John Bishop (comedian)

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John Bishop
John Bishop 2011.jpg
John Bishop in 2011
Birth name John Joseph Bishop
Born 30 November 1966 (1966-11-30) (age 46)
Liverpool, England
Medium Stand-up, television, film, radio
Years active 2002–present
Spouse Melanie (1993–present)[1]
Website Official site
John Bishop
Personal information
Full name John Joseph Bishop
Date of birth 30 November 1966 (1966-11-30) (age 46)
Place of birth Liverpool, England
Height 6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1988–1990 Hyde 41 (7)
1990–1991 Southport 35 (7)
Total 76 (14)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

John Joseph Bishop (born 30 November 1966)[2] is an English comedian and actor. He is also known for his charity work, having raised £3.4m for Sport Relief 2012.

A keen footballer, he played for non-league teams Hyde and Southport and worked as a salesman in the pharmaceutical industry prior to becoming a stand-up comedian. His television debut came on The Panel. He has subsequently appeared in the E4 teen drama Skins and in the Ken Loach film Route Irish in addition to his own shows John Bishop's Britain and John Bishop's Only Joking. He also had a regular Sunday slot on Liverpool radio station Radio City 96.7 called Bishop's Sunday Service.

Contents

Early life [edit]

Bishop was born in Liverpool Mill Road maternity hospital to Ernie and Kathy Bishop. He grew up in Winsford and Runcorn after his family relocated from Huyton and attended Brookvale High School.[3]

Career [edit]

John Bishop carrying the Olympic Torch at Jodrell Bank in 2012

Bishop performed stand-up comedy for the first time in Manchester in October 2000, and the following year made it to the final of all the major new act competitions, including So You Think You're Funny, the Daily Telegraph Open Mic Awards, the BBC New Comedy Awards, and the City Life North West Comedian of The Year Award, which he won. In 2002, he was named best newcomer by BBC Radio Merseyside, and in 2004 he won the North West Comedy Award for best stand-up.[4] In 2009, he appeared as the first act on Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow in Manchester. That year he appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where his show Elvis Has Left the Building was nominated for an "Eddie" (Edinburgh Comedy Award).[5]

In 2009 he appeared in Channel 4's short series Comedy Showcase, and was a contestant on Celebrity Mastermind. In that year he also appeared in BBC Three sitcom Lunch Monkeys as fireman Terry. He has appeared five times on 5 Live's Fighting Talk quiz show, claiming four victories on the programme. His material is drawn from his life's experiences, including fatherhood, cycling around the world,[6] playing semi-professional football, and working as a nightclub doorman. His first television appearance was in 2007 on the RTÉ topical-comedy show The Panel, where he regularly sat as a panelist until 2008. He then went onto the Channel 4 panel show 8 out of 10 Cats before he appeared on the BBC's Live at the Apollo. In December 2009, Bishop started his own TV show on LFC TV called John Bishop Meets..., where he interviews former Liverpool football players.

In 2010, he was a celebrity guest team captain on What Do Kids Know? along with Rufus Hound, Joe Swash and Sara Cox on Watch. He has also appeared on BBC's Mock the Week, and Radio 4's Act Your Age. In series 3 and series 4 of Skins, Bishop portrayed Emily and Katie Fitch's father. In 2010, he appeared in Ken Loach's Route Irish, which received its premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. Bishop is a regular panelist on the Sky1 show, A League of Their Own, as well as a stand-up/sketch show for BBC One entitled John Bishop's Britain.[7] On 11 July 2010, John came runner-up in the second-ever game of How Many Peter Jones'? on ITV's James Corden's World Cup Live. He has appeared on BBC programme Have I Got News for You, Would I Lie to You?, and on episode 3 of the I series of QI as a guest. He also chaired an episode of the 40th series of Have I Got News For You on 28 October 2010.

During an appearance as a guest on an episode of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross aired on 12 February 2010, it was revealed that prior to his TV breakthrough Bishop had worked as a warm-up for the show. In 2011, Bishop appeared on Top Gear as the Star in the Reasonably Priced Car, setting a time of 1:42.8. In March 2011, Bishop, along with fellow comedians Alan Carr, James Corden, Catherine Tate, and David Walliams appeared in the video for Take That's single "Happy Now" for Comic Relief. On 24 June 2012, he appeared on Desert Island Discs. On 28 August and 4 September 2012, he appeared in Accused as Peter for two episodes. In late 2012, he appeared on the BBC's genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? and on an ITV one off episode called Panto!, where he starred as a local Morecambe disk jockey called Lewis Loud. As of January 2013 Bishop hosts John Bishop's Only Joking on Sky 1.

Awards [edit]

At the 2010 British Comedy Awards, Bishop won the Best Male Comedy Breakthrough Artist award.[8] He became the Number 1 'Star in a reasonably priced car' on Top Gear on Sunday January 23, 2011 after he appeared on the BBC Two show. He drove the Kia Cee'd around the test track in 1 minute and 42.8 seconds to become the fastest star in the latest reasonably priced car, knocking Tom Cruise off the top, his record lasted nearly half a year until being knocked off by Rowan Atkinson (1 minutes 42.2 seconds) on Sunday July 17, 2011. He was also the fastest in the League of Their Own skeleton race, beating Georgie Thompson, and James Corden.

Personal life [edit]

Bishop has been married to his wife Melanie since 1993, they have three sons Joe, Luke and Daniel.[1][9] Bishop's hobbies include football; he is an avid Liverpool fan, a fact frequently brought up on the show A League of Their Own in which he was a panelist. He has a brother and two sisters. His brother, Eddie, is a former professional footballer with Tranmere Rovers and Chester City.[10] In July 2010, Bishop took part in protests against then owners of Liverpool FC Tom Hicks and George Gillett[11] and later took part in a celebrity-studded protest video put out on YouTube.[12]

Bishop has been a vegetarian for over 20 years,[13] he talked about this on BBC2's Something for The Weekend and his episode on food on his stand-up show John Bishop's Britain.[14] From the 1990s he worked as a Medical Representative for the pharmaceutical company Syntex, before leaving in 2006 to pursue a career as a full-time comedian.[15] Bishop pre-recorded a video message to the 2011 Labour Party conference, which was being held in Liverpool.[16]

Charity work [edit]

In 2010, Bishop took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March. In 2012, he completed a 290-mile (470 km) triathlon from Paris to London in five days to raise money for the BBC charity Sport Relief. His "week of hell" began at the Eiffel Tower on 27 February, from where he cycled 185 miles (298 km) to Calais. The next day, he rowed across the English Channel as part of a team including Davina McCall, Andrew Flintoff, and Denise Lewis, then ran the 90 miles (140 km) from Dover to London in three days, finishing in Trafalgar Square on 2 March. On Sport Relief day, 23 March, it was announced that his efforts had raised £3.4 million.[17]

Bishop has also competed in numerous charity football matches, including playing in the Ciaran Geddes memorial match at the Deva Stadium, Chester, where Bishop scored two goals whilst playing alongside his brother Eddie for Chester FC.[18] On 28 May 2012, Bishop took part in fourth edition of Soccer Aid, playing for the England team in a 3-1 win against the Rest of the World.

Stand-up DVDs [edit]

Title Released Notes
The Elvis Has Left The Building Tour 15 November 2010 Live at Liverpool's Empire Theatre
The Sunshine Tour 14 November 2011 Live at Liverpool's Echo Arena
Rollercoaster Tour 2012 12 November 2012 Live at Manchester's Manchester Arena

References [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: John Bishop
  1. ^ a b Beth Neil (2010-06-11). "John Bishop: We talk to TV's hottest new comedian - 3am & Mirror Online". mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-23. 
  2. ^ "John Bishop on Liverpool FC and One Night in Istanbul at the Empire" LiverpoolEcho.co.uk, 2 June 2009 (Retrieved: 20 February 2010)
  3. ^ Jordan, Barbara (8 September 2011). "John Bishop congratulates adults with learning disabilities on their beer". Runcorn and Widnes World. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  4. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2004/10/05/manchester_comedy_awards_2004_comedy_feature.shtml
  5. ^ "Edinburgh Comedy Awards - The Nominees". BBC. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-28. 
  6. ^ Bishop, John. "Standing up for men in Lycra: John Bishop tries pedal power". Daily Mail. Retrieved 4 March 2012. 
  7. ^ "John Bishop's Britain". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2010. 
  8. ^ Schofield, Ben (24 January 2011). "John Bishop named best Male Breakthrough comedian at British Comedy Awards". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  9. ^ "John Bishop: The brighter side of stand-up". Manchester Evening News. 29 April 2010. 
  10. ^ "Our Eddie". John Bishop Online. Archived from the original on 2010-02-03. Retrieved 2012-03-23. 
  11. ^ Weston, Alan (3 July 2010). "Mass rally to oust Tom Hicks and George Gillett from Liverpool FC". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  12. ^ Traynor, Luke (30 September 2010). "Hollywood film producer Mike Jeffries to launch anti Tom Hicks and George Gillett Liverpool FC campaign". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  13. ^ Midgley, Carol (2011-07-27). "Interview: John Bishop". Radio Times. Retrieved 2012-03-23. 
  14. ^ "BBC One - John Bishop's Britain, Series 2, Food, John tells his parents he's a vegetarian". bbc.co.uk. 2011-08-06. Retrieved 2012-03-23. 
  15. ^ "Comedian John Bishop says Tories are failing our young". Mirror.co.uk. 2012-11-10. Retrieved 2013-01-18. 
  16. ^ "The Laz Word...on the Labour Party Conference". Liverpool Confidential. 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2013-01-18. 
  17. ^ "£4.2 million for Sport Relief". Sportrelief.com. 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2013-01-18. 
  18. ^ http://www.chesterfc.com/page/MatchReport/0,,10786~2770471,00.html

External links [edit]
Presenter
Blue team regulars
Red team regulars
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