered. So is it annoying when people write your name as 'John', which must happen fairly regularly?

In the days of autocorrect I'm grateful every time any word is spelled correctly. Each time I see "were" instead of "we're" I enjoy it like a sighting of a nearly extinct bird.

Each time someone emails to apologise for having been off work because they were feeling "a bit I'll" I become less concerned about "John".

For some reason it upsets me more when people assume it's short for Jonathon, which it isn't. To steal an old joke, Jon isn't short for anything, except because he's got little legs.

Your new DVD is titled Old Man. You're 36 in reality, but what mental age would you give yourself?

I'd say I'm comfortably into my fifties in my mind. I started going bald on top this year and the only exercise I get these days is an occasional game of badminton with my neighbour.

As a child of the 80s, to see the Tories tearing the country apart while Labour tears itself apart at the expense of those who need it most, ripped jeans back in fashion and Nintendo have even rereleased the SNES, the current times are very much contributing to an overwhelming sense of having seen all this before.

None of this is on the DVD though as I felt it too bleak. On the DVD I talk about people getting up to no good in the barbers, getting abuse on Twitter and increasingly making my wife regret marrying me by being unbearable around the house.

You filmed the DVD in Blackpool. Was that a deliberate choice, or just a logistics thing?

Very much a deliberate choice. I live just an hour away and I love Blackpool with no irony whatsoever. The Grand Theatre is absolutely beautiful. As soon as I knew I could pick the venue I was determined it should be in Lancashire, where I'm from, because it is too much of a forgotten county on the way to the Lakes. I'd love to have filmed it at The Winter Gardens in Morecambe too but the regeneration of that building is still ongoing. Maybe next time.

Your tour involved over 150+ gigs. Were you pleased to put the routines to bed, or sad that it was all over?

A bit of both. I'm very excited to write new routines. I've been touring this show for over a year and half so my life and my opinions have changed a lot, but you can't start riffing in the middle of a tour, so you have to almost suspend your development until it's over.

The touring itself has been great. I've had an amazing tour manager, Grazio Abela, and as I get older I am more and more overwhelmed by the fact that people pay to come and see me live. It's the best part of my job and the part I hope to be doing the longest.

Have you had any feedback - perhaps via social media - of people changing their dishwasher-loading habits after having seen the show?

I get sent a splendid number of tweets relating to dishwasher loading, and also I'm pleased to see pictures of car dashboards as they reach significant milestones. I enjoy them all but my favourites are the passive aggressive pictures of what people's partners or flatmates have done wrong in the kitchen. I'm delighted that, in that moment of complete exasperation, I represent a way of venting frustrations and a kindred spirit to whom you can reach out.

Any plans for what you're going to do over the festive period yet?

There's some more Countdowns to record so I can gift some more teapots, and a few bits here and there, but for the most part I'll be at home with the family.

One of the main reasons to have a child was to have an excuse to start Christmas the minute Bonfire Night ends, and we're getting to the really good ones now.

Presumably you have your Christmas presents already sorted though... A copy of your DVD for everyone in your family!?

On principle my mum always pre-orders and pays for a copy to arrive on release day so I don't even get the chance to give her a copy. On the whole I think the people who put up with my whining throughout the year should get a break at Christmas, so perhaps I'll get them some Kevin Bridges DVDs instead. He's fantastic.

Jon Richardson - Old Man Live is available on DVD and Digital Download now.

Jon Richardson - Old Man Live

Jon Richardson is back, embarking on his nationwide tour Old Man to complain about the state of the world and offer no solutions! Since his last show Jon has become a husband and father, seen the UK vote to leave the EU and watched the rise of Donald Trump, all of which leaves him asking one question; Why does it seem that no one else alive can correctly load a dishwasher?

Filmed on the final night of Jon's colossal 158 date sell out UK and Ireland tour at the historic Grand Theatre in Blackpool.

First released: Monday 19th November 2018

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• Distributor: Universal Pictures
• Region: 2
• Discs: 1
• Minutes: 92

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• Buy at Amazon
• Add to Wishlist

• Distributor: Universal Music
• Minutes: 92

BCG may earn commission on sales generated through the links above.