Theatre Column
The last laugh
Comic John Bishop built an act around his decision to quit work for comedy and saved his marriage
PRESSURE of work seemed
to have put paid to his
marriage and, in
desperation, Liverpudlian
John Bishop turned to
stand-up comedy as a way of breaking
out of the doom and gloom that
seemed to have engulfed his life.
The incredible result is now part of
his stage act, called Stick Your Job Up
Your Arse, which plays Darlington
Arts Centre on Thursday as 40-year-old
Bishop reveals how he escaped from
the nightmare of being a
pharmaceutical company's sales and
marketing director to the financially
risky but personally rewarding world
of entertainment.
"And I got my wife back," adds the
father-of-three, who does a first half of
his act as a stand-up and, after the
interval, tells the tale of how his
grumpiness about work almost cost
him his wife and children.
"My life had crossed the line. Part of
the story of the show is that my wife
and I split up and it's only as a result of
the split that I started doing stand-up
comedy because, on Monday nights, I
didn't have the kids. I think it's a
Liverpool thing that you try and find a
sense of humour about anything.
"Basically what happened is that my
wife came along to the comedy club
without knowing I was on and the
whole relationship with the family was
more positive. I did make her laugh
that night, but if you come and see the
show you'll wonder why because I used
to do a piece of material about her. She
heard that bit, so I'm a lucky man."
He admits that his wife was a little
apprehensive about him giving up a
well-paid job to become a comic, but
felt that it was the other things besides
money that won her support.
"I'd lost the essence of who I was as
a person because I was so serious and
grumpy all the time.
"I became a full-time comedian 18
months ago, prior to that I had a
normal life. It's a gamble but it's
probably my mid-life crisis and my
equivalent of buying a sports car"
jokes Bishop about giving up a wellpaid
career and pension to go on the
road for his first UK tour.
On the title of his stage act, which
proved popular at last year's
Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he says:
"the actual phrase was uttered once to
my boss, but by the time I got to HR it
had been somewhat watered down".
"I never planned to be a comedian it
was something that happened in a club
one night. I didn't want to pay the
admission fee and if you put your
name down to have a go you didn't
have to pay. In all honesty, if I wasn't
tight-fisted I wouldn't be here now," he
says with a laugh. "My name was
called out second and I went on and
I've been getting bookings ever since,"
Bishop says about his Dog And Bucket
appearance six years ago.
He admits that it's no laughing
matter being a scouser based in
Manchester at the moment, but feels
that the comedy opportunities have
come his way as a result.
"I don't tell jokes I just tell stories
and all being well it's funny talk.
Ninety per cent are things that have happened to me," Bishop says talking
about his sons aged 14, 12 and 10. "I
could have never have committed to
this national tour if I was working. I
used to do the warm-up for the
Jonathan Ross show and that was a
brilliant job to do but I was asked
about doing the next series and found
that I couldn't do dates because of
meetings and commitments and I knew
that eventually people would stop
asking me to do things. I wanted to
grab these opportunities before it's too
late."
Opportunities extend to a low-budget
£500,000 film project which he's written
and will star in, called Whores With
Guns, which is set to be shot in the
autumn.
"About 70 per cent is based in a
cinema and the film's about three lads
who make a rubbish movie and the
only way they can get it reviewed by a
critic is by hi-jacking another cartoon
film called Chick Side Story, which is a
version of West Side Story with singing
chickens," says Bishop.
He's had a critically acclaimed play,
Happy Families, on BBC Radio 4 but
dismisses most of his TV appearances
up to now as "on the cheap stuff that
nobody watches on satellite and cable".
But he is heartened by reaction to
the current tour. "People come over at
the end and say I've never heard of
you but I've had a great night'.
Whatever happens I'll always want to
do the touring. There's nothing like
live comedy."
* John Bishop, Stick Your Job Up
Your Arse, Darlington Arts Centre,
Thursday. Box Office: 01325-486-555
10:02am Saturday 17th May 2008
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