Could you first introduce yourself to the reader?
My name is Red Richardson, I am 33 years old, and I am a professional stand-up comedian and writer who lives in London.
How would you describe your show?
It’s a laugh-heavy hour about a terrorist attack that turned out to be a false alarm. I was in Oxford Street when a huge panic set in and everyone (including pop star Olly Murrs) thought that Isis were attacking, it was a terrifying 3 hours and my show is about that day.
Why do you want to perform at Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
Because I feel that it’s a show that could do well at the fringe. It’s a long story that I wouldn’t have time to tell over a 20-minute club set so there really is no other place than the fringe for me to perform it.
What differentiates it from other festivals?
I will be honest I can’t stand festivals. I hate queuing and always feel claustrophobic when surrounded by hundreds of other people, so Ed fest differentiates from other festivals in the fact that I stomach it because I love performing comedy.
What first motivated you to enter the industry? Who were your inspirations?
I saw Eddie Murphy Raw when I was like 13 and loved it. I have always liked making people laugh and a lot of my friends used to say to me I should be a comedian, but it took a while for me to get the guts to do stand-up – I spent my time before that writing scripts and stuff, but as soon as I saw how hard it was to get a script made I did a gig and loved how quickly I could get my ideas to an audience without 30 rewrites from 60 year old producers who didn’t get it.
How has your background, upbringing and education had an impact on your artistic career?
I went to secondary school in a small hippie town called Totnes, me and my friends constantly mocked each other at the local skate park and I felt I was always around different and very funny people. We made stupid videos on camcorder, and it felt like a great place to be creative. I think those days impacted my comedy a lot.
What is your earliest childhood art memory?
I used to draw giant battle scenes with loads of arrows and swords, my mum must have thought I was going to become a tyrant. I also remember playing the big bad wolf in a primary school play, I didn’t have the confidence to do it alone so my little brother had to join me – kind of the opposite of what that character should be.
If you didn’t have your current job, what would you probably be doing?
I have never even thought about that, this is the only job in the world I could ever see myself doing, it’s more than a job – it’s my entire life, so I honestly have never thought about anything else.
Did Covid-19 change the way you create work? Do you approach shows with a different mentality now?
I have gigged a lot since Covid, I think it terrified me to not gig for that long. I was worried I would be awful and out of practice, so since then I have gigged like a madman – as many as possible a week. I also think I value myself a bit more, I say no to gigs that are badly paid and ten hours away as I had 3 months inside where I could think about how to use my time more efficiently.
Describe the last year in 5 words or less?
Outside, inside, mask, jab, outside.
Do you subscribe to the idea that art should be exempt from ‘cancel culture’?
I don’t know, it’s a hard question and a comedian seems to be trending on Twitter every day of the week for answering it incorrectly. I have a joke in my show about this so if you want to know come and watch – Pleasance Bunker, 9.55
If you could work with anybody, from any point in history, who would you pick and why?
Peter Cook was amazing, so funny. I listened to his and Dudley Moore’s ‘Derick and Clive Tapes’ and they really stand up today. Both were geniuses but I love how sharp, dark, acerbic, nihilistic and funny Peter Cook is.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to take a show up to the fringe?
Don’t let it destroy your year. It’s a huge event but it is losing relevance by the second. Your whole career doesn’t hang on doing well at it, you can do brilliant things online and surpass whoever that year’s toast of the fringe was in terms of audience size with a couple of good online videos. Have fun, use it to get better but don’t over think it.
*This is basically what I am telling myself this year.
When and where can people see your show?
9.55, The Pleasance Bunker 1
And where can people find, follow and like you online?
@redrichardson1 on Insta and Twitter
Red Richardson’s new stand up show ‘Shots Fired’ will be at the Pleasance Courtyard Bunker One at 9.55pm for the month of August for tickets go to www.edfringe.com
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