Jon Richardson is an English comedian. He is well known for his roles 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 also presents the show Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier. Let’s find out more about this famous comedian.
Jon Richardson: All You Need to Know
When was Jon Richardson born?
Jon Richardson was born on September 26th, 1982 in Lancaster, Lancashire.
Where did Jon Richardson study?
Jon Richardson went to Ryelands grade school and Lancaster Royal Grammar School. He enrolled in the University of Bristol and took up Hispanic Studies.
Jon Richardson: Comedy Career
He dropped out of college after a year and a half and worked as a chef for some time. Cooking is something he has always had an aptitude for. This is what he said: “If I watch ‘The X Factor,’ I know I’m never going to aspire to sing, so I don’t mind if they’re good or bad, but when I watch ‘Bake Off,’ because I aspire to be good at it, I find it easy to try and put myself in their position.” After that, he decided to take up a career in comedy. At the start of his career, he lived with fellow comedians Russell Howard, Mark Olver and John Robins for a year in Bristol.
Jon Richardson participated in the BBC New Talent Comedy Search in 2003 and won his heat. He also reached the semi-finals of the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year competition in 2004. Quickly developing throughout 2004, he was one among six acts to succeed in the final of the J2O victory Comedy Search. He marked the top of his first year in comedy with a performance at the Criterion Theatre in London’s West End. Jon Richardson’s performance thoroughly impressed judges Jasper Carrott and Dave Spikey.
In 2006, Richardson appeared within the Comedy Zone at the Edinburgh Festival. Jon Richardson also embarked on a 60-date British and Irish tour with Alan Carr. During that tour, he also performed on Paramount’s The Comedy Store.
Spatula Pad, Jon Richardson’s first ever solo show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe helped him earn a Best Newcomer nomination at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Jon Richardson also earned the 2008 Chortle Award for Best Breakthrough Act. During the same year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Jon Richardson performed Dogmatic. He later took this show round the country in his first solo tour. During Simon Mayo’s 2008 BBC Radio 4 series, Act Your Age Jon Richardson appeared as a team captain.
Jon Richardson also co-hosted a Sunday morning radio show on BBC Radio 6 Music. He co-hosted the show with Russell Howard and continued to present the show by himself until March 7th, 2010.
In early 2009, Richardson’s show This Guy in the dark was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Awards main prize. 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.
Jon Richardson appeared on Fighting Talk, a BBC Radio 5 Live show in February 2010. Jon Richardson also served as the curator for the third series of The Museum of Curiosity. Jon Richardson also presented a BBC Three programme called Different Like Me on March 21st 2010. The show was based around compulsions and strange habits. Richardson has performed at comedy festivals in Leeds, Guildford and Bristol, and has headlined university gigs for Off the Kerb and Avalon. He also hosted a show held in the French Alps. Jon Richardson was also a headliner for a show in Barcelona and also performed a one-man show in Greece. In 2010, Jon Richardson also went down under to perform in the Melbourne Comedy Festival.
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 daily comic on the Channel 4 show Get up for the Week, which was hosted by Kevin Bridges during its second series. Upon Bridges’ departure, Richardson took over as host, a task he left after series 4 in 2012. Since January 2012, he has also been a daily on Channel 4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
Richardson presented a 2012 documentary entitled a touch Bit OCD, during which he studied the lives of individuals diagnosed with OCD and worried that he may be suffering from a similar t condition; he was indeed revealed to exhibit symptoms of OCD, but didn’t show signs of the accompanying dysfunction. The show won the 2013 Mind Award within the documentary category.
On 19 November 2012, Richardson released his first stand up DVD, Funny Magnet. The performance for that was recorded during his show at the Apollo Theatre on September 9th, 2012. The DVD also features Richardson’s set from Live at the Apollo and audio commentary together with his housemate, comedian Matt Forde.
In December 2012, Channel 4 broadcast The Real Man’s Road Trip: Sean & Jon Go West, 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 to add Progress shows in late 2013, and in 2014 took his new show Nidiot on the road culminating during a DVD of an equivalent name. He also headlined the comedy stage of the V Festival in August 2013.
Jon Richardson said that his worst ever show was at the Doncaster Dome in 2013. He confessed to that on Radio 5’s Fighting Talk on 11 January 2014. Richardson said that the initial applause died off pretty soon after he started.
Jon Richardson has also presented two series of the Dave panel show Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier. On this show, he discusses specific worries with his guests.
A comedy series Meet the Richardsons has been ordered for Dave; it’s a documentary-style sitcom starring Richardson and his wife Lucy Beaumont, scheduled to air for 6 half hour-long episodes in 2020. He also spoke about not making jokes on serious illnesses: “My personal opinion is that I don’t ever do jokes that are about disability or cancer or what are seen as ‘edgier’ topics. I’ve been affected by those things myself, and I think that comedy should be a safe place for people.”
Where does Jon Richardson live?
Jon Richardson initially lived in Swindon. After spending seven years in Swindon, Jon Richardson moved to Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, with fellow comedians Matt Forde and Danny Buckler. After that, he also lived with other comedians such as John Robins and Russell Howard. In 2012, he also bought a house for his mother in the Lake District. He said that in an interview with Woman magazine. He said this about his mother: “My mum’s amazing. She’s the person I admire most, I think, in her sacrifice to me and my sister and her level of emotional sacrifice to people around her. She takes a high level of personal responsibility for the welfare of people around her.” In July 2019 Richardson mentioned on BBC 1’s Saturday Kitchen Live that he had moved across to West Yorkshire, Calder Valley, from Lancashire. He lives in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.
Is Jon Richardson vegan?
Yes, Jon Richardson is a vegan. He stopped eating meat for health and ethical reasons.
Which football team does Jon Richardson support?
Jon Richardson is an ardent fan of the Leeds United Football team.
Who is Jon Richardson married to?
Jon Richardson and comedienne Lucy Beaumont got married in April 2015. The couple was introduced to each other by mutual friend Roisin Conaty and they dated for two years before getting married. This is what he said about committed relationships: “If I’m with someone, I want them to be perfectly happy all the time. That, for me, would be the reason you would devote yourself to one person.”
How many children does Jon Richardson have?
Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont had their first child, daughter Elsie Louise in September 2016. This is what Jon Richardson said about having children: “Having a child has been the most unexpected privilege, as I spent so long on my own thinking it would never happen.”
Does Jon Richardson have OCD?
Jon Richardson was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive personality disorder. He talked about it on his Edinburgh Festival Fringe show Spatula Pad. 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”. Speaking on OCD, Jon Richardson said: “OCD is a really serious condition – it’s a proper thing. It’s not just, ‘Oh, you like your pens to be straight’. For me, it would always go in tandem with being unhappy. The unhappier I was, the worse it got.” He also went on to add: “I’m neurotic by nature, but I’m wary of becoming more of a play than a comic – you don’t want people coming to see a man having a breakdown for two hours. I’d prefer them coming to hear my astute and witty observations.”