Meet husband and wife comedians Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont
AKA your guides to How to Survive the End of the World...
Just what scares Jon Richardson? Owing to his OCD tendencies, quite a lot. But in a new documentary for Channel 4 the anxiety-ridden comedian and his wife, fellow comic Lucy Beaumont, confront these fears, everything from sausages to sink holes.
“It’s basically a small terrified man and his (would you believe it) even smaller and sometimes more terrified wife making a list of the things that they’re scared might kill them, and then me going out and looking into them,” Richardson explains.
There’s the premise sorted, but what about the presenters of How To Survive the End of the World? Here’s everything you need to know…
Who is Jon Richardson?
Age: 34
Twitter: @RonJichardson
Bio: The stand-up comedian is probably best known for sitting down, as a team captain on comedy panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats. He’s also been a regular on spin-off 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown since it began in 2012.
Richardson started out in comedy aged 19, but his big break came touring with Comedian Alan Carr in 2006. He then embarked on his own shows, earning a Best Newcomer nomination at the Edinburgh Festival Awards the following year.
Next, he made the jump to radio, co-hosting a BBC 6 Music radio show with Russell Howard until 2010. And after appearances on Have I Got News for You and David Mitchell’s the Bubble, Richardson got a guest spot on 8 Out of 10 Cats and became a permanent fixture in June 2011.
How To Survive the End of the World isn’t his first documentary, though. In 2010 he presented BBC3’s Different Like Me, a film exploring strange compulsions and his own OCD personality disorder. He followed that with A Little Bit OCD on Channel 4.
Who is Lucy Beaumont?
Age: 34
Twitter: @lucybeaumont
Bio: Although not as well known as her husband Richardson, the stand-up from Hull has appeared on BBC’s Live At The Apollo and Live at the Electric, as well as Dave talk show Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled.
She started dating Richardson in 2013 and they got engaged after Jon proposed with a note inside a butter dish. It said “turn around” and when she did, there he was on one knee with an engagement ring.
The couple had their first child in September 2016.
Is Beaumont as neurotic as Richardson?
Pretty much. While Richardson avoids built-up areas due to a fear of pollution, Beaumont is particularly anxious about food and where it comes from. And expect to see the pair tease each other about it in End of The World: “We take it in turns to be the one who ruins a day out by telling the other one that actually something horrific might happen,” he says.
Jon Richardson: How To Survive the End of the World is on Monday 20th February at 10pm on Channel 4
