JON RICHARDSON – OLD MAN | REVIEW
St. David’s Hall, Cardiff, Thursday 29th September & Sunday 1st October
When a man begins his almost 2 hour comedy gig with a bit about cardigans, you know you’re in for a good night. 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown’s Jon Richardson came to Cardiff on Thursday night as part of his Old Man tour.
Months into a tour, material might start feeling a little stale for some performers, but not for Richardson, who used the night to rewrite chunks of his routine with the help of the audience. That’s the thing about him – he emits an atmosphere of familiarity. Whether it’s the cardigan he wears on stage, his open obsessive compulsiveness or the fact that he researches audience members before the show, who can say. Richardson’s comedy is all about the mundane and the familiar, but it’s not hackneyed observational comedy, rather it’s the experiences of a slightly neurotic, occasionally awkward young father who is just a bit tired.
His OCD and cynicism turn his everyday anecdotes and into witty, charming and sometimes puerile observations. Despite his claiming otherwise, he is a very funny man. He positions himself as an object of pity, and many of his jokes are at his own expense, but he is so affable and his anecdotes so relatable that the audience laughs with him rather than at him. Whether he is talking about upsetting his then heavily-pregnant wife or having internal struggles at the barber, his shame or embarrassment elicit laughs from a shared sympathy for this self-deprecating neurotic little man who gets called unfortunate names on Twitter.
The show has a roughness to it – it’s not as polished as some comedians’ – he meanders and veers off topic, he questions the effectiveness of his own jokes, and will talk to himself until he remembers where he’s meant to be. But it’s no bad thing. It’s endearing, empathetic, and most importantly, very funny.
Jon Richardson will be performing Old Man in Cardiff again this Sunday, 1st October at St. David’s Hall, Cardiff. There are a few tickets still available from the website http://www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk/
You can read our interview with Jon Richardson about the tour here.
words CHRIS HAYES