Back in October 2000, a depressed and almost divorced Liverpudlian called John Bishop naively put his name down for an open mic spot, despite having no experience of stand-up whatsoever, purely to avoid paying £4 to enter the Frog & Bucket comedy club in Manchester.
He didn’t expect to be invited on stage, but he was, and his off-the-cuff debut monologue that night triggered a chain of events that saved his marriage to Melanie and launched his stand-up career. It’s a really sweet story – one that’s actually inspired the new film called Is This Thing On?, directed by Bradley Cooper and starring Will Arnett. It seems to be getting good reviews too, so I will watch it and give my reaction to it at some stage, if not in the cinema then after it becomes available online.
25 years on from that first appearance, having since become one of the most successful comedians of the 21st century, John has been celebrating the milestone with a new tour, from which one of the performances was broadcast on Sky in December. He’s also posted a few shows from the past couple of years and a video diary from his new tour over on Youtube.
I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, having bought all of his stand-up DVDs that were released between 2010-2018. I just think he’s a very funny observational story-teller and a really nice, down to earth guy, and I like how he does something a little bit special or different at the end of some of his shows, rather than just finishing with a joke. In the past I’ve seen a few TV programmes that he’s been in as well, including his self-titled shows, but most notable for me was his stint as companion Dan Lewis in Jodie Whittaker’s era of Doctor Who, and last year’s cameo in the ITV drama Code Of Silence alongside Rose Ayling-Ellis.
So now’s the perfect time for me to mark his anniversary by having a Bishop binge on his stand-up material, revisiting his DVDs that I haven’t watched for a while and then checking out his newer material that I haven’t seen at all before. And I’ve also compiled a playlist with a selection of clips and interviews. So I hope you enjoy!
Contents
DVDs
Elvis Has Left The Building
John’s first DVD – which was apparently the fastest-selling debut stand-up DVD ever at the time in 2010 – presents a 75-minute show filmed at the Liverpool Empire on the last day of his tour. It’s a very funny set all about him trying to live his dreams, and there are a few that he focuses on.
One concerns his love of football, as he’s previously played in midfield for several small teams. So he wishes he was good enough to be in the top tier, and at the start of the show there’s a film of several pro footballers pretending to compliment him on how brilliant he is, along with a commentary on him playing in the garden with his sons. Then later in the show there’s a long but funny routine about a charity football match he was invited to take part in by Kenny Dalglish, with footage of the match then shown during the finale. John was a substitute on the Liverpool Legends team, while the opposing All-Stars team included Bradley Walsh, who many years later would also play a companion alongside Jodie Whittaker in Doctor Who.
He’s also keen to impress his children, though finds it hard to do so, especially his teenage son. John recalls how amusing it was when his son’s voice was breaking and talks about how obsessed with computers he is. And he recalls how he himself was invited to play a part in the teen drama Skins, which he thought might give him some credibility with his offspring, only to discover why the youngsters really watch it! John appeared in Series 3 & 4, following the departure of another future Doctor Who star, Peter Capaldi, earlier on. I’ve never watched Skins though, and I don’t plan to, but I know it was popular.
And on top of that, he’s also a big fan of Elvis Presley, and shares some facts he learned about the singer from a documentary, including a stark reminder that he died aged just 42 – which is the age John had just turned when watching that programme, and is the age I am now. So when he then transitions into a routine about the effects of turning 40, I can now relate to it more than I could when I first saw the DVD 15 years ago, so it’s one of the funniest parts of the show for me.
Anyway, John dreams of being an Elvis impersonator, so gives it a go at the end by donning a white jumpsuit and performing I Wish I Was In Dixie – although because he can’t sing, the Liverpool Harmonic Gospel Choir do the heavy lifting for him. Combined with the football clips, it’s an enjoyable end to the show.
In between all of that he does talk about various other things as well, including what it was like appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time as a professional comedian (alongside other comics like Jason Manford), his experience of hosting the Kitchen Utensils Awards, his reluctant return to the gym and buying some white trainers.
So it’s a very well structured and funny show altogether, while the opening film and closing song make it feel different to your average stand-up gig.
There are 40 minutes of extra features on the DVD as well that are fun to look through:
- Tour Diary (15:32) – This is a compilation of clips from various other venues on the tour, with glimpses behind the scenes and some on-stage footage. Some of the clips are very short and rather pointless, but others are amusing, including a raffle held at one gig. Most of the clips are in VHS quality, but the final section has higher resolution footage of rehearsals, backstage and the fans at Liverpool’s Echo Arena.
- Behind The Scenes (7:03) – A short but nice little feature that gives a glimpse into the preparations and filming of the show, along with vox pops with some of the fans.
- Porthcawl Elvis Festival (17:27) – John pays a visit to this crazy festival, which began in 2004 and is still going strong today. He talks to the organisers as well as some of the tribute acts and other people at the event, and they’re all clearly having a lot of good-hearted fun. Then he finishes by having an interesting chat with Elvis’ tour manager Charles Stone. The video has since been made available on the festival’s Youtube channel, but with an annoying watermark from their video conversion software across it throughout.
Finally, on top of all that, this DVD is one of those rare releases that contains a digital copy of the show that you can save to your computer. There’s a Windows program you can run to get a menu up, or you can just open the “download” folder to find a 1.3Gb WMV file, along with a lower resolution version for mobiles in both WMV and MP4 formats. None of his later DVDs offer that. His Rollercoaster title gave fans the chance to stream and download that show using the UltraViolet website, but it was only available for a limited time and the service closed in 2019.
Sunshine
John’s second DVD is another 75-minute show, again filmed in Liverpool at the end of his tour, but this time at the Echo Arena, on his 8th night at the venue. The brightness implied by the title reflects the fact that he’s had a very successful year, beginning with the sales of his previous DVD, and he shares a funny story about someone he saw buying it in HMV.
In some respects the show continues on from the previous one, which isn’t a bad thing at all, in that he talks more about the impact of being in his 40s and his experience of having a teenage son. Indeed, he does lengthy but very funny routines about why teenagers are so annoying, and why people without kids have so much more freedom and joy in their lives, with various examples to illustrate his points.
Meanwhile, among his other routines, he talks about some of his TV appearances, including how his sons responded to his race around the track on Top Gear when he beat Tom Cruise’s time, the swearwords he wasn’t allowed to use when he got his own stand-up show called John Bishop’s Britain (which I probably saw when it aired even if I don’t remember it now), and meeting Cheryl Cole at the Royal Variety Performance.
And then the finale sees him living out another musical dream. During the show he talks about his love of the movie Saturday Night Fever, explains how impossible it was to persuade his son that it’s cool, and shows an amusing film of him trying to emulate John Travolta’s look. So naturally he then finishes by dancing to Night Fever by the Bee Gees. And just like the previous show where a choir helped to cover his lack of singing skills, here a group of dancers from dance schools in Liverpool support him on stage, and there’s some nifty split-screen editing as well. So it’s a very catchy and lively way to end the show, after which he announces that it’s his last tour for a few years so he can focus on being a father.
Then there’s just over half an hour’s worth of bonus material on the disc as well:
- Behind The Scenes (10:41) – A nice little backstage tour where John shows us around his dressing room, meets various people on a stroll through the corridors, introduces us to the dancers (it’s nice that they all get individually credited), shows us the editing suite, explains why the arena is so good to perform in, and reflects on the fact that this tour is so much bigger than his last one.
- Night Fever (7:27) – Because there wasn’t room to get the dancers on stage in the smaller theatres during the tour, a film was made of John and the group dancing instead, at the Clapham Grand nightclub on their real light-up floor, which was then shown to the audience at the end of each show. So here we get to see that film, preceded by some behind the scenes material to show how it all came together. It’s good fun.
- Royal Albert Hall (13:21) – John is taken on a fascinating tour of this iconic venue, learning about the history and design of the building, and some of the acts who have performed there in the past, to mark the fact that he’s about to do a gig there for the first time. He would later film his Supersonic DVD there.
- Adverts (2:59) – These are the funny commercials that John showed to his audiences just before the interval, a section that’s cut from the main feature as that’s edited into one long show. He had auditioned for some adverts on the request of his agent, and because he didn’t get them, here he imagines what a couple of them might have looked like, as he attempts to promote Admiral car insurance (with lots of retakes) and Bazuka cream for verrucas.
Rollercoaster
Once again John’s third show on DVD is approximately 75 minutes long, but this time it was filmed in a different city, at the Manchester Arena. It uses an appropriately titled and catchy song called Rollercoaster by Hit The North as its theme tune, and the backdrop of the set represents a fairground, complete with a helter skelter slide that he uses at the start and end of the show.
He has plenty of material to share, because even though he decided to take a break from touring, it proved to be too much for his family to have him at home all the time, so he spent a ‘rollercoaster’ year doing some crazy things. He talks about other stuff first though, including a funny routine about how women are obsessed with Fifty Shades Of Grey, and he reflects on the London 2012 Olympics that a lot of people thought would be rubbish until they had to eat their words.
He then moves on to talk about his impressive achievements during the year – taking penalties and doing a terrifying parachute jump on A League Of Their Own, getting waxed for his Sport Relief “Week Of Hell” challenge (which involved cycling, rowing and running 290 miles from Paris to London), playing on the pitch in Soccer Aid, and reluctantly going to 10 Downing Street to meet PM David Cameron with the other Sport Relief participants. They’re all very interesting and funny recollections, and huge kudos to him for doing all of that.
During the show he also casually talks about the fact that he likes the music of George Michael and would love to have a “Mini-Me” version of himself. And both of those elements form the finale, as Game Of Thrones actor Dean Whatton, who is just 4½ feet tall, is revealed as John’s miniature double, and the two of them dance together to the Wham! hit I’m Your Man. So it’s not as elaborate as his previous finales, but it doesn’t need to be, as it’s a very catchy and uplifting ending.
As for extra features, there are just a couple on this particular DVD, lasting just 15 minutes altogether. So they’re not as long or as good as the bonus material on his previous DVDs, but they’re still worth a quick look:
- Making Of (6:20) – A montage showing the construction of the set, preparations for the show, the fans arriving, John’s long walk to the stage and his performance. So it’s not a chatty backstage tour like we’ve had previously, which is a shame, but it’s a nice little insight into how things came together on the night.
- Q&A (8:57) – Dean interviews John, asking questions that fans have sent in, including his favourite comedians, his hair, dinner party guests, guilty pleasures, becoming a vegetarian, his favourite school subjects and more. It’s fairly amusing in places.
Supersonic
This show is 80 minutes long and was filmed at the Royal Albert Hall, which John had a nice tour of on his earlier Sunshine DVD. It is a gorgeous venue. I sat in the front row there a few years ago for a Queen tribute concert, which was an amazing experience. And the audience for John’s show here had a great time too, quite understandably.
Once again he mines material from his family life to good effect, by observing that one of his teenagers has now turned 20, so is now just a bloke living in his house having everything done for him, along with the realisation that he and his wife are arguing more and he can’t make her laugh like he used to.
The latter point in turn leads to a great routine about how chatting up people now is much different to the non-internet days of the 80s, when men had to approach women in person and actually talk to them, often using cheesy chat-up lines. He demonstrates this by getting a lady up on stage – making this the only tour where he’s used members of the public in his act – and sets the scene for an 80s nightclub so he can come on to her.
Going further afield, meanwhile, he also talks about incidents relating to the filming of his TV series called John Bishop’s Australia, where he cycled across the country and had some interesting experiences. I don’t recall seeing it at the time, though I might have done and forgotten about it. He recalls how he inadvertently offended the people of Middlesbrough in the first episode, leading to a big confrontation with a heckler the next time he did a gig there, and there’s a surprising twist in the tale. He also tells us about his experience of getting first class travel on a plane, including how he made full use of the facilities, joining the mile-high club in the bathroom on his own, so to speak.
And then football is the other prominent theme, which tops and tails the show. At the beginning we see a film of him missing penalties at various events, leading to amusing cameos from Gary Lineker and his Match Of The Day colleagues, Graham Norton on his chat show, the presenters of The One Show, and the Loose Women interviewing John’s wife, all talking about what a failure he is for not scoring.
They then all appear on screen again near the end to do the opposite, fulfilling John’s imaginary dream by enthusing about what an amazing player he is, backed up by football managers and John doing an impression of a couple of players. Back in the Royal Albert Hall he then redeems himself by getting Jamie Redknapp up on stage so he can score a penalty past him – then makes it a lot harder for Jamie to get one in return by wearing a pair of massive hands and giving Jamie a larger ball.
So it’s not a musical finale this time, but the fact that it’s different is good for variety. The same goes for the nightclub routine with an audience member earlier on. In terms of music though, Bohemian Like You by The Dandy Warhols is the classic track used over the opening and closing credits.
Extra features are again fairly minimal, lasting just 20 minutes this time, but still worth a look:
- A Joke Too Far (10:25) – A funny spoof documentary where John is interviewed about living with the massive hands he had for the finale, doing his best to cope with the difficulties and discrimination he faces.
- Fan Twitter Q&A (10:42) – Just like the last DVD, John reacts to some of the serious and silly queries posted by his followers, about crazy things he’s done, Liverpool, becoming a comedian, meeting his heroes, football, time travel, best and worst gigs, and more. It does cut off oddly at the end though, as if he’s about to say something else.
Winging It
This DVD from 2018 presents a 90-minute show filmed at the London Palladium, but an hour-long edit has been available for free on John’s Youtube channel since Christmas 2024. Misleadingly he’s called it a “full” special there, despite it being half hour shorter than the DVD.
It feels strange at first because there’s no music at the start, unlike all of his previous shows. John even talks over the DVD menu to explain that they didn’t want to pay for any music on the menu this time. And he also tells you what the two options are (Play and Subtitles), because there are no extra features on the DVD either, or even a chapter selection menu for that matter. So it’s a very bare-bones release in that regard, which feels a bit flat at first compared to those that came before.
However, the longer duration makes up for the lack of bonus material, it is still a funny show, and there is a bit of music at the end (which, given who it’s by, probably explains why they couldn’t afford any good music at the start).
It’s been 3 years since John last toured, and in that time two big things have happened. Firstly, he turned 50, so he talks about the effects of getting older, and compares it to what women go through as they reach a similar age. And secondly, his sons left home now they’re in their twenties, which naturally upset him, so he explains how he and Melanie got a selection of animals to fill the emptiness somewhat, with horses, dogs, rhea birds and pigs. So he gets a lot of good material out of all that, including some heartfelt sentiments among the comedy.
He also reflects on meeting the Royal Family and U2, each in very different circumstances, and recalls how he met his wife Melanie. And the latter comes about after he analyses how the current generation approach dating compared to his younger days, with Tinder and the TV show Naked Attraction encouraging very different ways of thinking and behaving instead of just going up to people in person or appearing on Blind Date. So there’s a lot of very amusing observations there too.
Ultimately though, as has been clear from his previous shows, he deeply cares about his wife and children. And so he finishes by presenting a montage of photos and videos of his life and his family, including references to things he’s mentioned during the gig, set to the aptly-chosen song You’re The Best Thing About Me by U2. It’s really sweet and occasionally amusing, and it’s lovely to get such an intimate look at what things are like for him off-stage.
Youtube & TV Shows
These are more recent shows that haven’t been released on DVD, and which I’ve never seen before until now.
Work In Progress
This 34-minute gig is available for free on John’s Youtube channel, and was filmed on January 7, 2024 at the Top Secret Comedy Club in Covent Garden, as part of the preparations for his Back At It world tour.
Because it’s a small venue, unlike the theatres and arenas we’re used to seeing him in, the intimate setting allows John to talk to various people in the front row, including an 18-year-old lad about his dreams for the future and a psychologist. So it’s great to see him engaging with the crowd directly like that for a change, he’s very good at it.
He does talk about other things in amongst all those interactions though. He recalls a few other gigs he’s done, including a fight that broke out during a show in Birmingham, and a story about being a compere when Marcus Brigstocke was on stage (repeated from a previous show). He also tells the audience about the very first jobs he had, long before becoming a comedian, in particular revealing a surprising act of revenge he took against someone whilst working as a plasterer’s mate. And then other little asides include his dream of playing football for Liverpool, his parents being married for over 60 years, and his attempt to ride an electric scooter around Covent Garden.
So it’s very different to his previous shows released on DVD because of how small, short and interactive it is, but it works very well.
Live From New York
This 52-minute show is also exclusive to his Youtube channel. It was filmed in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Comedy Cellar in New York, and is significant for being the first ever show that he filmed in the USA.
By sheer chance it also happened to take place on January 21, 2025 – the day after Donald Trump‘s second inauguration. So he reacts to that and Trump being shot in the ear, as well as comparing American elections to our own in the UK. It’s a credit to John’s friendly and upbeat style of comedy, and his personal restraint, that he treads carefully and doesn’t succumb to temptation to be abusive with his remarks here. That’s despite everyone knowing that the convicted criminal of a president would cause chaos, sew division, be rude to people, ignore facts and tell lies, purely to suit his own egotistical needs, ingrained prejudices and authoritarian desires, which indeed he has done and continues to do. John makes a very brief sarcastic quip about how ‘well’ it’s going in his next show from the same venue below, but doesn’t expand on it.
Anyway, moving on from that, he then talks about his love of New York (which I’ve been to and would love to revisit one day), before embarking on a lengthy but enjoyable routine about his attempts to get fit. So he talks about swimming in the sea, meeting a personal trainer at a gym, getting a Peloton bike and attempting a 10km run, before then repeating the routine from his Rollercoaster tour about getting waxed before cycling on the roads. He then finishes with the story from his Winging It tour about meeting U2.
So the second half of the show consists mainly of material that I’ve already heard on his DVDs, but apart from that the new stuff he does is good.
Back At It
This is the longest of John’s shows on Youtube so far, at just over an hour, and was again recorded at New York’s Comedy Cellar. To begin with he talks to some people from the UK who he notices in the audience, which allows him to go on tangents explaining certain things about the UK to the Americans present.
Beyond that though, the show is ultimately about how he nearly quit stand-up comedy as a result of being in his 50s and going through what he terms the “manopause” – which he acknowledges is very different and nowhere near as bad as the menopause for women, and he does a routine about how men aren’t prepared for what their female partners will go through.
But he still has to deal with quite a bit himself, as he discovers that he’s getting more emotional at his age (particularly at one moment during a rock concert), decides to have a vasectomy, and is given a prescription for testosterone to correct his low levels of the hormone. And it’s the latter that gives him a boost and helps him to feel normal again, to the point where he decides to have a go on a scooter left to him by his late father-in-law.
There are other things he talks about along the way too, including getting security installed at his new house and his wife getting HRT. And there are a few little bits repeated from previous shows, including how he was diagnosed as being mildly dyslexic as a child, a brief recollection of the time Kenny Dalglish invited him to play football, and the impact of his mother’s passing. But it’s mostly all new material.
He finishes by talking about Sir Ian McKellen inviting him to star in a pantomime with him, in a role where they’d have to kiss each other in every performance. It’s a very funny story, but also a moving one, as at one of the shows he had his last photograph taken with his mother, which he puts on screen at the end. So it’s another great gig altogether, being funny, thoughtful and heartfelt as always, in front of a very appreciative crowd.
There’s also a bunch of short clips from the Back At It tour when he’s interacting with the crowds at other venues, and a brief tour diary from his gigs in Australia and New Zealand. So they’re quite fun too.
25th Anniversary Tour
In 2025 John celebrated 25 years of being a stand-up comedian by embarking on an anniversary tour, with all tickets priced at £25 (plus fees). And a show he recorded live in Dublin was broadcast on Sky Comedy in December.
Filmed at the 3Arena, and with John walking out to Let Me Entertain You by Robbie Williams, the programme lasts 1 hour 45 minutes with adverts, so the show itself is around an hour and a half at most. And it’s a great way to celebrate his career, with a mix of new and old material, and even some of the old stuff has little bits added here and there.
At the beginning it’s mainly fresh stories, as he updates us on the latest situation with the rescue animals his wife keeps getting and the pig they had to put down, reveals the three key reasons why he couldn’t get on telly during his early stand-up career, recalls being in America when Donald Trump had his second inauguration (this is a different routine to the American show above), and shares some fun signs he learned in BSL.
He then explains that he asked fans on social media what they most remember from his 25 years, with two key things coming up. The first is his Sport Relief challenge, so he repeats the routine from his Rollercoaster tour about it, which is still very funny. He also redoes the routine from Supersonic about having first class travel on a plane when going to Australia to film for the BBC.
The other thing that stuck in people’s minds was his autobiography. Just like those for many other comedians, I’ve never got around to reading it but I still might do one day. In any case his fans, including myself, enjoy hearing about his life off-stage as well as on it.
So he talks about how he met his wife Melanie and then expands on how their relationship and their family with children has evolved from there. Some of the material is similar to previous shows, including dating in the 80s vs now and teaching his sons about pornography, but some other aspects haven’t been discussed in the earlier gigs I’ve watched, so it keeps it fresh and interesting.
The ending is then very emotional, for him as well as the audience, as he recalls how he and Melanie got back together after nearly getting divorced, all thanks to him having a go at doing stand-up comedy 25 years ago. Given that he’s marking such a big milestone, it’s the logical and sensible story to finish with, and the very apt closing song is one that Melanie put on a mixtape for him back in the 80s – Don’t You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds.
So all in all, it’s a great show. Even though it has some repeated material, it isn’t a greatest hits gig, as there’s a fair amount of new content as well, easily enough to make it worth watching. And he delivers it brilliantly as always, so he made me laugh a lot.
In addition, John has also posted some extra features on Youtube to mark the anniversary:
- Tour Diary – This consists of 6 episodes lasting roughly 20-30 minutes each, lasting around 2 hours 10 minutes in total. The official playlist has been sorted in reverse order though, so you have to add them to your own watchlist if you want to view them in the right sequence. But it’s a fascinating and very well-edited look at the tour, far more in-depth than you normally get from a stand-up comic. We follow him all the way, from the warm-up gigs right through to the final shows, including a return to the Frog & Bucket where it all started. It really feels like you’re on the journey with him as you explore the hidden corridors and rooms of each venue, spend time on the tour bus, learn how much work is done by John and the brilliant crew he has around him, watch as they deal with problems that come up, see how much they’re enjoying their time together overall, and feel moved by his emotional final show with Melanie by his side.
- 25 Questions – This 6-minute clip sees John answering quick-fire questions on all sorts of things. It’s nothing amazing but it’s a little bit of fun.
- 2025: A Look Back – In this 12-minute video, John reacts to a series of photos from his very busy year, fondly recalling his many experiences and achievements. It’s really nice and is quite interesting, including some things I didn’t know he’d been up to.
Conclusion
And that’s it, I hope you’ve enjoyed my trawl through John Bishop’s various shows. I certainly have, and in his most recent tour he’s proved that he’s still top of his game. Having not watched his DVDs for a while, there were quite a few things I didn’t remember, so they all felt fresh and interesting. And I think being of a similar age to him in his earliest releases means I can relate to some of his material much more now.
So he deserved to have that 25th anniversary celebration, and it’s really great to see him back on stage. And while he’s now taking another break from touring, quite rightly and understandably, hopefully it won’t be too long before he returns to what he does best.
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