John Bishop

Comedian, TV presenter and actor John Bishop took a less travelled route into show business. Born and raised in Liverpool, after growing up in Runcorn and Winsford, the younger Bishop was a semi-professional footballer for Southport and Hyde United among many others, following in the footsteps of older brother Eddie, who played professionally for Tranmere Rovers, Chester City and Crewe Alexandria.

Off the pitch, after attending Manchester Polytechnic, "Bish" worked as a sales rep for a pharmaceutical company for 16 years, finally giving up the job in 2006 when his comedy career properly took off. Living in Manchester, following the split from his wife, he made his debut as a stand-up at the Frog & Bucket Comedy Club, "to cheer himself up", in 2000 and quickly started to get noticed on the Manchester scene.

In 2001, he was a finalist in the BBC New Comedy Awards, The Daily Telegraph Open Mic Awards and So You Think You’re Funny, winning the North West Comedian of The Year Award. The following year he won best newcomer from BBC Radio Merseyside.

Bishop continued on a steep uphill trajectory, but 2009 was to be his year. Not only was he nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award for his show Elvis Has Left The Building, he also appeared on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Live At The Apollo, Celebrity Mastermind, Channel 4’s Comedy Showcase and BBC Three series Lunch Monkeys. Bishop also appeared in a supporting role in E4’s Skins.

He has since gone on to tour arenas around the globe, hosted his own TV shows, raised millions for charity, had an autobiography published in 2013 and, in 2025 his story of becoming a comic was turned into the film, Is This Thing On? directed by Bradley Cooper and starring Will Arnett, and Laura Dern.