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He started performing at London's Comedy Store in 1979, in a double act with Nigel Planer called "The Outer Limits". Richardson soon set up his own comedy club called The Comic Strip, taking with him a core group from The Comedy Store. At this point, various television companies were taking note of the rapidly growing "alternative comedy" scene, and Richardson was approached by Jeremy Isaacs to make a series of comedy films for Channel 4.
The Comic Strip Presents... ran from 1982 to 1988 on Channel 4, and then continued from 1990 to 1993 on the BBC. Richardson wrote more than half of the shows together with Pete Richens, and he also directed most of the BBC series.
He also wrote (again with Richens) and directed the film The Pope Must Die, which starred Comic Strip regulars Robbie Coltrane and Adrian Edmondson.
Apart from the Comic Strip, Richardson's best known work is the sitcom Stella Street, which he directs, and co-writes with the impressionists John Sessions and Phil Cornwell. A Stella Street movie is due for release in 2004.