Jon Richardson Quotes

I could never do stand-up because it's that thing of having to get up on stage. And out of every 10 jokes you tell, nine of them have to get a really good response.

The hardest part of comedy is writing the jokes, and the second-hardest part is telling the jokes. To me, everything else is significantly easier.

Being a comedian is an incredible thing, but it can be scary sometimes.

Stand-up's hard. It's one of the hardest things in the world, and it's really lonely.

You worry about whether you are match-fit, coming back to the stand-up stage.

I never want to cannibalize my act, and I'm really excited that I am going to be able to perform new material. I'm not a huge fan of repeating jokes, and I don't really do any of my old material from old stand-up acts.

I was never that good on stage with live improv. I was much better on film or writing something and then thinking about it. I was too in my head when I was on stage.

You can't be a proper comic unless you've been out on stage and felt the fear.

I'm not a stand up at all, it's such a fear of mine. My sister does it, and she's really great at it.

I do love live performing, but I'm not a stand-up naturally, and I don't like the lifestyle of working just in the evenings at clubs and stuff - not a natural gig-er.

I failed to get into drama school, and my best friend told me I should do stand-up instead. I was always doing gags and voices, so he booked a gig for me without telling me. I only had four days to write it. I did a seven-minute set; the first four minutes were terrible, but the last two were amazing.

I had some friends that tried it down there, and I went to a couple of open mics, and I just kind of got this... this sick urge to try it instead of just watching it.

There's no real preparing at home for stand-up. You just go and you just do it.

Doing drama is, in a sense, easier. In doing comedy, if you don't get that laugh, there's something wrong.

The most frightening thing about playing Dick Gregory is I've never done stand-up before, and I had to learn how to be a stand-up comedian, which was a bit of a challenge.

The only thing I really worry about is my live stand-up show because I have to answer to the fans.

If I'm in a town for very long, usually I'll work out in the comedy club just to keep my chops or work out the beats on new stuff.

I don't like the pressure to try to tell the best jokes. I'm not good at jokes.

I have a tough time with stand-up because I am an improviser. I can riff; I can do crowd work, so I don't prepare.

As a comedian, you have everything working against you.

I started by doing a little funny story, and then I started going to open mics. I realized I had a lot of work to do - you have to get over the stage fright and get your stage presence up. It took me some time, but I finally feel that I'm at a point where I feel comfortable on stage and giving my point of view.

People often tell me that they have no idea how I can do standup. The idea of trying to make a large group of strangers laugh is, for many, absolutely petrifying - and it is - but there are ways of gradually developing the material that can ease the fear.

I always think stand-up is the most brutal environment for a comedian.

The toughest thing for me is doing on-camera stuff as a comedian.

People sometimes say how standup is so hard, and I always tell them that it's hard at the beginning.