Rollercoaster ride
COMEDIAN John Bishop is smart and likeable and has a ready laugh and a strong Scouse accent. He grew up on a council estate, dreaming of playing football for Liverpool. He played semi-professionally but settled for a season ticket and a job in sales, and is surprised to have found fame in middle age as a comedian: “It just wasn’t on the radar.”
We meet at the Mere, a health club and spa in Cheshire with its own lake and a golf course. “I joined because it’s close to where we live, but I’ve been a member now for nine months, and so far I’ve played seven holes, with two of my lads,” he says. “We were about to start the eighth hole, and I just went, ‘I’m bored, let’s go in’?” As we talk, one of his three teenage sons rings. “They do your head in, don’t they?” he says, after the call. His observational comedy captures how you love your offspring but can be so frustrated with their behaviour you could scream — or go on stage in front of thousands and take the mickey.
