Comedy
Review
Review: John Bishop @ Edinburgh Festival Fringe
He'll be touring Winging It across the UK until the end of the year.
Located in the stunning Med Quad in the heart of Edinburgh, comedian John Bishop addresses a room of eager fans inside the Cow Barn. His relaxed delivery is amplified by the surroundings; John sitting comfortably on a stool adjacent to a notepad. It’s a technique he’s learned from his Edinburgh housemate Jason Manford. “I’ve never done this before,” he announces, occasionally leaning in to seemingly score the success of his jokes throughout the afternoon’s show.
It’s all building up to Winging It, the title of his forthcoming UK tour. Like many, he’s using Edinburgh Festival Fringe to hone his material, testing out what works and what doesn’t. Fortunately for him, it all seems to be on point.
It’s his confident demeanour that truly sets him apart. He is just as ease as you would imagine in a bar with friends, as he tells tales of particularly missteps at a live comedy show in Hollywood, and of his experience with his now adult children. It’s half stand-up, half storytelling, but always filled with laughs.
Unlike other acts over the course of Edinburgh Fringe, there are no gimmicks (unless you could the notepad… which we don’t). It’s as unpretentious as they come. Bishop is down to earth, approachable and immensely entertaining.
Come the UK tour, things are only set to get much bigger. The laughs are already near constant, but with the end of the notepad and the start of his big stage performance, John Bishop is already more than set to bring his northern charm to the masses.
Catch John Bishop at Edinburgh Fringe until the 25 August 2017, and on the Winging It tour over the coming months. Tickets for both are available through Ticketmaster.co.uk.
