COMEDIAN Jon Richardson will be talking about his ability to make life more complicated by thinking too much when he performs at the Wyvern Theatre next week.

The stand-up comedian will be in Swindon on Monday for a sold-out performance of his touring show, Nidiot.

The perennial singleton and misanthrope is determined to become a more easygoing person for the sake of his friends and his future health.

Jon, a popular team captain on Channel 4’s comedy panel show, 8 Out of 10 Cats, said: “A ‘nidiot’ is something different from an idiot.

“An idiot is someone whose problems are caused by not concentrating enough. A ‘nidiot’ is someone who makes his life more complicated by thinking too much rather than not enough. I’m not an idiot, but I’m definitely a ‘nidiot’!”

The comedian, who last year presented his own Channel 4 documentary, Jon Richardson: A Little Bit OCD, reckons that for him nothing beats the experience of touring.

“I love being on tour. The question I always struggle with is, ‘What don’t you like about touring?’ I love it all – the hotels, the new towns, the new restaurants, finding things to do during the day of a show. I love all that.

“I’ll be doing stand-up for the rest of my life.

“The opportunities that it grants you can’t be denied. Stand-up is both the hardest thing I do and the thing I enjoy most. There is no fooling anyone with edits or six people around you – it’s the purest possible art form.”

Jon, who has built up a huge and loyal live following, said: “I’m very proud of being a comedian and having got to the point where people will come out to see me. They remind me that I’m good at it.

“Paranoia can set in the day after a show. But you’re never closer to the moment of remembering you’re funny than when you’re on stage making hundreds of people laugh.

“At that second, there’s no argument about it. There is no discussion about the Top 100 Comedians. As soon as I come off stage, I’ll tell myself that other comedians are better. But at that moment, the focus is so pure, it’s wonderful.

“Hearing people laugh is infectious. It makes you feel so good.”

 

  • l Tickets for Jon Richardson’s Wyvern date have sold out, but you can find details on the remainder of his tour at www.offthekerb.co.uk.