Single and Difficult – John Richardson on Dating

You might recognise John Richardson from his stand up work and TV appearances. He’s a very subtle comic who also works as a DJ for BBC 6Music, so work must be pouring in for him at the moment, and all the success that goes with it. However, reading his brilliant article in this Saturday’s Guardian, it seems that where his career is taking off, the romantic aspect of his life isn’t flourishing at quite the same rate.

What I enjoyed about Richardson’s article is the vulnerability he shows when confessing his own foibles and the pitfalls in his character. He’s entirely open about how petty he can be in allowing surface frustrations to take precedence over the more important things in life. For him, a relationship can be ruined by a soiled sugar-bowl – yet the fact that he admits this and that he knows it is wrong is indicative of the kinds of traps we all often fall into in the early stages of dating.

 It’s so easy to take your eye off the ball and ignore the bigger picture by allowing a minor irritation to force you to judge a person’s entire personality – and it’s something we need to be aware we’re doing. Richardson’s a brave man – for where many successful men can’t seem to stop bragging on the front pages about their promiscuity (step forward, Mr Brand!), John instead favours the kind of open, honest explanation of his circumstance that many an open-minded potential partner would surely find endearing.

Let’s hope he manages to relinquish that control over the sugar bowl and finds himself someone soon!

See John Richardson’s article here: A Control Freak Looks For Love