Jon Richardson: Dogmatic, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

Julian Hall
Monday 11 August 2008 19:00 EDT
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Rather then accepting the label of misanthrope ascribed to him by a number of critics, Jon Richardson prefers to be seen as someone who has strongly held personal beliefs and is not open to rational argument.

To prove his point, he says that sometimes he will pick an argument for the sake of it. It's with this in mind that I might be able to excuse Richardson for thinking that all is rosy in the garden of Britain, including refuse collection where the "bin fairy" just whisks away the rubbish. Tell that to those people whose "bin fairy" only comes fortnightly.

I'm relieved that Richardson hasn't lost the will to complain about other things. He's got a novel way of persuading people not to over-use their mobiles on trains, for example. Hearing a businessman brag about how he is working on the new "CP2000 project", Richardson pretends to talk to a friend on his phone about how he has gone one better – the CP3000. The suit duly goes white as a sheet.

Richardson seems to be all about changing the things he can and being grateful for the fact that other people are prepared to run the bigger concerns in life, such as the NHS – it's the serenity prayer reworked for the more trivial trials of life. As I realise this, I also realise that Richardson has delivered yet another well-thought out show.

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