Jon Richardson

Jon Joel Richardson (born 26 September 1982)[1] is an English comedian. He is known for his appearances on 8 Out of 10 Cats and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and his work as co-host with Russell Howard on BBC 6 Music. He is presenter of Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier.

This article is about the British comedian. For the footballer, see Jon Richardson (footballer).

Jon Richardson
Birth nameJon Joel Richardson
Born (1982-09-26) 26 September 1982
Lancaster, Lancashire, England
MediumStand-up comedy and writing
NationalityBritish
Spouse
​
(m. 2015)​
Children1
Notable works and roles8 Out of 10 Cats, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
Websitejonrichardsoncomedy.com

Early life and career

Richardson was born and raised in Lancaster, Lancashire, and attended Ryelands Primary School and Lancaster Royal Grammar School.[2] He left the University of Bristol after taking Hispanic Studies for a year and a half, and subsequently spent some time working as a chef.[3] He then decided to pursue a career in comedy, and lived with fellow comedians Russell Howard, Mark Olver and John Robins for a year in Bristol.[4]

Richardson entered and won his heat of the BBC New Talent Comedy Search in May 2003. He also reached the semi-finals of the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year competition in 2004.[5] Quickly developing throughout 2004, he was one of six acts to reach the final of the J2O Last Laugh Comedy Search. He marked the end of his first year in comedy with a performance at the Criterion Theatre in London's West End. Judges Jasper Carrott and Dave Spikey were both "extremely impressed" with Richardson's performance.

In 2006, Richardson appeared in The Comedy Zone at the Edinburgh Festival. He also completed a 60-date British and Irish tour with Alan Carr, and made an appearance on Paramount's The Comedy Store. In 2007, Spatula Pad (Richardson's first solo show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe) earned him a Best Newcomer nomination at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards.[6] Richardson won the 2008 Chortle Award for Best Breakthrough Act,[7] and performed Dogmatic (his second solo show) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He later took this show around the country in his first solo tour. He appeared as a team captain in Simon Mayo's 2008 series Act Your Age on BBC Radio 4.

Richardson co-hosted a Sunday morning radio show on BBC Radio 6 Music with fellow comedian and friend Russell Howard, and after Howard left, he continued to present the show himself until 7 March 2010.

In early 2009, Richardson's show This Guy at Night was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Awards main prize.[8] That year, he appeared on the BBC music quiz show Never Mind the Buzzcocks. He also appeared on Have I Got News for You in December 2009 and October 2010, and was a guest on David Mitchell's The Bubble.

Richardson appeared on the BBC Radio 5 Live show Fighting Talk in February 2010. He was curator of The Museum of Curiosity for its third series. On 21 March 2010, he presented a BBC Three programme about compulsions and strange habits, entitled Different Like Me. Richardson has performed at comedy festivals in Leeds, Guildford and Bristol, and has headlined university gigs for Off the Kerb and Avalon. He has also compèred in the French Alps, headlined in Barcelona, and performed a one-man show in Greece. In 2010 he also performed at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.[3]

Starting with the 11th series of Channel 4's panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats, Richardson took over from Jason Manford as a team captain. Filming for the series began in June 2011. It's Not Me, It's You!, Richardson's first book, was published during the same month. Later in 2011, he became a regular comic on the Channel 4 show Stand Up for the Week, which was hosted by Kevin Bridges during its second series. Upon Bridges's departure, Richardson took over as host, a role he left after series 4 in 2012. Since January 2012, he has also been a regular on Channel 4's 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

Richardson presented a 2012 documentary entitled A Little Bit OCD, in which he studied the lives of people diagnosed with OCD and worried that he might have the same condition; he was indeed revealed to exhibit symptoms of OCD, but did not show signs of the accompanying dysfunction. The show won the 2013 Mind Award in the documentary category.[9]

On 19 November 2012, Richardson released his first stand up DVD, Funny Magnet. The performance was recorded at the Apollo Theatre in Hammersmith on 9 September 2012. The DVD also features Richardson's set from Live at the Apollo and audio commentary with his housemate, comedian Matt Forde.

In December 2012, Channel 4 broadcast The Real Man's Road Trip: Sean & Jon Go West,[10] a two-part series in which Richardson and his 8 Out of 10 Cats colleague Sean Lock travelled to Louisiana to experience the local culture and lifestyle. The show was filmed in September 2012.

Richardson began Work in Progress shows in late 2013, and in 2014 took his new show Nidiot on the road culminating in a DVD of the same name.[11] In August 2013 he headlined the comedy stage at the V Festival.

Appearing on Radio 5's Fighting Talk on 11 January 2014, Richardson said his worst ever gig was a couple of months previously at Doncaster Dome. He claimed the initial smattering of applause quickly reduced through his time on stage.[12]

Richardson has presented two series of the Dave panel show Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier, in which he and his guests discuss their worries.

In 2020, Richardson appeared in the mockumentary sitcom Meet the Richardsons for UKTV's Dave and presented Channel Hopping With Jon Richardson on Comedy Central. The former is a documentary-style sitcom co-written and co-starring Richardson's wife Lucy Beaumont, with Lucy having to deal with an exaggerated version of Richardson's character,[13] whilst the latter is a weird TV clips show in the style of Clive James on Television, but with Richardson presenting and two other guests discussing the clips each week.[14][15][16][17][18] In 2020 Richardson also launched the podcast Jon Richardson and the Futurenauts with co-hosts Mark Stevenson and Ed Gillespie to discuss systemic societal problems and their solutions. The podcast has received overwhelming positive reviews.[19] The Arts Desk remarked "without making light of [the subject matter], Richardson and Co find the funny."[20]

Personal life

Richardson lived in Swindon for seven years,[21] then in Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, with fellow comedians Matt Forde and Danny Buckler. He also lived with comedians John Robins and Russell Howard.[4] In a 2012 interview with Woman magazine, he mentioned he had bought a house in the Lake District for his mother.[22] He is a vegan,[23] and a football fan and supporter of Leeds United. In July 2019 Richardson mentioned on BBC1's Saturday Kitchen Live that he had moved across to West Yorkshire, Calder Valley, from Lancashire.[24] He lives in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.[13]

Richardson married comedian Lucy Beaumont in April 2015; the pair were introduced by mutual friend Roisin Conaty and dated for about two years prior to marriage. Their first child, a daughter named Elsie Louise, was born in September 2016.[25][26]

Richardson has obsessive compulsive personality disorder, which was the subject of his Edinburgh Festival Fringe show Spatula Pad.[27][28] In 2018, Richardson told Radio Times that he had been to counselling for six months, calling it "an immensely positive step". Saying "I wish I'd done it sooner", Richardson said "acknowledging there's a problem is the best thing" and recommended counselling to "anyone who's even mildly upset about anything".[29]

Filmography

Television and radio
Year Title Notes
UnknownAfter HoursDocumentary
2005The Henry Kelly Show
Live at the Comedy Store
Steve Lamacq's RoundtableBBC 6 Music
Most Annoying Pop Moments: We Hate to Love
Comedy ShuffleAppeared in three sketches entitled 'Fearing the Worst'
4 Stands Up
Out to Lunch
It's Debatable
Never Write Off the Germans
2006–2008The Russell Howard ShowBBC 6 Music[30]
200728 Acts in 28 MinutesBBC Radio 4
2008–2010The Jon Richardson Show
2009Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow
Walk on the Wild SideVoice only[31]
2009
2010		Never Mind the Buzzcocks
2009–2011Have I Got News for You
2010The Bubble
Spicks and Specks
Grouchy Young Men
Different Like Me
The Vote Now Show
Richard Bacon's Beer & Pizza Club
The Museum of Curiosity
Act Your AgeTeam captain
8 Out of 10 CatsGuest
2010
2011		Fighting Talk
2011Stand Up for the Week
The Graham Norton Show
2011–20158 Out of 10 CatsTeam captain
2012–present8 Out of 10 Cats Does CountdownTeam captain
2012Comedy World Cup
A Little Bit OCD
The Real Man's Road Trip: Sean & Jon Go West
2013Room 101Guest
2013–2018 Would I Lie to You?Guest
2014Jon Richardson Grows Up
2016TaskmasterContestant
2016–2017The One ShowGuest presenter; 4 episodes
2018–presentJon Richardson: Ultimate WorrierPresenter
2019 Comedians Watching Football with Friends[32]
Saturday Kitchen[33] Guest
2020Meet the Richardsons
Channel Hopping With Jon Richardson
The Jonathan Ross ShowGuest[34]
The Last LegGuest[35]
Saturday Morning with James MartinGuest[36]
8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Christmas Special 2020Team captain[37]

Stand-Up DVDs
Year Title
2012Funny Magnet
2014Nidiot
2018Old Man - Live[38]

Edinburgh credits
Year Title Notes
2005Big Value Early ShowServed as compère
2006The Comedy Zone
2007Spatula PadNominated – Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer
2008Dogmatic
2009This Guy at NightNominated – Edinburgh Comedy Award[39]
2010Don't Happy, Be Worry
GITWith Dan Atkinson and Lloyd Langford
2011It's Not Me, It's You!

References
  1. "Jon Richardson". Last FM. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  2. "Night of laughs for hospice appeal". The Visitor. 8 July 2013. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  3. "The Jon Richardson Interview". 2-UpTop. April 2010. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  4. "A Little Bit OCD". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 14 March 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  5. Petty, Alex. "Laughing Horse New Act of the Year". Laughinghorsecomedy.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  6. "Best Newcomer 2009". Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  7. "The UK Comedy Guide". Chortle. Archived from the original on 4 May 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  8. "2009 Shortlist". Edinburgh Comedy Awards. 29 August 2009. Archived from the original on 18 September 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  9. "Scott Mills announces winners at 20th Mind Media Awards, sponsored by Virgin Money Giving". Mind. 5 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  10. "The Real Man's Road Trip – Sean and Jon Go West". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 26 March 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  11. "Nidiot DVD available now". jonrichardsoncomedy.com. 1 December 2014. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  12. BBC Radio 5, Fighting Talk, 11 January 2014
  13. "Dave orders sitcom starring Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont". British Comedy Guide. 11 June 2019. Archived from the original on 7 July 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  14. https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/news/5950/jon-richardsons-new-tv-show/
  15. https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/channel-hopping-with-jon-richardson/
  16. https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2020/09/23/46951/jon_richardson_to_host_comedy_central_clip_show
  17. https://deadline.com/2020/09/comedy-central-uk-orders-guessable-channel-hopping-with-jon-richardson-1234582620/
  18. https://www.beyondthejoke.co.uk/content/9406/richardson-sara-pascoe
  19. "Jon Richardson and the Futurenauts - How To Survive The Future on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  20. "Comedy podcasts round-up 1: from home and abroad". theartsdesk.com. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  21. Dixon, Peter (11 November 2012). "Jon Richardson: "Nothing I say deserves repeating in posterity"". Giggle Beats. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  22. fbid=10152278449810562&set=o.2260900000&type=3&theater "Jon Richardson Appreciation Society" Check |url= value (help). Facebook. 24 November 2012. Archived from the original on 2 March 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  23. "Interview: Jon Richardson | National Geographic Traveller (UK)". www.natgeotraveller.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  24. Jon Richardson BBC1 Saturday Kitchen Live,06/07/2019
  25. Kettle, James (13 September 2014). "Jon Richardson: 'I didn't have any sex, I didn't do any drugs'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  26. "Elis James and John Robins XFM Podcast, Episode 63". XFM. 25 April 2015. Archived from the original on 9 September 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  27. Sherlock, Gemma (15 July 2016). "Jon Richardson returns to Morecambe Winter Gardens for Lancaster hospice". The Visitor. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  28. "Bio-Jon Richardson". Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  29. Taylor, Frances (16 May 2018). "What does Jon Richardson worry about?". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 5 September 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  30. "On Air Now: 19:00 – 22:00: Russell Howard". BBC 6 Music. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  31. "Comedians go wild". Chortle.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  32. Guide, British Comedy. "Comedians Watching Football With Friends - Sky1 Comedy". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  33. @SaturdayKitchen (6 July 2019). "We're SO happy to have @RonJichardson ! Tune in at 10am". @SaturdayKitchen. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  34. "The Jonathan Ross Show". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  35. "The Last Leg". channel4.com. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  36. "James Martin's Saturday Morning". itv.com. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  37. "8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown". channel4.com. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  38. https://twitter.com/RonJichardson/status/1064476576862142464
  39. "Jon Richardson: This Guy at Night's description". Chortle. Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
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