Joe Lycett: comedian pays emotional tribute to ‘generous and comforting’ friend Gareth Richards

Joe Lycett has shared an emotional tribute to fellow comedian Gareth Richards following his death at the age of 41.

Joe, 34, from Birmingham, took to social media as he reflected on his memories of the “generous and comforting” comedian.

On Saturday 8 April, Gareth’s wife Laura announced that her husband had died on Friday (7 April) after having “sustained serious brain injuries” following an accident.

The comedian, who co-hosted Frank Skinner’s Absolute Radio show from 2009 to 2011, was involved in a serious car crash on the M25 on Monday 27 March, near Heathrow airport.

Laura Richards shared the news of her husband’s passing, writing: “It was a miracle that he arrived at the hospital alive.”

She continued: “However, the latest scan revealed that the extent of the damage was so severe that they would have to remove all of the supportive medications and allow him to be at peace.”

After the news was announced, the comedy world paid tribute to Gareth Richards, with many sharing tributes to the comedian.

Joe Lycett shared his own tribute to Gareth on Saturday night where he recalled that they had met when sharing a venue during Joe’s first performance at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Joe told his 1.3 million Twitter followers: “When I did my first hour at the Edinburgh Festival I shared my venue with Gareth Richards. He was on after me and was normally the first person I saw when I came off stage.

“He wasn’t having the best time of it that year but he was always generous and comforting, despite presumably trying to focus on his own very imminent show.

“We giggled together on and off over the last decade and reconnected more actively in the last couple of years, and I felt like he was getting to a happy and more honest place with who he was.

“He’d been very brave. I’m absolutely gutted about his death and am so sad for his family.

“His last Whatsapp message to me contains, amongst other things, the words ‘love you’. I didn’t say it back then and I should have: love you too, G. X”

Other tributes to Gareth include comedian Ed Gamble, who said: “When I did the Comedy Zone at the Fringe in 2009, I felt completely out of my depth. Luckily for me, I was sharing a bill with Gareth Richards. The kindest, gentlest soul I have ever encountered in comedy, and a towering talent. Don’t quite know how to compute that we’ve lost him”

The Frank Skinner show on Absolute Radio broadcast a tribute show to the comedian and also tweeted: “We are heartbroken about the loss of our dear friend, Gareth. We will miss him greatly.”

Radio presenter Elis James also shared: “I’m so sad to hear about Gareth Richards. We started comedy at the same time and I was totally in awe of his talent, but more importantly I was always struck by how kind and gentle a man he was. Just a complete delight to be around. My thoughts are with his family”