“The Art of Not Letting Go” is a comedy poetry show performed by Richard Thomson, a man deep into his fifth decade who may or may not be acting out his midlife crisis in real time in front of your very eyes.

The show takes in everything from his first kiss to his first child, to the inexplicable meanders that led him to roam the aisles of Lidl seeking salvation. There are poems about lost chances, lost love, and lost partners (in Ikea).

In short, "The Art of Not Letting Go" deals with all of Richard's numerous personal deficiencies through the medium of rhyme, in the hope that somehow someone will see and hear him, and make it all alright.

There are poems about politics, love, sex and Richard’s horror at looking in the mirror and seeing his dad, all with plenty of jokes and an acknowledgement that at the age of 45 he has happily concluded that he has no idea what he’s doing either on stage or off it.

Attempting to mix the warmth of Pam Ayres with the wit and satire of John Cooper-Clarke, whilst failing on both counts, this hour long comedy poetry extravaganza finds its own niche somewhere in the middle regardless.

The writer and performer of “The Art of Not Letting Go” is Richard Thomson, an Edinburgh debutant but a multiple winner of poetry slams and competitions across the South West of England. He is the reigning Exeter City Poetry Slam champion, qualifying to represent the city internationally. He has won the Nailsworth Literature Festival Poetry Slam, and was part of the winning team in the Bristol Lyra Poetry Festival team slam event. He was also a grand finalist in the 2025 Bristol Lyra Poetry Festival individual Slam.

In his show “The Art of Not Letting Go”, Richard brings together his best work in a narrative arc, with more room to breathe and more scope for music and photos to tell the tale.

Described by Spork Spoken Word as “Fabulously uplifting and joyous. Warm, human and very funny", Richard has headlined the Rhyme Against the Tide poetry event in Weston Super Mare, and the Taking the Mic poetry event in Exeter where he was called "Clever, and beautifully vulnerable in a sane and relatable way”.

Come for the rhymes and the jokes, but also get access to Richard’s heart and brain (figuratively, not literally. There are probably other shows for that kind of thing), and the intimacy of hearing the true to life stories that have taken him from childhood to the slightly shell-shocked man on the stage before you, wondering where it all went wrong or whether actually it’s all gone right.