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Comedy superstar John Bishop goes on tour
Comedian, TV presenter and actor John Bishop took a less travelled route into show business. Born and raised in Liverpool, the younger Bishop was a semi-professional footballer for Southport and Hyde United, following in the footsteps of older brother Eddie, who played professionally for Tranmere Rovers, Chester City and Crewe Alexandria.
Off the pitch, John Bishop 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. Following his debut as a stand-up in 2000, Bishop quickly started to get noticed. 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.
This momentum carried through into an equally successful 2010, notably appearing in Ken Loach’s film Route Irish and on the panel shows Would I Lie To You, QI, A League Of Their Own and as both host and guest on Have I Got News For You?.
His 2011 tour Sunshine was followed by a DVD recorded live at the Liverpool Echo Arena. That same year, he hosted a BBC series John Bishop’s Britain and found himself in the coveted spot at the top of the leaderboard on Top Gear’s “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car”. He was on the road again in 2012 with his Rollercoaster tour.
An autobiography arrived in 2013, followed by a slot hosting the Royal Variety Performance. After another spell on the road in 2014, Bishop was given his own BBC variety show, The John Bishop Show, which featured guests such as Leona Lewis, Paul Weller and Jessie Ware.
In between tours, Bishop has continued to be a regular on the small screen, hosting four seasons of his intimate chat show John Bishop: In Conversation With… as well as Amazon Prime’s football programme Back Of The Net, alongside ex-footballer Peter Crouch and presenter Gabby Logan. He also went on a road trip around Ireland in 2019 for his ITV series John Bishop’s Ireland.
In 2020, Bishop announced a series of warm-up shows previewing new material. These shows were rescheduled to September 2021. He also announced his eighth stand up show, Right Here Right Now, touring across the UK in 2021 and 2022, along with a new campaign to get people in the audience talking to each other called "Say Hello" .
"When you attend an event, you’ve something in common with everyone there, but often you don’t say hello to anyone you don’t know," says Bishop. "The idea is that by wearing a badge that says 'Say Hello', you’re inviting people to just say hello to each other. It’s an ice breaker. You can put your phone away, talk to others and maybe make a few friends. It’s about being in the same place at the same time, enjoying the same things. It’s a brilliant campaign; try and get behind it. I’ll see you soon."
In November 2023, Bishop announced the Back At It! UK tour, kicking off 9 March and ending March 2025. In 2024, the comedy superstar announced that he would be embarking on his tenth stand-up tour, John Bishop: 25, to celebrate his incredible 25-year career.
‘the hottest stand-up going’
★★★★★
Daily Telegraph
‘John Bishop has taken on the mantle of Britain’s top comic’
★★★★★
Daily Mirror
’A stand-up masterclass... top quality comedy’
★★★★★
Liverpool Echo
25 Years of Stand Up Tour
October 2025
Thurs 2 – Plymouth Pavilions
Fri 3 – The O2, London
Sat 4 – Co-op Live, Manchester
Weds 8 – Utilita Arena, Newcastle
Thurs 9 – Ovo Hydro, Glasgow
Fri 10 – P&J Live, Aberdeen
Sat 11 – First Direct Arena, Leeds
Thurs 16 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
Fri 17 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham
Sat 18 – Brighton Centre
Sun 19 – Bournemouth IC
Thurs 23 – Utiliate Arena, Cardiff
Fri 24 – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
The alphabet according to Liverpool's finest Comedian, Vegetarian, and Motorbike fan
Took my daughter and her partner to see John Bishop at The Guildhall Portsmouth on Saturday 15th February. We all throughly enjoyed the evening. Was hilariously funny and hadn't laughed so much in a while. He was great entertainment, and would totally recommend anyone going to watch him. He comes across extremely genuine and his personality are amazing. Such an amazing person
Bloody fantastic evening... Great mix of depth in the story telling, emotion and big laughs!
Small venue, good view, friendly staff, well organised. Excellent show by John Bishop, up close and fully engaged the audience.
Just brilliant, no other words needed. The whole experience from buying the tickets to visiting the show was just so easy, excellent service all round.
John bishop was really good, but very disappointed with the position of the seats . We knew our seats would have slight restriction, but was not warned we could not see half the stage from the persition of the seats plus very limited view of the other half of the stage because of three different railings we had to look through. I feel we should have been warned that the view was extremely limited
What a great night. Mr Bishop was entertaining from the first minute to the last. The age of the audience ranged greatly and I think that is a testament to John's ability to reach out to all ages. The disruption to the show proceedings clearly upset John, but he dealt with it very professionally. Thank you.
What a great night. Mr Bishop was entertaining from the first minute to the last. The age of the audience ranged greatly and I think that is a testament to John's ability to reach out to all ages. The disruption to the show proceedings clearly upset John, but he dealt with it very professionally. Thank you.
Well what can I say...just brilliant John as always. See you next year . Never give up boy, you are such a lovely chap and know you are loved xx ❤️
An excellent show that included great stories brought together by a masterclass of comic delivery concluding with a poignant and loving ending and tribute to John's Mother.
This was our 3rd time, seeing John Bishop, seen him before in 2017 & 2022. He always pulls it out of the bag with his linked story telling, with the video at the end bringing it all together. Loved it so much we've booked for the show in Birmingham in November 2025.
I've seen John bishop so many times he's such a joy to watch and obviously 🙄 funny I'll be seeing him again next October for his 25 years anniversary! X
I thought John was at his usual entertaining best of Liverpool humour told in an extremely appealing way to an audience of very appreciate listeners.
Very good show both funny yet in parts emotional. Well worth getting tickets.
John was so good,as he said strange doing an afternoon show but he soon had us all laughing at his stories.the spa theatre isn't the best venue for views of the stage so many pillars in the way.. would definitely watch John bishop again and would visit the spa again but maybe check I had better tickets
Brilliant show smaller venue was great had a fantastic night
Great show - very funny and well worth going to see him but Spa Scarborough was certainly not a good venue - big pillars everywhere blocking the stage - many unhappy people with the Spa !!
What a great night watching John Bishop, he was so funny, saw him a few years ago and he's still so good, lovely words about his mum as well, glad he's now Back At It.
Absolutely great night. Very funny & interesting. Lovely, caring chap. The venue wasn't great with pillows which obstructed views.
Laughed the whole way through. John is excellent and to be able to use sign language is an absolute bonus. Good little venue. I went to the matinee session which for those needing babysitters is another bonus .
We went to the spa theatre in Scarborough to watch him , nice venue unless you was sat behind a pillow , John picked up on this and walked round the stage so everyone got a chance to see him , great show though , he's fantastic would go see him again