Old Man Live

Jon Richardson has built a career out of being the neatest, most anxious man in the room, and this show leans heavily into his transition from a prematurely fastidious young man to a full-blown premature pensioner. Wearing his signature cardigan, Richardson complains about the micro-tragedies of domestic life, focusing on his ultimate question: why does it seem that no one else alive can correctly load a dishwasher?

Filmed at Blackpool’s Grand Theatre on the final night of his 158-date tour, the set marks a shift in Richardson’s life. Since his previous tour, he had married and had a child, providing him with a fresh batch of domestic grievances. At this point in his career, he was a ubiquitous presence on British television, chiefly as a team captain on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

While the world outside was dealing with major political shifts, Richardson chooses to zoom in on the small things. His routines cover everything from the quiet agony of small talk at the barbershop to his obsessive-compulsive personality traits, which turn unwashed kitchenware into matters of life and death. He also shares a memorable, highly exaggerated bit about hanging out with Ed Sheeran at a fictional high-class establishment called the Blackpool Ritz.