Entertainment

A sit-down chat with stand-up John Bishop

His comedy routine has sold out arenas but John Bishop has ditched the gags for a while in favour of more in-depth conversations with a roster of hand-picked celebs. Gemma Dunn quizzed him on his chat-show-host role

Liverpool comic and former pharmaceutical rep John Bishop's new show is John Bishop: In Conversation With...
Liverpool comic and former pharmaceutical rep John Bishop's new show is John Bishop: In Conversation With... Liverpool comic and former pharmaceutical rep John Bishop's new show is John Bishop: In Conversation With...

THE CHAT SHOW IS A WHOLE NEW DIRECTION FOR YOU. WHAT INSPIRED THE MOVE?

It's something I've wanted to do for a while, but only when the time was right. [TV commissioning editors] want the interview to be an entertainment show – and I wanted something a bit more old-school.

DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR GUESTS?

They're all hand-picked. I wouldn't interview anyone I wasn't interested in and although some are friends to a greater or lesser extent, a relationship just evolves. [But] we go right across from James [Corden], who I know well, to Rupert Everett, who I'd never met before, and this was an opportunity to have an hour with them.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR INTERVIEW TECHNIQUE?

It's reflected in the title: I don't want to have anyone speaking in my ear, any auto cue, any notes. I do research on the person, we sit down and then we talk. It's purely a conversation that can go in any direction.

IF THIS TAKES OFF, CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF FOLLOWING IN CORDEN'S FOOTSTEPS AND ELOPING TO LA?

No. What James has done is brilliant; he's a unique talent who can communicate with people on so many levels, but for me, I just love the UK. I went over to LA and spent a bit of time there, spent a bit of time with James, and it's a lovely life, but I just like Britain.

HOW DOES YOUR COMEDY AND SCOUSE ACCENT FARE OVER THE POND?

I thought there would be a language barrier, but not at all. The difficulty was the patter, and by that I mean in England, someone says something in a comedy club and you know there's going to be a funny line, whereas in America it can just be a statement. There was one line I said, which I've said before: 'I've been married for 23 years' and then I pause and go, 'on and off' – that's the joke. I was on stage, said it, and they all started clapping! I was like 'What are you clapping for?' The 'on and off' got lost! But who knows? If someone said, 'Do you want to go over and be as successful as James Corden?', who's going to say, 'No'? But that's not the life for me. This and everything that I am doing here is so much better than I ever thought it could have been.

HAVE THE LAST 10 YEARS, SINCE YOU STARTED OUT, BEEN A WHIRLWIND?

It's mental. It's bonkers. In the last 10 years, I couldn't have done [this show] at any other time. I couldn't have done it before I did the other things, because I don't think I would have had the relationship with the people I'm interviewing. But yeah, it's been a whirlwind. In fact, I picked up an old sunglasses case this morning and inside it was my old business card [that read] 'John Bishop, UK transplantation manager or director'. I'm going to keep it as a reminder of what I might have to go back to.

DO YOU FIND THE MORE SUCCESS YOU HAVE, THE MORE PRESSURE YOU FEEL?

[Success is] liberating if you've had another life, another job, or like me, you're a little bit older [Bishop turns 50 in November]. But I don't want a predictable career and I know whatever happens, it's still better than the job I had, which was a good job anyway. Success gives you confidence, but for me, not having to go back to work for somebody else, is success. In terms of putting pressure on, it's individual; everyone has their own standards. But because this show is such a departure, it would have been easier not to do it. The pressure comes from the desire to want to do it.

HOW GREAT WAS THE RISK OF LEAVING A STABLE [PHARMACEUTICAL] JOB TO TAKE A PUNT AT THIS CAREER?

Huge. Not just for me, for my family too [Bishop has three sons with wife Melanie]. You've got to sit down and go, 'You've got a really steady job in a blue-chip company, a company car, nice salary and things you never thought you'd have in terms of security and you want to give it up to try and make strangers laugh?' If my wife didn't buy into the idea, it would have been very different.

:: John Bishop: In Conversation With... starts on W on Thursday September 1.