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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Old Man Live

Jon Richardson

Prime Video · 2018 · 1 h 32 min

A cardigan-clad grumble about the agonizing trials of domestic life.

Watch it free on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

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.

The set list

5 bits

  1. The proper way to load a dishwasher

    Exasperated bewilderment over why nobody else alive seems capable of loading a dishwasher correctly, turning domestic kitchen habits into a major source of stress.

  2. The clear panel in a barber's gown

    Obsessing over and surveying people about whether a clear plastic viewing window in a hairdressing gown was created to check phones or stop clients playing 'pocket billiards'.

  3. Clearing the Sky box planner

    Finding immense personal joy and doing an excited dance when clearing recorded programs down to 30% storage on the TV planner.

  4. Surviving pregnancy as an unbearable partner

    Dealing with the bodily realities of his wife's nine-month pregnancy that he felt were better left unexplored, while wondering how his wife did not kill him.

  5. Toilet roll placement

    Ranting about people who stand toilet rolls upright right next to the toilet.

How it plays

Tone
Neurotic, irritable, pedantic, and domestic.
On stage
Fastidious, pernickety, self-deprecating 'master worrier' adopting a grumpy 'old man' persona while wearing two cardigans on stage.
Pace
Grumping along with steady exasperation, hitting his stride by dwelling obsessively on the minutiae of everyday life.
About
Marriage and domestic life, Fatherhood, Properly loading the dishwasher, Obsessive-compulsive tendencies and domestic order, Haircuts and barbers, Pregnancy

What the critics said

Praised as Richardson at the top of his game, turning trivial everyday grievances and obsessive neuroticism into relatable, side-splitting stand-up.

In the room: Warm and receptive crowd sharing in the recognition of everyday domestic annoyances.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: blackpoolgrand.co.uk, watch.plex.tv, tv.apple.com, comedy.co.uk, totalntertainment.com, letterboxd.com, imdb.com, news.sky.com, bbc.co.uk.

Backstory

Filmed against personal milestones of leaving single life to become a married man and a father of a young daughter, coming to terms with obsessive compulsive personality traits, alongside political shifts including Brexit and the rise of Donald Trump.

Details

Released
Taped
Grand Theatre, Blackpool
Runtime
1 h 32 min
Where
Prime Video
Director
Chris Howe
Topics

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