Is This Thing On? based on John Bishop's origin story

Will Arnett spent six weeks working as a stand-up to prepare for his role as a comedian in the new film Is This Thing On? 

In it he plays a man called Alex Novak who, while in the throes of a marriage break-up, signs up to an open mic night, discovering a new hobby that teaches a lot about himself.

Speaking to Johnny Vaughan on Radio X drivetime yesterday, Arnett said: ‘When we were doing prep, for about six weeks I did stand-up three times a night. 

‘And I'm not a stand-up comedian… I’d never done it before. It's quite nerve-racking. So, I have a lot of respect for stand-ups and comics and what they do.

‘I was also always doing material from the film.We were trying to work it out. That was kind of the point of it.’

He said he was doing it in character, so would be introduced as Alex Novak – even though sometimes the audience would recognised him.

‘I'd go and they'd say, "Alex Novak". And people would be like, "What's going on?" I think maybe people thought I was having a nervous breakdown..’

He also told how director Bradley Cooper – who also co-stars – shot the comedy club sections in the film with a singe handheld camera. 

‘We shot it all almost in real time,’ Arnett explained. ‘The audiences, we’d never sweeten the laughter. All the laughter is real, or non-laughter, depending on where we were in the film. And so, we didn't do a lot of takes. When I did the stand-up, it was all happening in real time.’

The film is based on the real-life experiences of John Bishop, who took up comedy after wandering in to the Frog & Bucket in Manchester as he was going through a relationship crisis. 

Arnett said: ‘John was going through a divorce, separated from his wife, and he went to a pub to get a drink.

‘They said that he had to pay a cover, and he didn't want to pay it. And they said, "Well, you can go in for free if you put your name down, because we're having an open mic night for comedy". He knows nothing about comedy, but he puts his name down.

‘He went in there and he starts doing stand-up, but he doesn't tell anybody his life. Eventually that starts to help him get back on his feet as a person, and nobody in his life knows that he's doing it.’ 

 Is This Thing On?  had its world premiere as the closing film of the New York Film Festival  last week and it is scheduled to be released in December.

• Johnny Vaughan is on Radio X weekdays from 4pm to 7pm across the UK and on Global Player

Published: 14 Oct 2025