Comedy
Interview
The A-Z of John Bishop
The alphabet according to Liverpool's finest Comedian, Vegetarian, and Motorbike fan
A is for Acting
While he’s known for being funny, John Bishop has also had roles in drama series Skins and Accused – and from 2021 to 2022, he played the companion Dan Lewis in Doctor Who.
B is for Back At It
Bishop’s latest stand-up tour, Back At It, which took him all across the UK and Ireland, over to Europe, and even down to Australia and New Zealand. An international phenomenon, then.
C is for Charity work
Bishop once raised £4.2m for Sports Relief by completing a Paris to London triathlon – that’s 290 miles – and in 1992, before his fame, he cycled across Australia to raise money for the NSPCC. He’s also played for the England Soccer Aid team four times, hosted a Teenage Cancer Trust fundraiser at the Royal Albert Hall, and appeared on a charity single in aid of the Hillsborough Disaster victims.
D is for Life After Deaf
This is the moving documentary John Bishop made with his son, Joe, who lost most of his hearing as a teenager. It saw Bishop learn more about the Deaf community, as well as learning British Sign Language in order to sign an entire gig.
E is for Elvis Has Left The Building
This was the tour that became Bishop’s breakout, making him a mega-star in 2009 at the age of 42 – the age Elvis was when he died, as the title nods to. The show was nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award.
F is for Football
Bishop is more than just a keen footy fan – he actually used to be a semi-pro player, playing as a midfielder for several non-league teams across the North West including Crewe Alexandra, Southport FC and Stalybridge Celtic. He ended up swapping the pitch for a 9-to-5 in the pharmaceutical industry before getting into comedy, as we’ll fill you in on in a bit.
G is for LGBTQ+ activism
Bishop’s outspoken support for the LGBTQ+ community, including backing the Come Out 2 Play initiative against homophobia in football, won him the Ally of the Year award at the British LGBT Awards. In his speech he voiced his pride in his son, who is gay, and called for same-sex marriage to be legalised in Northern Ireland.
H is for Highest-paid
Forbes revealed Bishop as the UK’s highest-paid comedian in 2015, placing number nine in the world with estimated earnings of £5.1m for the year. Think of that next time you’re being funny for free.
I is for In Conversation With…
He’s hosted four seasons of this one-on-one talk show, which has seen him chatting with everyone from John Cleese and Lindsay Lohan to Jeremy Corbyn. He described the series as “the best thing I’ve ever done” in an interview with DigitalSpy, adding: “I’m not rooting for anything and I’m not trying to reveal anything – I’m just trying to get to know somebody for an hour.”
J is for The John Bishop Show
This was a more traditional comedy-focused chat show, which he hosted in 2022 – but it also boasted a star-studded line-up, including Courteney Cox, James Blunt and Shania Twain. That’s some address book!
K is for Kids
Bishop and his wife Melanie have three sons – 30-year-old Joe, 28-year-old Luke and 26-year-old Daniel. The proud father appeared alongside his sons to speak about fatherhood with GQ in 2019: “I don’t think since [his oldest] was born I’ve lived more than 90 seconds without thinking about one of them, because they’re in everything you think of,” he touchingly said.
L is for Liverpool
Bishop was born in Everton, Liverpool, and though he grew up just outside of the city in Runcorn and Winsford, his strong Liverpudlian accent is unmistakeable – as is his well-documented love for Liverpool FC.
M is for Motorbike
Always a keen cyclist, Bishop took it up a notch when he took his motorbike driving test last year. He now reportedly travels to all of his gigs on his BMW bike, and he routed his recent Irish tour around the famous Wild Atlantic Way ride. Don’t call it a midlife crisis…
N is for Neighbour
Some stand-ups get hecklers, but Bishop once one of his childhood neighbours asking for a catch-up in Warrington. Maybe not the best time and place for a reunion.
O is for Open mic
Bishop’s first ever gig was at an open mic at the Frog & Bucket Comedy Club in Manchester. He had only meant to come along as a punter, but realised entry was free if he got on stage. And as fate would have it, his wife Melanie, from whom he’d recently separated, was in the audience; she was so impressed that she took him back, and they’ve been together ever since. True story!
P is for Pig
Bishop adopted a pot-bellied pig named Milo from the RSPCA in 2013 – he was a part of the Bishop family for 10 years until he sadly passed away, with John writing a sweet tribute to him on Instagram.
Q is for Quitting
Bishop made his comedy debut in 2000, but it was only a part-time gig until 2006, when he finally left his long-time position as a pharmaceutical sales director in order to go pro.
R is for RSPCA
For his work with rescue animals, including but not limited to Milo, Bishop won the award for Celebrity Animal Champion at the 2018 RSPCA Honours.
S is for Siblings
John is close with his family, and he has three older siblings – Eddie (an artist and former professional footballer), Kathy and Carol.
T is for Top Gear
Bishop reigned at the top of Top Gear’s Star In A Reasonably Priced Car leaderboard for nearly half a year, knocking Tom Cruise off of top place – but was eventually bested by Rowan Atkinson.
U is for University
Bishop studied Social Science at Manchester Polytechnic. Not only that, but in recent years he received an honorary Doctor of Arts from his alma mater (now Manchester Metropolitan University), as well as an honorary fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University.
V is for Vegetarian
Ever the animal lover, Bishop has been a dedicated vegetarian since he was a teenager, when he witnessed a cow being slaughtered while working at a hamburger shop in Guernsey. In 2013, PETA crowned him the UK’s sexiest vegetarian.
W is for John Bishop’s Great Whale Rescue
Bishop starred in this lovely two-part documentary in 2020, in which he helped transfer the beluga whales Little White and Little Grey from captivity in Shanghai to the world’s first beluga whale sanctuary in Iceland.
X is for X
Whether posting clips from his stand-up or being outspoken about the causes he supports, you can find Bishop tweeting (X-ing?) over at @JohnBishop100. And yes, we know we’re all still calling it Twitter, but this is the best we could come up with for the letter X.
Y is for ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone‘
Bishop is a diehard Liverpool fan – he’s participated in charity matches at Anfield, cancelled a gig to host Jurgen Klopp’s farewell event at the M&S Bank Arena, and joined a plane full of Reds in singing the club’s famous anthem after their 2018 Champions League loss.
Z is for Zoo
You’d be forgiven for thinking the Bishop household is one! Besides the pigs we’ve covered, John and his wife also keep rescued alpacas, turkeys, horses, ponies, sheep and geese at their home.
