Review by Graham Finney
It would be fair to say that some of the things that wind comic Jon Richardson up could be classed as trivial. Like fellow comic Rhod Gilbert, it’s the small things in life that make Richardson blow a gasket. It’s the everyday things that most of us barely notice that secretly make his blood boil and turn his life into an OCD hell. It also means that Jon Richardson is one of the funniest men on the UK stand-up circuit and the fact that this DVD was filmed on an on-going tour that has run for over a hundred-fifty dates show that those irritations are something just as many people share in common with the comic.
Having received rave reviews throughout the duration of the tour, this DVD was filmed in Blackpool at the height of summer, Richardson soon admits that his decision to wear not one but two “old man” cardigans is something that he should have probably planned better. However, it is when he hits his stride and you realise that even the littlest things in life are driving him to the brink of insanity that you really see Richardson at the top of his game. Everything in life, from how his wife loads the dishwasher to why you shouldn’t stand your toilet rolls next to the toilet, drive Richardson absolutely bonkers. On the flipside though, it is those very same little things that give him the most pleasure in life. One such example that makes Richardson smile is those times when he gets to clear out the programme schedule on his Sky box. Yes, it might be trivial to most of us but, judging by the popularity of the tour, there are clearly just as many of us out there who do the same excited dance as Richardson does when our Sky planner hits 30%.
Another thing that makes life for the comedian an unmitigated hell is the fact that he dwells on the most absurd things to the point of obsession. A recent trip for a haircut, something by his own admission is absolute hell, saw a clear panel on his gown perplex Richardson so much that he surveyed friends, family and, well, anyone he came across, to see if they too had the same clear panel. It was only the explanation that the panel was there so customers could use their mobile phones and not to stop the clientele playing “pocket billiards” that stopped Richardson losing the plot completely.
By his own admission, the fact that Richardson as found himself a wife is a small miracle and the nine month duration of his wife’s pregnancy not only saw him have to deal with body parts that he felt should be left unexplored but also had you wondering how on earth his wife didn’t murder him.
When Richardson finally does become an “old man”, you just know you’ll find him sat in a pub nursing a pint complaining about everything and anything to anyone who will listen and probably wearing the same cardigan. For now though, he’s armed with a microphone, a captive audience and, for ninety minutes, the perfect platform with which to vent his very irritated spleen.
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