363: Des Bishop and Of All People

Broccoli and Ice Cream with Myq Kaplan

Des Bishop! Comedian! Author! Polyglot! Delight! Des is a super funny comic and here is the proof in the form of nice things that have been said about him and it:

“Funny, erudite and effortlessly delivered.” - The Scotsman

“Charismatic, sincere, eloquent and always seeking the angle.”- Chortle

“Fast paced and clever. A sure-fire winner.” - The Sunday Age, Melbourne

Des Bishop’s new comedy special, Of All People, is an hour of original stand-up and a culmination of years of experience on stage all over including in Queens, Ireland, and China. Bishop crafts high-energy stories and jokes, bringing the audience on a wildly entertaining ride through tales of his international travels and the gap between his looks and attitude. The openness and honesty of his presenting style combined with his restless imagination and perceptive observations make Des Bishop a must-see for fans of unique, insightful and provocative comedy.

Des’s material often focuses on cultural differences he noticed being a transplant into Irish Society from Queens, NY at a young age. He always incorporates a lot of material about language. He is likely the only comic many of us will see doing some of the set in Mandarin and some in Irish, which he learned so he could do comedy while living in China and Ireland. He spent 1 year in China to learn Mandarin and 1 year in Ireland to learn Irish, and he’s done 60 minutes of comedy in both languages. And he remains an international presence, with a home and massive career in Ireland, and a life in the United States.

Of All People is the third hour from Des Bishop. You can see the special as of Oct 22, 2024, on the 800 Pound Gorilla Media YouTube channel and comedy hub.

About Des Bishop:

Now a massive star in Ireland, native New Yorker Des Bishop moved from Queens to Ireland in his mid-teens in 1990. The openness and honesty of his presenting style combined with his restless imagination and perceptive comic observations make Des Bishop a must-see for fans of unique, insightful and provocative comedy.

He came to Irish fame with TV shows, The Des Bishop Work Experience (2004), where he lived on minimum wage working different jobs in Ireland, Joy In The Hood, where he taught stand-up comedy in disadvantaged areas of four major Irish cities, and In The Name Of The Fada (2008, winner of the IFTA Best TV Series Award) about when he decided to learn Irish from scratch and perform a 60-minute stand-up comedy routine in the Irish language.

In 2010, Des wrote his most personal show called My Dad Was Nearly James Bond, inspired by his father, Mike who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Bishop won an Irish Book Of The Year Award for his memoir of the same name, and brought a solo show version to the Edinburgh Fringe to widespread acclaim and five-star reviews. In 2013, Bishop went to Beijing, China to learn Mandarin. He is now fluent and the show about his experience, Breaking China was another major hit series with another acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Des has appeared on many live stand-up shows including Edinburgh Comedy Festival Live (BBC), Live at the Comedy Store (Comedy Central) and Australia’s Spicks and Specks (ABC). He was also the star of HBO’s A Comic’s Climb, his Aspen Comedy Festival debut in 2005.

He has released five best selling stand-up DVDs and his new digital special, Of All People comes out Oct 22, 2024 on 800 Pound Gorilla Media after his specials One Day You’ll Understand (RTE 2018) and Made in China (Universal 2015).

About this podcast:

You can listen to it! AND this is only the first HALF of my conversation with Des. For the second half, subscribe via Apple Podcasts OR merely head on over here to Patreon! Thanks and love, all!