Desmond Bishop (born 12 November 1975) is an American-Irish comedian. He was brought up in New York and moved to Ireland at the age of 14. He primarily resides there.

Approach to comedy

Bishop's comedy has covered social issues, such as poverty. In 2000, Bishop was diagnosed with

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle, or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an ...

; and went on to turn his experiences into comedy material.

Life and career

Bishop is a comedian who has worked as a comic in Ireland since the late 1990s. He began hosting shows at the

International Comedy Cellar The Dublin Comedy Cellar is Ireland's oldest comedy club located on Dublin's South Wicklow Street in the International Bar. The Cellar was founded in 1988 by 'Mr. Trellis' members Irish comedians Ardal O'Hanlon, Barry Murphy and Kevin Gildea. D ...

- a venue set up by Irish comics such as

Ardal O'Hanlon Ardal O'Hanlon (; born 8 October 1965) is an Irish comedian, actor, and author. He played Father Dougal McGuire in ''Father Ted'' (1995–1998), George Sunday/Thermoman in '' My Hero'' (2000–2005), and DI Jack Mooney in '' Death in Paradise'' ...

Kevin Gildea The Dublin Comedy Cellar is Ireland's oldest comedy club located on Dublin's South Wicklow Street in the International Bar. The Cellar was founded in 1988 by 'Mr. Trellis' members Republic of Ireland, Irish comedians Ardal O'Hanlon, Barry Murphy ...

and Barry Murphy. It was here that Bishop honed his act. Bishop appeared in the 2002 film '' In America'', in which he played a high stockbroker rapping in the back of a New York taxi cab. He reached a broader audience after his TV show '' The Des Bishop Work Experience'' screened on

RTÉ Two (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

in 2004. The show featured him attempting to survive for one month working a minimum wage job in various parts of Ireland. During the series, he worked at

Abrakebabra Abrakebabra is an Irish fast-food restaurant chain established in Dublin, Ireland in 1982. When the first Abrakebabra restaurant was opened in Rathmines in Dublin it attracted huge attention catering to late-night crowds with a fresh menu tha ...

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

; The Aqua-dome,

Tralee Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in Count ...

; Superquinn,

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

; and the Central Hotel,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

. A more recent TV show, named ''Joy in the Hood'', featured him travelling to deprived areas of Ireland's major cities and mentoring local people in stand-up comedy. Bishop speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and has also worked in China where he has adopted the Chinese stage name Bi Hansheng (毕瀚生) and has appeared in a few Chinese dating shows. In 2017, Bishop took part in the first series of the Irish version of '' Dancing with the Stars.'' He was partnered with Italian dancer,

Giulia Dotta Giulia Dotta (born 31 January 1992) is an Italian dancer and choreographer. She started dancing from an early age specialising in latin and ballroom dance and has had competition experience at both national and international levels. She is best ...

. They were eliminated in the sixth week of the competition, finishing in eighth place.

Personal and family

Bishop attended St. Francis Preparatory School in the

Fresh Meadows Fresh Meadows is a neighborhood in the northeastern section of the New York City borough of Queens. Fresh Meadows used to be part of the broader town of Flushing and is bordered to the north by the Horace Harding Expressway; to the west by Po ...

neighbourhood of the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

borough of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. At the age of 16, he began school at St Peter's College, Wexford in Ireland. He later re-sat his Leaving Certificate at

Blackrock College Blackrock College ( ga, Coláiste na Carraige Duibhe) is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded by French missionary Jules Leman in 186 ...

, Dublin. He has a degree in English and history from

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one ...

. Bishop's brother Aidan works as a comedian in Ireland. Both are involved in running the International Comedy Club. His father died from lung cancer in February 2011, and on 19 March 2019, his mother Eileen died at the age of 77, after a long illness. In February 2021, Bishop became engaged to Hannah Berner, a main cast member on the reality television series '' Summer House''. They married at Bishop's home in

The Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End of Long Island, consist of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, which together comprise the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York. The Hamptons are a popular seaside resort and one o ...

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

on 13 May 2022.

Irish language

Bishop's TV show, ''In the Name of the Fada'' premiered in 2008. It chronicles Bishop's undertaking to learn Irish to a level sufficient to perform a stand-up act in the language. During this period he achieved fluency in the language. He later used his Irish-language skills to sing the Gaeilge version of the song ''

Jump Around "Jump Around" is a song by American hip hop group House of Pain, produced by DJ Muggs of the hip hop group Cypress Hill, who has also covered the song. It became a hit in 1992, reaching number 3 in the United States. A 1993 re-release of the ...

'' called ''Léim Thart''.RTE.ie - Press Release - New season schedule
The DVDs of his live show ''Tongues'' and of the series ''In the Name of the Fada'' were released on 14 November 2008.

Works

Standup DVDs

*''Des Bishop - Live at Vicar Street'' (2003) *''Des Bishop - Live '' (2005) *''Des Bishop - Fitting In'' (2006) *''Des Bishop - Tongues'' (2007) *''Des Bishop - Desfunctional'' (2009)

Book

*''My Dad Was Nearly James Bond'' (2011)

References

External links

Official website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, Des 1975 births Living people Alumni of University College Cork American male comedians Irish emigrants to the United States American stand-up comedians Irish male comedians Irish stand-up comedians Irish television personalities People educated at Blackrock College People from Flushing, Queens People from County Galway People from County Wexford Comedians from New York (state) People educated at St Peter's College, Wexford 21st-century American comedians