Live Performance Review: Nidiot: Performed by Jon Richardson, Saturday 13.09.2014 20:00 The Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh

This is the third time I have seen Jon perform, the first time was during the Fringe festival in August 2010 when he was performing in the tiny Pleasance Courtyard Above venue. At that point I had seen him as a guest on Have I Got News For You and thought I would like to check out more of what he had to say. I have always enjoyed the passion of his despair with careless aspects of the modern world and can identify with elements of his fears and pernicketyness.   

This is clearly a step-up in venue size from the Fringe venues I have seen him in, and a lot of his audience will now be drawn from '8 out of 10 Cats' fans. 

I had to intervene with a couple of girls sat next to me who were carrying on their conversation after the performance began, and I was not surprised by the amount of people I couldn't help but be distracted by still having their dumb phones on. Part of the reason I was not surprised is that Jon is fairly mainstream in terms of my tastes in comedy. 

I was impressed by how he has been able to go from doing 1 hour Fringe shows to proper 2 hour shows and not have it drag or feel repetitive. The show was very engaging, inventive and frank. It felt heartening to hear so many people give a positive reaction to someone's 'obsessive-compulsive' neuroses. It almost is enough to suggest that these peccadilloes are more common than those afflicted with them may think.

I find it very difficult to write about some comedy for some reason, and there is no point in me describing what he discussed. It is fair to say I laughed heartily and very much enjoyed the show. I am not sure if I would go again as I am trying to scale back, though at the same time the show was thoroughly enjoyable.  

Rating: 09/10.  

Live Performance Review: Jon Richardson - Funny Magnet  (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Friday 17.08.2012 22:30, Main Hall, Assembly Hall (Unreserved Seating), Edinburgh 

I had checked online for his tour dates, and it had appeared as though 'Funny Magnet' was not coming to Edinburgh. Then lo and behold, I see in the metro on Thursday the 16th that it had been announced that he was doing four nights, so on route to the performance I was going to, I go to the Fringe box-office and get a ticket for the following evening.

This is the second time of seeing Jon perform, having seen him during the festival a couple of years ago, in a room at the Pleasance that was about a tenth of the size of this room, if not less. I was also pleased to see that for the biggest room in the Assembly Hall, it looked jam packed, and given what appeared to be limited advertising, this impressed me.

I enjoy comedy that is concerned with the anxiety provoked and time wasted by being extraordinarily petty about small matters in day to day living. This is an area where he is admirably exposing of his own neurosis, for the entertainment of the audience. I feel he has become more revealing, though this I also feel has become attained alongside becoming more self-aware regarding the things he gets 'stuck' on in daily living. I find him particularly enjoyable as a lot of the peccadilloes he raises, I have sympathy in regard to.

His explanation of the trails of sharing living space with others is acutely observed. This is delivered in a way that you are left with no uncertainty that he sees himself as a dick for getting stuck on the things he does, while also knowing that for his ease of functioning he is right for getting stuck on these things, leaving the dichotomy of behaviour  = dick + right, therefore trapped/frustrated = funny. He ends on an anecdote about observing a commuter eat his packed lunch, which is a surprising though funny end to the show.

He informed at the end that he usually uses George Formby music played as people leave. There is a play in Edinburgh at present called 'Formby', which he had been to see, and he asked the person who plays George in the play if he would mind coming along to do a tune. So we were treated to Ewan Wardrop as George Formby serenade us with 'Blackpool Rock', which was a delightful end to the show.

I enjoyed him when I saw him a couple of years ago, though I do feel he has improved. I am glad I spotted the small bit of info in the metro and that I did not land up missing the show.

Rating: 09/10.