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John Bishop

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For other people named John Bishop, see John Bishop (disambiguation).
John Bishop
Birth nameJohn Joseph Bishop
Born30 November 1966 (1966-11-30) (age 57)
MediumRadio, Stand-up, Television, Film
NationalityBritish
Years active2002–present
SpouseMelanie (1994–present)
WebsiteOfficial website

John Joseph Bishop (born 30 November 1966[1]) is an award-winning comedian. As an actor, he has appeared in the E4 teen drama Skins as Mr Fitch, father of twins, Katie and Emily and in the Ken Loach film Route Irish. He also had a regular Sunday slot on Liverpool radio station Radio City 96.7 called Bishop's Sunday Service.

Career

John Bishop performed stand-up comedy for the first time 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. 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).[2]

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; playing semi-professional football; and working as a nightclub doorman. His first television appearance was in 2007 on the RTE 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 John started his own TV programme on LFC TV called John Bishop meets…, where he interviews former Liverpool football legends.

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.

Bishop's debut DVD 'Elvis has left the building', was released on 15 November 2010.

In series 3 and series 4 (2009–2010), Bishop portrayed Emily and Katie Fitch's father in Skins. In 2010 he appeared in Ken Loach's Route Irish, which received its premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

Bishop is currently 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.[3]

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.

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 appeared on BBC programme Have I Got News For You and Would I Lie To You? as a guest, and chaired an episode of the 40th series of Have I Got News For You on 28 October 2010.

He has never said anything funny.

Awards

At the 2010 British Comedy Awards, he won the Best Male Comedy Breakthrough Artist award.

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 minutes 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 year until being knocked off by Rowan Atkinson(1 minutes 42.2 seconds) in 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

Bishop was born in Liverpool Mill Road maternity hospital, Bishop grew up near Runcorn after his family relocated from Huyton and much of his appeal is his down-to-earth persona. He is married to Melanie, has three sons and lives in Manchester. He is an avid Liverpool Football Club fan. His brother, Eddie, is a former professional footballer with Tranmere Rovers and Chester City.[4]

It was revealed on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, on 12 February 2010, that Bishop was a warm-up on the show. Bishop has been vegetarian for over 20 years, he talked about this on BBC2's 'Something for The Weekend'. From the 1990s he worked as a Medical Representative for pharmaceutical company Syntex. Until 2006, the father-of-three was working in sales and marketing for a pharmaceutical company, with a company car and pension plan, and gave it all up to become a full-time comedian.

He does come in for criticism for his accent, which he explained on The Graham Norton Show is caused by an enlarged tongue and too many teeth - he was asked by fellow guest Diane Kruger what his accent actually was. Many people from Liverpool suspect he is using a strong 'professional scouser' accent like Cilla Black, Paul O'Grady & Jimmy Tarbuck - extenuating the Liverpool accent for television and live comedy appearances.

Football career

Prior to his career in comedy, Bishop played semi-professional football for clubs including Southport, Hyde United and Winsford United. The former midfielder once won the Liverpool Senior Cup with Southport in 1991, beating a Liverpool side containing Jamie Redknapp in the final at Goodison Park. In total, Bishop appeared for Hyde 41 times, scoring 7 goals between November 1988 and February 1990, helping them to second place in the Northern Premier League, which at the time was one league below the Football Conference. He also played for Southport 35 times and scored 7 goals between March 1990 and April 1991.[5] Bishop turned out as a substitute for the Liverpool Legends in the Hillsborough Memorial Game at Anfield on 14 May 2007.

Stand-Up DVDs

  • Live - The Elvis Has Left The Building Tour (15 November 2010)
  • Live - The Sunshine Tour (14 November 2011)

References

  1. ^ "John Bishop on Liverpool FC and One Night in Istanbul at the Empire" LiverpoolEcho.co.uk, 2 June 2009 (Retrieved: 20 February 2010)
  2. ^ "Edinburgh Comedy Awards - The Nominees". BBC. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  3. ^ "John Bishop's Britain". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  4. ^ "Our Eddie". John Bishop Online. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
  5. ^ http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/southport-news/southport-southport-news/2010/01/15/ex-southport-player-john-bishop-lands-national-comedy-tour-101022-25601384/

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