Comedian Jon Richardson turns his teenage diaries into a candid memoir

British standup comedian Jon Richardson, 44, known as a team captain on the TV panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats and as a presenter of documentaries about obsessive-compulsive disorder, publishes a book on 22 October titled The Teenage Diaries of a Stand-Up Comedian. It is based on his own adolescent diaries and took two years to produce.

From a turning point to a book

The idea emerged when several events coincided in his life: a bereavement, serious illness among family and friends, and the end of his marriage to fellow comic Lucy Beaumont. Richardson is a self-confessed hoarder and had cupboards full of ticket stubs, photographs, certificates, VHS tapes and letters. Sorting through them became the frame of the book, which is written in the present tense and follows his reflecting and clearing out.

Funny, but not sugarcoated

The structure alternates diary extracts with commentary from the adult author. It contains humour and period detail, but Richardson says he could not soften the emotional side. The entries show a boy growing up in Morecambe, Lancashire, attending a single-sex school, whose parents are separated and whose family has little money. He gradually describes isolation, frustration and low self-worth. The final chapter, kept apart from the rest because it is hard to be funny about, shows him considering suicide.

Richardson stresses there were many happy times he never wrote down. He says what would have helped was understanding that it is fine to struggle and be sad. In 2023, with former athlete Jessica Ennis-Hill and broadcaster Dan Walker, he launched Bright Young Dreams, a fundraising campaign for youth mental health.

Family and standup

His mother, father and sister feature prominently. His father agreed to the book describing his depression, while his sister does not yet know that an email she wrote is reprinted in it. Richardson stopped keeping a diary when he began going to the pub and socialising, and since starting standup in 2003 he has turned difficult emotions into punchlines.