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From Live At The Apollo 2010

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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. And in 2009, he was nominated for the Ediburgh Comedy Award

His material is drawn from his life's experiences, from fatherhood to cycling around the world, to playing semi- professional football, to working as a nightclub doorman.

John Bishop: Sunshine
Live Review

The comics playing the new 1,000-seater McEwan Hall have come in for plenty of stick for defying the spirit of the Fringe, accused of being commercial sell-outs with posters bigger than some comics’ venues.

Yet John Bishop, with trademark humility, makes you feel like he’s deserved it, with entertaining stories about how he paid his Fringe dues, recalling the days when he performed in a hut and still couldn’t fill it. This run, he says, is recovering all the thousands he’s lost in Edinburgh over the years. And, though he doesn’t say it, 1,000 seats is actually a small venue for him these days, so sudden and explosive has been his rise to fame.

It’s hard to pinpoint how it happened, and even he seems modestly amused by the whole situation. As someone whose shows are based simply on straightforward anecdotes from the preceding year, this offering could have been a boastful round of celebrity parties and glamorous TV appearances.

But the story about appearing on Live At The Apollo becomes a yarn about how his mischievously dodgy Scouse friends tries to scam freebies from the BBC. And you get the feeling that there’s more than a modicum of truth in his joking that in the green room for Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, he’s most impressed by the fact that he can have all the free crisps he can eat.

For despite his elevated fame, he’s lost none of his Liverpudian everyman charm, making you root for him since you suspect you’d act in exactly the same way in the circumstances. In fact, his newfound success has enhanced his stand-up, throwing his mundane home life and chancer mates into sharp contrast against the glamorous trappings of showbiz.

The show is an uncomplicated, feelgood one as Bishop strives to make the most of what he suspects will be his limited time in the sun, sharing his extraordinary experience with the audiences as if he was regaling his friends with yet another yarn that begins ‘You’ll never guess what happened to me…’. That lack of pretension is thoroughly endearing, shaping his comic outlook.

There may not be much in the way of well-crafted jokes here, but Bishop is excellent company with his self-mocking tales that are guaranteed to raise your spirits. Even the most curmudgeonly critic of these big-name shows can’t deny that.

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I was a contestant in the same competition back in 2001 and knew John Bishop already as he'd been a featured act at the venue a number of times previously. It made me think I had no chance of winning cos he was being unfairly championed. A few months later I went to see a friend perform at a local show and Bishop was on the bill. He spent most of the time poking fun at a member of the audience who I later found out to be me. It wasn't until he came over to apologise that I realised who he'd been referring to. Seeing his face on billboards and photoshopped DVD covers made me wonder how this guy had progressed with an act that borders on comedy. His performance on Live at the Apollo was all about him being on the show before. What a conceited man he is. Phony accent too. Pathetic

Nick, November 2010

I saw the show at Southport theatre and was not very impressed. Twenty minutes material spread out into two plus hours. He used bad language and tried to use the audience to drag the show out a bit longer by asking questions and encouraging them to call out answers, this backfired when he received an answer he did not approve of. His Liverpool accent I thought was a little to contrived so I looked up his origin it read as Runcorn now living in Manchester. I don't think Liverpool people would class Runcorn Cheshire as being in Liverpool.

Liverpool Lou, November 2010

Saw John Bishop in Southport on November 3, he was brilliant, a warm and witty comedian who really engaged with the audience. Unfortunately, in the second half, someone in the front row made some sort of very abusive remark relating to mothers and John found it very hard to recover himself from this, I felt really sorry for him (as I think many of the audience did) and he kept apologising to this guy . It slightly took the edge off for him but he is a great performer and was very popular and well liked by the audience.

Marie, November 2010

Ken and Riera obviously are cuckoo John Bishop is the best thing for a long time. If John Bishop was so rubbish why oh why has he sold out everywhere ? John Bishop is brilliant!

Natalie, October 2010

He is crap: 'Men don't like texting, do they', and so on

arthur seaton, June 2010

Was him in Norwich very funny. My daughter has not stop laughing since

James, April 2010

I forgot to say that in the Cardiff gig (and all his gigs i presume), he talked about television appearances. He explained he didnt like watching himself on tv but did so to see what of his material had been shown, so he could then remove it from his shows. True to his word, every part of the show was fresh to me and i have seen most of his tv appearances.

James, April 2010

Saw John in Cardiff few weeks ago. He was better than i was expecting, and i was already a fan. He was witty, funny and very warm. The gig in question was a re-scheduled date from a january gig which he cancelled. There were only about 200 of us crammed into the bar, very intimate. He apologised for cancelling on us in january and put on a free bar during the interval! Can't argue with that!

James, April 2010

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