Funny You Should Mention: Des Bishop

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Gist – “Funny You Should Mention: Des Bishop”

Date: August 5, 2026
Host: Vanessa Quirk (filling in for Mike Pesca)
Guest: Des Bishop (comedian)

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Episode Overview

This episode features American-Irish comedian Des Bishop in a lively and revealing conversation touching on his unique upbringing, rise to fame in Ireland, personal struggles, the evolution of comedy on both sides of the Atlantic, social commentary on generational divides, and even a debate on pineapple as a pizza topping. The discussion explores how comedy and personal identity intersect with changing cultural norms in both Ireland and the US.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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Des Bishop's Background and Early Life

• Childhood in Queens, NY:
  • Des details growing up in Flushing, Queens and being a child model for Ford Modeling Agency.
  • Describes daily trips into Manhattan via the Midtown Tunnel, reflecting on New York’s evolving infrastructure and local lexicon (Ed Koch Bridge, RFK, Tappan Zee transitions).
  • “Of all the names that won’t stick, the Ed Koch will never stick.” (Des, 07:52)
• Moving to Ireland at 14:
  • Family’s decision after he was kicked out of school in NYC; prompted by his cousin suggesting boarding school in Ireland.
  • “Six weeks from the day that was suggested…it was that random.” (Des, 25:53)
  • Had never visited Ireland before, despite Irish heritage.
  • Describes Flushing's changing demographics and the quality and authenticity of NYC Chinese food. (27:02)

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Rise to Fame, Sobriety, and Public Battles

• Comedy Career in Ireland:
  • Broke out in 2004, quickly becoming one of the most popular comics in a small but passionate Irish fanbase.
  • “At its moment, I was one of the top three touring comics there.” (15:54)
• Testicular Cancer Story:
  • Diagnosis became public just as he was starting on Irish TV.
  • Chose to speak openly, using attention to raise awareness:
    • “I went to the Irish Cancer Society and said, how can I help?... So how can I do it in a way that's beneficial to you guys?” (16:53)
  • Lighthearted interactions with Tom Green about their similar experiences (18:24)
• Getting Sober at 19:
  • Never had a legal drink in the US; found support among other young people in AA/NA in both New York and Ireland.
  • “My main focus in life was trying to sort out my mental health. We didn’t call it mental health. I called it... my spiritual journey.” (61:18)

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Irish vs. American Comedy Styles

• Evolution of His Stand-Up:
  • Ireland: More storytelling, patience for narrative, influenced by Edinburgh style.
  • America: Punchier, higher energy, more aggressive – partly driven by pandemic frustration, the ‘cauldron’ of NY comedy clubs, and his resurgent “Queens energy.”
  • “Irish audiences are… very comfortable with, like, you telling a story.” (18:58)
  • “I was a little bit radicalized by the pandemic. I came back… quite frustrated, energy wise. And that energy kind of remained.” (32:37, repeated/echoes 5:41)
• Adapting to American audiences:
  • Necessitated shorter, independently strong bits for both live showcases & social media clipping culture.
  • “You start to… find the bit that you can clip.” (21:59)
  • On social media’s role:
    • “It’s very easy once it starts working for you. It’s very hard when you’re not getting the results because it’s a lot of effort for no return.” (45:10)

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Comedy in the Age of Social Media & “Benevolent Banter”

• Navigating “Problematic” Material & Generational Tensions:
  • Des reflects on shifting standards, language, and the proliferation of “finding things that are now problematic” online.
  • “There is a section of the Internet that thrives on discovering something that is now problematic.” (49:40)
  • Uses self-aware, often sarcastic “acknowledgment” toward younger generations’ sensitivities, rather than outright combativeness.
  • “Your feelings are valid... But I’m not one of these anti-woke comics.” (47:27, 49:00)
  • Many anecdotes—from “period jokes” to nicknames like “guinea” and “mick”—touch on changing definitions of what’s “offensive” and why it mattered less in his childhood cohort.
• Generational Divide & Mental Health:
  • Des discusses differing approaches to struggle/resilience between his generation and Gen Z.
  • “I really do think that they [Gen Z] are in a worse position... It’s been unfortunate… through a collection of social media… I think it’s been counterproductive.” (57:56)
  • Concerns echoed by Jonathan Haidt and friends raising children: “They're all worried about their kids and their kids’ friends.” (58:56)
  • “The anxious generation guy basically says…2014, the iPhone is the real problem.” (59:24)
  • On resilience and coping: “I don’t think the things you’re saying have to do with anyone doing anything wrong, I think they were ill-served.” (58:27)

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Identity, Accents, and Fitting In

• Transatlantic Identity:
  • His New York accent interpreted differently in Ireland and in the US; “assumptions” made about class or attitude.
  • “I literally became the same [as my father], depending on who I talked to.” (62:44)
  • Draws parallels to English and Irish comics’ stereotyped accents in US clubs. (65:17)
• Adapting Material for Different Contexts:
  • Many jokes and frameworks that worked in Ireland don’t translate in America, particularly those deeply tied to local identity or class. (64:57)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Of all the names that won’t stick, the Ed Koch will never stick.” (Des Bishop, 07:52)
• “There is a section of the Internet that thrives on discovering something that is now problematic.” (Des, 49:40)
• On punchier stand-up: “Irish audiences are... very comfortable with, like, you telling a story.” (18:58)
• On pineapple on pizza: “It’s a fun thing because it’s one of those weird… benevolent controversies.” (Des, 67:11)
• On social media: “Check out my social media before 2020, and it’s night and day.” (42:52)
• On mental health and resilience: “I really do think that they are [in a worse position], though, in real terms.” (57:56)
• “The thing is, that you see pineapple and pizza on offer here a lot… but I do like it.” (66:09)
• On immigration: “It’s undebatable that economically, immigration is a net positive.” (Des, 68:29)

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Timestamps for Key Sections

• Pandemic & Radicalization Energy: 05:41, 32:37
• Child Modeling and Queens Upbringing: 06:36–09:55
• Billy Joel & Bruce Springsteen Discussion: 10:00–11:53
• Testicular Cancer in the Public Eye: 16:19–18:25
• Irish vs. American Stand-Up Styles: 18:49–21:34
• Social Media and Content Creation: 41:09–45:10
• Generational Tensions and Sensitivities: 47:27–54:47
• Mental Health, Resilience, and Generational Change: 55:44–59:24
• Accent and Identity: 61:59–65:17
• Pineapple on Pizza, “Benevolent Controversies”: 66:02–67:11
• Immigration Joke and Rationale: 67:11–71:45

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Tone & Language

• The conversation balances candid introspection, smart cultural critique, and irreverent banter.
• Both host and guest use a mix of dry humor, sarcasm, and genuine empathy, especially in discussing sensitive generational and cultural issues.
• Des’ language often shifts from playful to sincere and self-aware, particularly when discussing his own journey, his relationship, mental health, and the controversies in modern comedy.

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Closing Note

Des Bishop’s appearance on The Gist provides rich insights into the life of a transatlantic comic—his personal evolution, how comedy adapts to changing times and platforms, and the persistent debates about what we find funny, triggering, or simply delicious (pineapple included). The episode manages to be both “responsibly provocative” and accessible, offering an engaging ride for both comedy fans and culture watchers.

Check out Des Bishop’s “Bridge and Tunnel” special on Hulu or YouTube (72:01).

Transcript

[Des Bishop]

Foreign

[Vanessa Quirk]

It's Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026 from Peach Fish Productions. It's the gist. I'm Vanessa Quirk, the other host of the Uncertain Things podcast, filling in for Mike this week. Today we have for you Mike's interview, previously recorded but never before aired, with the American Irish comedian DEZ Bishop. So if you're like me and you follow stand up comedians on Instagram, then you've probably seen DEZ pop up on your feed before, but you probably don't know his backstory. So Mike and De get into it, starting with Dez's identity as a queen's kid. What it was like moving to Ireland at 14, getting sober at 19. His professional rise to becoming a top comic in Ireland. What it was then like to get testicular cancer and have that cancer become public knowledge. They talk about his move back to New York City during the pandemic. And they get into the differences between Irish and American comedy. The forces both online and off that shape stand up today. And of course, because it's impossible to avoid when talking about the perils and pitfalls of comedy today, they also bemoan the ever anxious Generation Z and their many triggers. But perhaps most controversially of all, in this episode, they get into the topic of pineapple on pizza. So all that and more in this conversation with DEZ Bishop. Enjoy.

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[Des Bishop]

I was a little bit radicalized by the pandemic. I came back after the pandemic quite frustrated, energy wise.

[Vanessa Quirk]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

And that energy kind of remained. There is a section of the Internet that thrives on discovering something that is now problematic. The one that I'm talking about, I'm confident about because it's all the guys I grew up with and I'm talking about my lived experience. You know what I mean? Yeah. Banter that used to be benevolent and now would be judged foreign.

[Cory Wara]

You should mention the show where you talk to comedians about their bits and they have to defend their theses. And it's going to be great because I'm doing it with a native of Queens. His new special is bridge and Tunnel. I'm going to guess more bridge than tunnel, since the 59th street is free in the Midtown. You know, you have to pay a toll. It's DEZ Bishop.

[Des Bishop]

Actually. Would you believe we were midtown tunnel people?

[Cory Wara]

Why? You were fancy. I know you had the house in the Hamptons.

[Des Bishop]

Well, actually, that came later. The reason why we were midtown tunnel people is because we were. We modeled as children. We were child models for Ford Modeling Agency. Myself and my two brothers.

[Cory Wara]

Fancy lads.

[Des Bishop]

So basically, almost every day after school we came into the city. My mother drove.

[Cory Wara]

Yes.

[Des Bishop]

And, you know, we were getting paid, so she felt it was. It was worth the convenience of just paying the. Back then, I can't remember what the toll was, but it was like probably like 250 maybe or something.

[Cory Wara]

250, but probably pre easy pass.

[Des Bishop]

Pre easy pass for sure. And you could buy the. You could buy the tokens. Sometimes we would have a full roll. Or sometimes you would pay the toll but then ask for a return token.

[Cory Wara]

Oh, nice.

[Des Bishop]

And that was. I was actually. We remember the first time they started doing the contra flow where like at the busy time it would be three lanes. Yeah, that. That started during our. So anyway, we were actually midtown tunnel people sometimes the 59th Street Bridge, but more often than not, we were tunnel people.

[Cory Wara]

Did you call it the 59th Street Bridge or the Queensborough Bridge? Yes, I think everyone did. And now they're trying to get you to call it the Ed Koch Bridge, which.

[Des Bishop]

That's never gonna happen.

[Cory Wara]

It's never gonna happen. Our generation.

[Des Bishop]

Of all the names that won't stick, the Ed Koch will never stick. No, I think the RFK might.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah. Because even though they're talking about the

[Des Bishop]

rfk, I still say the Triborough.

[Cory Wara]

Right.

[Des Bishop]

But I think RFK might. Just because it's easy to say RFK Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Kot's not going to happen. And, you know, people are very against calling it the Cuomo for the Tappan

[Cory Wara]

Z. I think they might even take that off it because, like, which rfk? Which Cuomo?

[Des Bishop]

Exactly.

[Cory Wara]

These dynasties are ambiguous.

[Des Bishop]

Well, it's funny because the next generation, in both of those situations, kind of let the side down a little bit. Sullied the name

[Cory Wara]

Touch.

[Des Bishop]

Anyway.

[Cory Wara]

Touch people in different ways, but all but complicated ways both times.

[Des Bishop]

But funny, when I called this special Bridge and tunnel, I was. It was my original name, but then I backed off it because I thought that it was. People might think that it was like, to New York. And then Bruce Springsteen, benched. Talked about being bridge and tunnel on the Billy Joel documentary. And he talked about it in a way that I was like, yeah, fuck that. I'm bringing it back. Because it's the ownership of, like, who we are, the bridge and tunnel people who, you know, we used to be. We used to be judged. I feel it's funny, younger people nowadays say, oh, I thought bridge and tunnel was just like New Jersey. Because the outer boroughs have become so

[Cory Wara]

that world phrase you use, the outer boroughs, they don't even use that anymore. Is that maybe to describe traffic, really? Because people live in Astoria. Cause they can't afford it here. People live in Park Slope and it's more expensive than places in Manhattan. So how outer are they?

[Des Bishop]

So now sometimes people try to say, like, oh, I didn't think Queen in Brooklyn was bridge and tunnel. But like, yes, it was.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah, yeah.

[Des Bishop]

You know, Anyway, I. Because there's a section the whole show isn't, but there is a section of the show where I'm really, like, embracing my Queen's childhood in a way that I was never able to do during my Irish comedy career. I just was like, you know, you got to pick a name. And I feel like bridge and tunnel is also quite generic to people that aren't familiar with the term. So I thought, fuck it. I just. I'd call it that.

[Cory Wara]

Look, it's pro infrastructure.

[Des Bishop]

Right.

[Cory Wara]

As is Bruce Springsteen. He's always talking about building something.

[Des Bishop]

And for the record, all these bridges and tunnels were built at a time where they understood.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

That this type of development would be necessary for the future of these great cities.

[Cory Wara]

Thank you.

[Des Bishop]

Unfortunately, Sometime in the 1980s, we stopped investing in said infrastructure, and we're suffering today as a result.

[Cory Wara]

To take the stalled ARC tunnel project with which Christie is still dining out at. If we had done it then, we'd have saved $10 billion.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah. Instead of it becoming some sort of,

[Cory Wara]

like, political football for this infrastructure talk with Mike and D. So you raised a couple of things I definitely have to follow up on. But first of all, wasn't that Billy Joel documentary great? Wasn't the Springsteen part of it just so unbelievably insightful, how he was like the Tin Pan Alley tradition? Bruce is.

[Des Bishop]

He's not.

[Cory Wara]

Okay, how do I describe it? I think he is unbelievably wise. Is he intelligent? He's not unintelligent, but he's extremely wise. And there's a difference.

[Des Bishop]

And you see, he has heart. Yes, I really. I've always loved Billy Joel, but it's not cool to love Billy Joel, you know? But. But the documentary was great because I think even the most hardened critic couldn't help but go, wow, this guy. So accomplished. And I loved. What I loved about Bruce Springsteen is he brought a bit of kudos to somebody like Billy Joel because people really respect Bruce Springsteen. They kind of like to judge Billy Joel a little bit.

[Cory Wara]

They do.

[Des Bishop]

And the fact that he was, you know, he kind of.

[Cory Wara]

He blessed him.

[Des Bishop]

Yes. In a way, I think.

[Cory Wara]

Yes. He gave the papal blessing of the critically loved entertainer. But that whole thing, you know, I was gonna say, let's talk Billy Joel. Let's Billy Joel talk with that. We have gotten past the era where critics looked down on him. But did you see that the New York Times came out with the 30 greatest living American songwriters? And of course, Bruce was on it and Taylor Swift was on it and Outkast and Lucinda Williams. Billy Joel was not on it.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah. So it continues.

[Cory Wara]

Yes. This is what I'm saying. If you're gonna be savagely, like, a

[Des Bishop]

victim of his popularity. To a degree.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

And it's kind of. It's. It's shocking. You know, over the years, sometimes you get asked, particularly on Irish radio, you'd

[Cory Wara]

be asked to do, like, an rte.

[Des Bishop]

Well, actually, this particular incident was with a show, a guy called Tom Dunn. He had, like, a nighttime music show, but on a news radio station called News Talk. That's cool. But you had to pick, like, five songs, and they were meant to be, like, songs from various parts of your life.

[Cory Wara]

Okay, so like a variation on Desert Island Discs.

[Des Bishop]

Yes. Except that it was meant to be, like, the song that you loved at that time.

[Cory Wara]

That's awesome.

[Des Bishop]

And I picked Billy Joe. I think I picked Piano man because I was like, listen, this is like, almost like a cliche of a song, except that at that age, it was everything to me.

[Vanessa Quirk]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

And when I hear that song, I'm filled with memories of my early adolescence with my family. And this is the song that I love. I. I said, I listen to this show sometimes, and people from their youth are picking songs that I know for a fact they didn't love when they were young.

[Cory Wara]

It just makes them cool in retrospect,

[Des Bishop]

and they want to seem cooler than they were when they were 12.

[Cory Wara]

Right.

[Des Bishop]

You know, so I was honest, and I was like, yeah, it's an uncool song, but it's. It was so important to me at that time.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah. Do they have a no Pogues rule on that show? I don't, because everyone would have to.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah. But no, you know, like, I think people in Ireland like the Pogues. Really? More people think Christmas time, actually, like, immediately. I mean, of course people love the Pogues.

[Cory Wara]

Right.

[Des Bishop]

But, like, you know, Ireland has a lot of broad music. They wouldn't need to have a no Pogues rule there, I would think.

[Cory Wara]

You know, Ireland is 4 million people these days.

[Des Bishop]

I think the Republic of Ireland.

[Cory Wara]

Yes.

[Des Bishop]

Is like five.

[Cory Wara]

Okay.

[Des Bishop]

And then the island of Ireland is like seven, seven and a half.

[Cory Wara]

You know, I'm glad you made that clarification, but if you were to say that in either part of Ireland, they'd get upset with you. No, no.

[Des Bishop]

The way I said it is the way that the people I care about. So in other words, like, I'm aware that the country is divided, but often when you talk about population, it's kind of fine to be like. But on the island, there's this many.

[Cory Wara]

Okay, right.

[Des Bishop]

It's. It's relevant.

[Cory Wara]

Yes.

[Des Bishop]

And also, like, particularly in a historical context, not to get super serious, but, like, Ireland's population never still to this day, ever recovered from the famine.

[Cory Wara]

Right.

[Des Bishop]

The Famine was over 9 million, but the truth is that that was the entire island. So these days, at seven, seven and a half million, Ireland is starting to get that little bit closer back to the population that they had before the famine.

[Cory Wara]

But there's got to be, like, half a million Estonians and Polish and people from the uk.

[Des Bishop]

Loads of immigrants. Yeah, there's loads of them. Ireland is a. Is an importer of people these days, and like so many countries now, a great controversial topic. But, you know, listen, the immigrants come where the wealth is. The wealth is to be celebrated.

[Cory Wara]

So you were very big in Ireland. Give us an idea of how the levels of fame in this island, in this Emerald Isle of 5 to 7 million people did you achieve?

[Des Bishop]

I mean, you know, actually, when I first. When I first really broke out, it was 2004, definitely Ireland's population was under 5 million then. The Republic of Ireland. I mean, whatever, man.

[Cory Wara]

I had leaving 2 million Irish on the table by not going back and.

[Des Bishop]

No, no, because actually the population has really exploded since then because it's been 22 years. Yeah, there's been a lot of immigration since then, you know, and a lot less people leaving. So 2004, I guess, like the main period was kind of like 2004, like 2015. I mean, whatever, man. I was like, definitely one of the top comics there. But it's a small country. But I was very Irish focused. My material was very Irish. So I had, like, quite a passionate fan base. I mean, I'm still pretty well known there, but, like, I don't focus as much of my attention there these days, but whatever, you know, at the. At its moment, I was one of the top three touring comics there.

[Cory Wara]

Wow. What does it mean to be one of the top three comics in Ireland?

[Des Bishop]

Just means you sell a lot of tickets. Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, I just wanted to. I just wanted tickets.

[Cory Wara]

Would you. You have a joke in the special or maybe it's your last special that you had on one giveaway. Either your personal information. So you have one testicle. And. And you mentioned that many a person knew that in Ireland, that's how famous you were.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah, well, that was in the news, actually, because that was when. That was 2000, when I found out I had testicular cancer. But I had actually kind of started my first ever TV show. That wasn't the time where I blew up, but I was like on a TV show. So the first episode was on the Sunday. So actually I left the TV station and went to the hospital and I had the surgery the next day, and then I was back on air the following Sunday. So the fact that all that happened had gotten a lot of attention. So people knew from the get go that that had happened to me.

[Cory Wara]

Did you want it to get attention, to raise awareness or did you feel violated?

[Des Bishop]

No, I raised awareness as a result of the attention. So when the attention came, I went to the Irish Cancer Society and I said, how can I help? Because suddenly everybody knows I'm getting all these media asks.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

So how can I do it in a way that's beneficial to you guys? And then for many years, I would do stuff with them to like, raise awareness.

[Cory Wara]

That's good that you took it that way. But it's not a horrible violation of HIPAA or Other things.

[Des Bishop]

Well, I mean, it would have been about. I was the one that spoke about it. Like.

[Cory Wara]

Like, we found out.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah. And we joked. I joked about it pretty quick.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

You know, I was a public guy. I wasn't going to, like, keep it a secret. Plus, there's no benefit of keeping, like, something like that secret because, like, the more people that know, the more people act. So the more people find themselves in my situation, the more people will be like, let me just go get that checked out. That's the thing Des Bishop had. So I'm fine with that. You know what I mean?

[Cory Wara]

Where did that fall in the timeline with Tom Green having testicular cancer?

[Des Bishop]

Because later on, I actually did, like, something with Tom Green in 2005. I think when it happened, it was definitely after him, because I think what had happened to me, some people said, like, oh, you know, Tom Green had that, and he, like, recorded his surgery or something. But I talked to him about it in 2005, but he was definitely after him. But I was living in Ireland, so I wasn't, like. I was aware of Tom Green, and I was aware of, like, the city stunts that he would do, but not in the same way as if I had been living in America full time. So I don't. I think I only found out about the Tom Green thing when I got cancer. People started saying to me, oh, he did this thing.

[Cory Wara]

Did he accuse you of stealing his bit?

[Des Bishop]

Certainly didn't, no. The joke we had was, like, finally, like, when we're together, we have two testicles.

[Cory Wara]

You know, we did a comedy tour. Yes.

[Des Bishop]

The Aspen Comedy Festival. I did a thing, and he very graciously did, like, a scene with me. We were on, like, the lifts in Aspen, and we were just, like, talking about that stuff.

[Cory Wara]

That's awesome. How would you say your comedy differs in America than it did than what you were doing in Ireland?

[Des Bishop]

I mean, the main difference, I would say, is it's a bit punchier. Not to say that that's.

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[Des Bishop]

Here. Yeah. Not to say that that's better. But you just. Irish audiences are, like, very, very comfortable with, like, you telling a story.

[Cory Wara]

Right.

[Des Bishop]

And also a lot of us go to Edinburgh a lot, where, like, shows that have, like, a narrative structure are pretty normal.

[Cory Wara]

So rewarded. And the real reviewers come, and there's a lot of stakes there.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah. That kind of stuff.

[Cory Wara]

Experimental is more rewarded.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah. And, like. And I like that stuff. You know, Ireland. Ireland particularly is famous for, like, having, like, great storytelling comics. So I was very comfortable being, like, a kind of a Storytelling type comic. Over here, there's a great, like, division of like, oh, he's like a storyteller. Or like, it's just like a storytelling show. Like, Ari Shafir had the show. Like, but it was like, we're telling stories. But like, as far as I was concerned, it was just stand up, you know, Like, I don't see a difference. But, you know, over here there's certain things that are going on. Like I was back at the Cellar, mainly, like on showcase shows, which I hadn't done in years. So suddenly it's like you gotta, you know, you gotta kinda like win them over quick. They don't know who you are.

[Cory Wara]

You got 20 miniature with six other comics.

[Des Bishop]

There's more distractions also at American comedy clubs. There's a waitstaff and all this kind of stuff, which, again, I don't, I don't have a problem with any of this, but it just lends itself to like, it's, you know, it just. I don't know, I naturally evolved. I didn't even make a decision. It just kind of happened. Right.

[Cory Wara]

Because you're feeding off the crowd, you're seeing what they want and essentially what I mean, you gotta have more punchlines in the joke and hit them a little harder. Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

And I think also you, you don't have the ability to like, interweave. Like, I have a lot of, like, when you watch my full specials, you can see that, like, I have quite long bits. Yes, they're all punchier than they used to be. But I'm still of the. I'm still of the school where like the, the hour long journey is also a thing as well as each bit

[Cory Wara]

we learn about you.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah. But the great thing about the way it was here, being at the Cellar and also like touring in the States was often I would be in a situation where they weren't going to be there for that whole journey, so I had to take bits away from their supporting cast.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

But those bits get stronger when they don't have their supporting cast with them. When they don't have maybe the callback that would have been there, or you just pull a bit out that used to exist in a story and then it grows into its own, like, independent bit.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

You know, and. But then when you throw it back in and that whole section is like infinitely greater.

[Cory Wara]

I mean, have you counted your specials, though? They run 57 minutes. Might be seven distinct chapters that are.

[Des Bishop]

All my shows are like that. Even still, despite everything we're talking about, like, I'm it's six or seven sections for sure. But the difference is, and the other thing that changed, which has nothing to do with being in America, is that I'm sure you've heard a thousand comics talk about it. But you know, you clip everything now and the clips have to be shorter. So you start to sort of, you have to find the bit that you can clip.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

So you become conscious of the fact that even if you're going to do a bit that's, you know, long and interwoven, that there's still bits that you can pull out of it. So like if I have a seven minute bit about my, my dying not dyeing my hair or dyeing my hair, which I do. And, and the, the main punchline of that bit is actually a callback. Right. I still want to be able to pull any bits of that gray haired bit and be able to say, here's a funny 90 seconds about having gray hair or here's a funny 90 seconds about how men get judged for dyeing their hair. You know, and before I used to not worry about that as much.

[Cory Wara]

But that thing you were saying where every individual joke has to be stronger and stand on its own, that helps the clip process 100%. Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

And I do think some of it is by necessity. Like, I think that's like a natural evolution that I've had in my standup as a result.

[Cory Wara]

So I've watched your Irish standup, but only in the context of the show that you did where you perform stand up comedy in China. There are clips of you performing in Dublin.

[Des Bishop]

Yes.

[Cory Wara]

Right. Talking about it was. It's an excellent show. Des Bishop breaks China.

[Des Bishop]

Breaking China.

[Cory Wara]

Breaking China. Okay, good pun.

[Des Bishop]

Pun.

[Cory Wara]

I like a pun.

[Des Bishop]

You know, double meaning, though, of course. On the. Trying to break.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah, break. Break into.

[Des Bishop]

Break into.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah. Oh my God.

[Des Bishop]

We, we went through a lot of names on that. The name wasn't that important, but Breaking China worked.

[Cory Wara]

I always say this too. Everyone's always debating the name. It's like the Today Show. What is that?

[Des Bishop]

Doesn't matter.

[Cory Wara]

What is that?

[Des Bishop]

Really doesn't matter.

[Cory Wara]

Chips Ahoy Cookies. How many people know that's a pun even?

[Des Bishop]

Yeah, I, I, I guess I know that's a pun, but I forget, you know.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah, yeah, but there was a time

[Des Bishop]

in my life where I was very aware it was a pun. But you were, you become so used to the name, you forget.

[Cory Wara]

Was that a time when you were modeling?

[Des Bishop]

Yes, but I never modeled for Chips Ahoy. We did a lot of modeling.

[Cory Wara]

Do you have Any of the old prints.

[Des Bishop]

Well, I have my book. I still have my book. I still have my Ford book in case.

[Cory Wara]

In case they want to hire 12 year old you.

[Des Bishop]

You don't want to lose that.

[Cory Wara]

When did you age out of modeling?

[Des Bishop]

Well, what happened was. Well, there are certain sizes that are hot sizes. Like, you get booked a lot when you're like a size.

[Cory Wara]

It sounds a little weird.

[Des Bishop]

Well, it sounds a little size 5 and then size 10.

[Cory Wara]

Okay.

[Des Bishop]

So like, basically when you're a kid and then when you're like a preteen, like, those are two times. But then I didn't actually. I was just about to break out of that kind of like, hot side, like 10:12. Like, I was starting to head towards, like size 14, I guess. And then. But it was really more that I just wanted to start hanging out with my friends. And I started, like, canceling jobs. And Ford malignancy was like, listen, tell him he needs to make a decision, because if he's gonna keep canceling jobs, we're not gonna book him. And I was just like, I want to hang with my friends.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

You know, and that was fine. It was a very fun thing to do.

[Cory Wara]

And that was about when you were 14, you're saying?

[Des Bishop]

No, no, I was like. It was like from age 8 to 12.

[Cory Wara]

Okay, so it was 14 when they shipped you to yacht.

[Des Bishop]

I was 14. Yeah. 14 when I went to Ireland. Yeah.

[Cory Wara]

For the drinking. That was why they shipped you to Ireland.

[Des Bishop]

That's the joke.

[Cory Wara]

That's the joke.

[Des Bishop]

That's not really what. Because they didn't ship me, actually. It was like a family decision. Because actually, my cousin had put the idea into my head.

[Cory Wara]

Yes.

[Des Bishop]

She was visiting from Ireland. She was like, why don't you go to boarding school in Ireland? Because my mother was stressed. We didn't know where I was gonna go to school after getting kicked out of St. Francis Prep. And, you know, we didn't quite.

[Cory Wara]

There are public schools there.

[Vanessa Quirk]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

But. Yeah. Well, my mother was concerned that I wouldn't thrive in a public school. My mother was concerned that I was gonna go completely off the rails. Cause I didn't flunk out of school because I was drinking too much. But I was drinking too much. So my cousin put this idea in my head. I suggested it to my parents. I think they thought it was a bit crazy. But when they looked into it, it's very affordable because we couldn't afford boarding school in America. So one thing led to another six weeks from the day that that was suggested to me by My cousin. I was on my way to Ireland. It was that random.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

That random of a suggestion.

[Cory Wara]

What was your mindset? Were you looking forward to the adventure?

[Des Bishop]

Oh, that. Yeah. The initial mindset was. But don't forget, so long time ago now. But at the time, I was quite excited and I didn't know what to expect. We were very Irish growing up, but actually we'd never been to Ireland.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

A lot of my friends would go to Ireland, and despite feeling very Irish, I'd never actually been there. So the first time I went, I was on my own. I didn't go with my parents.

[Cory Wara]

Were you from Woodside? Wearing Queens.

[Des Bishop]

Flushing, Queens.

[Cory Wara]

Oh, Flush, right? You say that. I said Woodside because that's a very.

[Des Bishop]

No, especially Irish place. And it was very Irish.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah. But Flushing now is very Korean and a little Met Chinese. Yeah. Oh, really?

[Des Bishop]

Yeah, it's more. It's funny, people still think it's Korean. It hasn't really been that Korean for a while. There's a little enclave, but the main.

[Cory Wara]

Oh, yeah, the second Chinatown. Well, actually, the second Chinatown is what people think of as Chinatown in Manhattan. The real good Chinatown is there.

[Des Bishop]

It's Flushing. Yeah. And actually, according to the census, Sunset park is the highest population of Chinese, but I think that's the highest legal population. I would find it hard to believe that Flushing doesn't have the highest amount of Chinese people.

[Cory Wara]

When you get good Chinese food, because, you know, good Chinese food, you can get.

[Des Bishop]

Anybody can get good Chinese food. And Flushing, there's. It's good there.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

Honestly, the Chinese food in the United States, or in New York, even in the city, has improved exponentially. There's like. Because there's a lot of wealthy Chinese living in Manhattan, there's a lot of Chinese students in nyu, in Columbia. They're going to these really good, authentic, like, mainland Chinese standard Chinese food places all over the East Village has loads of really good ones.

[Cory Wara]

And would these be challenging to the Western palate? Not the Wonder Bread, Twinkie Western palate, but even someone.

[Des Bishop]

No.

[Cory Wara]

Somebody who's just chicken.

[Des Bishop]

Somebody who's just used to, like, old school, like American Cantonese, Chinese food, a lot of it will be a surprise to them. However, if you're somebody who's gotten into that.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

Then, like, you really. If you're somebody who's like, I know what good, authentic Chinese food is, you can find that in New York. Like, I would say pretty close to, like, a good restaurant in Beijing.

[Cory Wara]

So I want to cover two aspects of your growing up. One was Ireland from 14 to graduating high school.

[Des Bishop]

Well, I stayed there till the pandemic.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah. Okay. And then you also say that you haven't had a drink since you were 19.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah, I stopped drinking when I was 19.

[Cory Wara]

So you've never had a legal drink in the United States?

[Des Bishop]

In the United States. Never know.

[Cory Wara]

That's interesting.

[Des Bishop]

And there used to be an AA meeting for younger people called Never had a Legal Drink. Oh, really? Yeah, it may still exist, actually.

[Cory Wara]

I was wondering if that kind of aa where it was not just that you had a problem or a reliance, a dependence on alcohol, but just the very fact of doing it was illegal. Is that more like Narcotics Anonymous, the illegality part of it?

[Des Bishop]

I mean, I don't know what teenager in America is not drinking illegally, you know?

[Cory Wara]

I know, but my point is, if what you have to do is do a program to kick it, there is that extra aspect of it, the adult.

[Des Bishop]

Really?

[Cory Wara]

No, no, no, no. Because I'm thinking the adult alcoholics kind of butted up against society was compelling you to drink, whereas a teenage alcoholic wasn't. The teenage alcoholic always had to break the law and sneak it.

[Des Bishop]

Yes. But, like, I don't know that. That kind of never came up. The only thing that was great in New York versus Ireland at that time was New York, Manhattan particularly, and Queens was better at having a couple of like, young people's meetings.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah, yeah.

[Des Bishop]

So you didn't feel like a fucking loser when you were 19, 20, 21 years old, you were with younger, like, minded people. You know, people who were suffering, like, basically struggled in their adolescence, found themselves in their late adolescence, early 20s, you know, and we were going out and, you know, going to clubs and different things. So actually the meetings in those early days in Manhattan, because I actually, I came back to New York for that summer, the summer 95, and I finally got it together. But I did go back to Ireland. But I did always enjoy coming back to the States because the young people were cooler at the meetings. But in Ireland, I went to NA because NA was more inclined to be younger people. AA in Ireland at that time was like a lot of old guys.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

So NA was way more fun. And I was very lucky. Where I was in college in Cork, I had a crew of guys that were similar to me, like alcohol and drugs, but not like the type of addiction you would traditionally associate with, like a drug addict. But we would go into NA and we were like, young and we were having fun, but also taking our recovery seriously.

[Cory Wara]

Oh, wow. When you would. When you would be exposed to the Older person whose life was really, really ruined. It wasn't a wake up call. It was just something you couldn't really relate to.

[Des Bishop]

That's not true, actually. No, it was more just like at the meeting itself, it wouldn't be the issue. It would more just be like. Just wanted to hang out with people my own age. No. When I first, When I was in boarding school, when I was 18, this guy came to speak in our school and I already had been to an AA meeting before and I already knew that. I was like, I had a problem.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

So I went up to him and I was like, dude, like, I actually was in a kind of dry period at the time. And I was like, I'm struggling. Any chance I could go to an AA meeting with you? So I got permission from the school to go. Even though the priest at the time said, you're too young to be an alcoholic, but he said, you can go. And I went to this meeting when I was 18 in Monkstown, County Dublin, and an older guy, but not that much older, probably I would say he was like 40. I was 18. He came up to me and he said, man, if I could have got this when I was your age, like, I would have had such a great life.

[Cory Wara]

Wow.

[Des Bishop]

So it's not that I was complaining about the old guys, it was just. It was fun to have some younger friends.

[Cory Wara]

Well, you have. I mean, you did that guy.

[Des Bishop]

Well, that's a long.

[Cory Wara]

Oh, he was right.

[Des Bishop]

I don't even know who that guy was.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

I wonder later on when I became a comedian, did he ever go, I think I met that guy at a meeting.

[Cory Wara]

I met him when he had two balls.

[Des Bishop]

But by the way, you were saying, we got distracted. You said something about, I watched the Chinese show and I saw your Irish stand up and then we got distracted. Do you remember what you were going to say?

[Cory Wara]

Sure, sure. And your Irish standup was one difference was that here in America, not only are you punchier, I think you come across as. And there are many ways that you can own it, but you come across as more aggressive. Now, is that to match the audience or was that where you. There's many reasons why that could be. It could be where you were in your life. They don't like that sort of thing.

[Des Bishop]

Well, there's two things going on there. First of all, when you're watching the stand up from those shows, they're very specific because all the formats of those shows, every show that I ever did in Ireland, these TV shows, these immersion documentaries, the narration was Always stand up.

[Vanessa Quirk]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

So those stand up shows are all multi purpose. They're not just about jokes. They're also to forward the story. You're literally making jokes about things that people are going to be watching. So they're naturally not going to be like that much inclined. But also I think. I think even like if you ask like anybody, like anybody at the Cellar, like the. I was a little bit radicalized by the pandemic. I came back after the pandemic quite frustrated. Energy wise.

[Vanessa Quirk]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

And that energy kind of remained. But even still, the last special that I recorded in Ireland, which was called One day, you'll understand, which to be honest, some of those bits also made it into my later specials because I toured them around America. That transition had probably already happened before the Pandemic. But for some reason, when I came back from the pandemic, all my pandemic material was high energy. I was pretty frustrated and that energy just kind of remained. It wasn't like a conscious decision that I made, you know. And it may also just be the natural sort of like you get older, you get a bit crankier.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah. You know, but America's a little more on edge.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah. And also don't forget like a lot of those shows that I did in Ireland, not. Not that one particularly, because that was always like, you're telling a story about the TV show but in bigger theaters. Whereas, like in the States I was back in like comedy clubs. They're right in front of you. It's a bit more, I guess it feels a bit more like a cauldron. You're trying to win people over. So. Oh, and also I was back in the States where I was like back around the kids I grew up with from Queens. And I just feel like the Queens energy just kind of ramped up again. Cause like, honestly, I remember when I first moved to Ireland, like my cousin Cormac would always tell me to like be quiet. We got on great, by the way. He was a good friend and he was like my Irish mentor. But like, I was loud to him, just like naturally loud. And like Irish people are not as loud like in everyday life. So I think you just naturally like rein it in a bit. And I think from being back here, I think I just got like loud Queensy again. And I think some of that came out on stage also. But that wasn't a constant decision. But I was also aware that that had sort of happened. And I also would say to myself at times, like, calm down. And it just, it's not. It doesn't happen. So I just kind of go like, well, that's.

[Cory Wara]

Well, you get big laughs doing it.

[Des Bishop]

No.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

It was an evolution that kind of just happened. And every time I say, oh, reign it in, it just doesn't rein in. I think it's just the energy of the way the world went too, you know?

[Cory Wara]

So what about the. I could imagine. But I want to ask you, what about the pandemic was frustrating? Just the lack of mobility. Because in Ireland, Right. The Tayshock was a former health minister. They were. I would listen to all the Irish radio shows and they would say, you know, there are four cases in the country, when in America there are like a million. So they're an island. And they have some. They have some natural advantages, but they. But I think they handled at least the first wave super well. But what was frustrating.

[Des Bishop]

It wasn't frustrating for me. Cause I left.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

Because what happened was I was in the middle of a tour. I was touring the show about my mother, me and mama, a show about my dead mom. And it was like, basically a comedy show about grief. And the pandemic started kicking, you know, like, the rumbling started, and then we had to cancel some shows. So tour was on pause. But, you know, again, like, we canceled shows up to, like, the Easter weekend. That was like five or six weeks. But, like, we just kept thinking it was going to get kicked back in. But then Delta said that they were not going to run direct flights from Dublin anymore. And by that stage, I had got. I was quite established at the Cellar by that stage. And I felt personally that, like, I wanted to spend at least four months of every year in New York. Like, I was already starting to, like, develop some stuff in the States while also keeping my Irish career going. And we've always had this summer house out in West Hampton since I was 14 years old. And I just liked spending my summers in West Hampton since I came back from China. That's what I did. So I panicked and I was like, I gotta get the fuck outta here, because I don't wanna get stuck here and not be able to go back for the summer.

[Cory Wara]

Right.

[Des Bishop]

So I kind of left in a panic. And I had no idea that I wouldn't get back on stage in Ireland for what became a year and eight months. And I didn't get back on stage in Ireland for my tour for two years and a month. No, two. No, sorry. One year and 11 months.

[Cory Wara]

Yes.

[Des Bishop]

Because Ireland's lockdown was way more strict. And the time that I went back in the autumn of 2021, those were social distancing shows. They were outdoors and they weren't like real shows. My tour, my actually me and Mama tour wasn't allowed to begin until like the second week of February, 2022.

[Cory Wara]

I mean, shots were in everyone's arms then, whereas.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah, whereas here we got back on stage in April of 2021, like a year later, and that was like, you know, that was like the beginning of the, I would consider something did shift in me, I have to say.

[Cory Wara]

Do you think so, do you think even if I was saying they handled it well, at least in the beginning, do you think they overreacted?

[Des Bishop]

I mean, who, how can you say? I thought they had some very strict restrictions, like 2 mile radius from your.

[Cory Wara]

They would arrest people, get stopped for being.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah, you know, like in their car. It was like no one would convert to Protestantism in Ireland. But the joke was like, like everyone was converting to Protestantism if the Protestant church was like five miles away, would give an extra five miles, you know, because you were allowed to go to church. Yes, if the church was outside, two miles.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

So I missed all that. And I, I, I would think that in hindsight you would have to say that maybe some of that was overkill, but also like the deaths were less and we're over now. But, you know, listen, man, that was, that was just a crazy time. Everyone's very, everyone's very confident about what they think should have been done. In hindsight, that's, I'm not too concerned about the decisions that were made. But I have to say for myself, selfishly, I was glad that I came back here because that first summer, because the funny thing was I got out of Ireland to come back to the fucking epicenter of the pandemic. I'm landing in New York where people are literally in fucking refrigerator trucks, right? But out in West Hampton very quickly, like, you know, there wasn't a lot of cases out there. And we had our little, what were they calling them? Cocoon.

[Cory Wara]

Oh, pod.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah, we had our pod of people on the beach. And to be honest, for us it was quite idyllic because you were allowed to play golf. And so, like, I had a, that was a very good summer. And I also met my now wife. And if I had not been isolating out there, I wouldn't have met her. It was quite a life changing experience. So, like, the pandemic changed a lot for me. Not just my energy in my standup ramped up a little bit, but also just like my life changed. A lot. And since the pandemic, I have not lived in Ireland full time. That's the other big difference.

[Cory Wara]

Do you feel like it expelled you from Ireland? That this was thrust upon you?

[Des Bishop]

No, honestly, the big change was that I met Hannah because if. If I hadn't met Hannah, I would have gone back to doing what I had been doing, which was, you know, like kind of half and half, but it was really more like eight months in Ireland, four months here.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah. Was she a stand up then? Was she doing stand up?

[Des Bishop]

She was. She had been doing stand up, but like she was in the middle of like her first bit of touring because Hannah was. Hannah was well known.

[Cory Wara]

She was on a Hampton's based reality show. Is that right?

[Des Bishop]

Yes. But she also had quite a successful podcast called Burning in Hell.

[Cory Wara]

Okay.

[Des Bishop]

And.

[Cory Wara]

But even Giggly Squad, which is her.

[Des Bishop]

That came later.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

So. But before she was even on Summer House, she had developed a bit of a following, making videos for Betches, which Jared Frieda's on, you know, and so she actually had her finger in a few pies that people don't even understand nor give her credit for. So she was kind of making content for like, I don't know, maybe three years at that stage. But she had been doing stand up a year and honestly, it was going well and then the pandemic stopped that for her. So right at a time where most comics would be like, it's great, I'm getting past at the clubs. She had to take like a year off. But the funny thing was that by the time the pandemic was winding down, she had gone. She had gotten even more well known. So like, she's never know. She. She didn't have a traditional route into comedy.

[Cory Wara]

When you met her, you were a veteran with 20 years behind you. Did she know that? Did she know you were a stand up when you met her?

[Des Bishop]

Yeah. So what, what had happened was I had followed her at some stage. I think she was on Nikki Glaser story. I followed her, like, never contacted her. It was just like cute comic follow. Like that was it. But her stuff would pop up on my stories and I was like not really aware of what this. Sometimes there would be clips from like the show. And so I wasn't really aware where that was. I actually thought it was on mtv. And then when she popped up near me in the pandemic on my story, I checked and I saw that she was following me, which I did not realize she had followed me back straight away because like five years previous, before she Got into standup. She was like doing like a low level marketing job and she had come here with her people from work to the Comedy Cellar and had seen me.

[Cory Wara]

Ah.

[Des Bishop]

And was like, oh, that guy's good looking, but he lives in Ireland. Because I was talking about living in Ireland. So when I followed her, she was like, oh, that's that comic that I saw. So she followed me back straight away. So she was actually familiar with me when I followed her. So because she was following me then I had the confidence to be like, oh, you're out near me, you know? Yeah, do you want to meet for coffee? And she was like, yeah. So that's actually how we met.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

And it was comedy related how we met.

[Cory Wara]

Is it an awkward conversation where you're not gonna offer her tips, but does she ask for them when she's doing it?

[Des Bishop]

We help each other, honestly. Well, now we have our strengths.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah, yeah.

[Des Bishop]

No, no, no. We both have our strengths. Trust me, man. I might have been a 20 year veteran of comedy, but Hannah had a lot more years in the thing that matters in this business right now.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah, content. Yeah, exactly.

[Des Bishop]

She understood social media way better than I did.

[Cory Wara]

She helped your social media game.

[Des Bishop]

Are you me, bro?

[Cory Wara]

Like, how?

[Des Bishop]

Well, check out my social media before fucking 2020. And like, it's night and day. I mean, the main thing, honestly, was the motivation of, like, you got to keep posting. And I knew I sat around the table with the guys that were getting results from posting. Like, I sat around the table with Sam and Mark and Andrew Schultz and like, they were saying, you got to post. And I was hearing it, of course, and I was trying, but I was never getting the results that they were getting. And like, Hannah would be like, just keep posting. And I would go through phases of posting, would never get, like, would never get the momentum. And I would stop out of frustration.

[Cory Wara]

If you don't, I mean, you're in comedy, the gratification and validation is instantaneous. It's a reaction that's not even thought. It's an involuntary reaction. So it's really hard to do this other medium where you're not getting any feedback.

[Des Bishop]

So the thing was that. And then honestly, you know, she had like a. Not a great ending on that show and she was like, basically not starting over, but like, it was like, well, I'm a stand up now. That's it.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah, yeah.

[Des Bishop]

So she was suddenly like, this is all I got, right? And she just like, put the head down and like, made content like you wouldn't believe. And she Got real results. So it was hard for me to turn around and be like, well, it's not working for me. I can't do it, you know. So she just kept, essentially, she just kept nudging me, being like, like, you gotta fucking make more content. And she was very good at, like suggesting stuff that I should do, like social media wise. And then finally when I bit the bullet and recorded the special that I recorded here, you know, two and a half years ago when I finally did it and those clips, finally I got like, I got the algorithm working in my favor then. It was like very satisfying.

[Cory Wara]

Years in the making now.

[Des Bishop]

But honestly, I posted a lot of clips and I never. It's really all the people like me now who post regularly and can see the results. I'll tell you, it's very easy once it starts working for you. It's very hard when you're not getting the results because it's a lot of effort for no return.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

And I had both experiences. Now, the guys that get frustrated. I totally understand.

[Cory Wara]

Now that you're getting the results, can you kind of tell which clips are going to go more viral than others?

[Des Bishop]

Not really. Not really. All I can tell is that you do, like, almost like gambling, like, you do get on like a hot streak per se, where, like, if a certain. Look, if I have a lot of clips, like essentially like a special, and those ones start doing well, it seems, and this is. I have no science, it seems like you'll get on average a slightly better, at least a slightly better return on that collection of videos in general.

[Cory Wara]

Right, right.

[Des Bishop]

But in saying that, like, I mean, I had one here I wasn't even supposed to be on, and I was like, literally standing there watching a friend, and just as he was finishing, one of the managers here was like, yo, yo, yo, you gotta go up. Like, somebody's not here. So, like, I suddenly was brought up on stage randomly, had a bit of crowd work with a Chinese woman in the front row. And that is one of my most viral clips I wasn't even supposed to be on, so. And that was just a random clip of the, you know, like a regular thing. Wasn't like a five camera shot, like a seller special. It was just the camera that's at the underground. So there's really no rhyme or reason to.

[Cory Wara]

Interesting. All right, we'll be back with Ted Bishop. I have to ask him about a special tactic he uses to both show his sharp edges, but definitely acknowledge that you're not wrong if you use words like toxic and triggered Back in a minute.

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[Des Bishop]

A Gen Z woman came up to me after the show and she was like, I like your comedy, but you can't say the G word. She was upset that I said the word giddy, which, you know, her feelings were valid and I expressed as much. But I tried to explain to her, I said, listen, I get it, you know, but I'm not one of these things. Anti woke comics. I'm not trying to be offensive. I just grew up in a different time, okay? I'm from northeastern Queens, 1980s, very Irish Italian Catholic neighborhood. And we hated each other. All right? They called us micks. We called them guineas. All right? We hated each other. Then we married each other. That's how it worked out. So don't worry about the G word. It ain't nothing but a G thing. This is just white people shit from a time you don't understand. So let it go.

[Cory Wara]

We're back with funny you should mention talking to Des Bishop here. And before the break, I did notice this thing. Many comics in your situation would be like, you young kids, you got it wrong. You. You are obsessed with your mental health. You say words like triggered and toxic, but you literally don't argue with the words. You just acknowledge their perspective, then give them your perspective. Tell me why you do that.

[Des Bishop]

I'm not even aware that do that.

[Cory Wara]

Oh, there's so much acknowledgment. So much.

[Des Bishop]

I would say I'm aware of my generational difference. Humor.

[Cory Wara]

Yes. But you meet them more than halfway. You so many times say, I'm not judging. You're not wrong. Your experience is valid. I think you literally say that.

[Des Bishop]

I say that sarcastically?

[Cory Wara]

Yes.

[Des Bishop]

Okay. I do. That particular one about saying the word guinea.

[Cory Wara]

I use that.

[Des Bishop]

You want to know a fun fact about that joke?

[Cory Wara]

Please.

[Des Bishop]

The actual person.

[Cory Wara]

Yes.

[Des Bishop]

Who said you can't say the G word is my wife. But she was joking. But, you know, she's half. Half of one. But anyway, the your feelings are valid thing is kind of a joke. But I also just say, for example, that bit I Am trying to make the point that like these, we can make an issue out of some of these things, but like, a lot of the time nobody was really looking for it to be an issue. But it's quite beneficial for a group of people that thrive on finding things. There is, there is a section of the Internet that thrives on discovering something that is now problematic. Yeah, right.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

Now, in fairness, the one that I'm talking about, I'm confident about because it's all the guys I grew up with and I'm talking about my lived experience. You know what I mean?

[Cory Wara]

Experience.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah. So like, I'm talking about like a sort of a banter that used to be benevolent and now would be judged.

[Cory Wara]

Yes.

[Des Bishop]

You know what I mean?

[Cory Wara]

Yes.

[Des Bishop]

Like the Guinea Mick thing, you know, like, because, listen. And because, because partly is. It's a white thing. I grew up in like a white neighborhood, but ethnically we consider ourselves quite diverse. Like we were all friends with each other, but we considered ourselves quite culturally different. The Irish kids versus the Italian kids versus the Spanish kids versus the German American kids. Not as much, but like the Filipino kids. Like we did. And I do understand that there's a couple of different races that I mentioned there, but at the same time we felt unified within our community. But we enjoyed the banter of ripping on each other.

[Cory Wara]

Yes.

[Des Bishop]

Right. And I don't think that the things that are found out to be problematic after the fact, I don't think they're not problematic. But I think that the banter that we had together was one of unity. Like, I don't, I don't think I've ever bumped into anybody back then and be like, yo, there's some of this shit you guys used to say to me was fucked up. Like, I think it. I think it was pretty comfortable. Now I'm open to correction or maybe there's a naivety there.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

But like, I think it was pretty comfortable, you know?

[Cory Wara]

Do you think that your ease with. Well, maybe let's not talk about your feelings are valid, but talking about how something might be triggering or toxic or. What was the phrase lived experience you just used might that come from living with someone a generation or half a generation younger than you in those words?

[Des Bishop]

Definitely not to do with living with Hannah. Honestly, I think it's more just. Just being aware of like paying attention to like the world and how it's changed. But also, coincidentally enough, she's visiting me at the moment. But my little Cousin Bella, who's 25 year old lesbian, she and I were Very close for many, many reasons. She's my cousin, but she's more like my niece. But she's probably somewhere in between a niece and a daughter. Like, in terms of our relationship, for example, she's very funny. On Father's Day, she sent me WhatsApp and said, Happy father. And then in parentheses, figure. Day. Yes, parentheses. So that's nice. So we have. Yeah, and we have a great relationship, but she's as woke as they come. Lesbian. And we have great, like, debates, and we have. We have, like, a lot of respect for each other, but, like, we, you know, we. I. She drives me crazy sometimes, and I. She thinks I'm a bit of a fucking relic sometimes, too. But, like, you know, I've been exposed to, like, a lot of her stuff, so I'm, like. I'm acutely aware, even though I never had kids. Like, I'm acutely aware of, like, the differences between our perception and the next generation.

[Cory Wara]

That's in the special. The reason you tell the large menstruation joke, as you explain, and that is her.

[Des Bishop]

And that's a true story.

[Cory Wara]

Talk about her saying, there's no reason to avoid this. And so you go into it.

[Des Bishop]

Well, you want to know a fun story about that?

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

So for those that haven't seen my first seller special, I have a very long bit about period sex and good tips in there.

[Cory Wara]

Practical tips.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah. There's a section. And in fairness, that was a bit that I wrote originally in Ireland, but it really did develop here. Like, I closed a lot of sets here at the Cellar with that period sex bit. Anyway, there's a bit about my little cousin Bella walking out of the bathroom, and she said something about her period, and I was like, whoa, Bella, too much information. Right? She doesn't actually give me a big rant. She did kind of, like, shame me a little bit. Like, what's the big deal? But, like. Like, the rant is hyperbole. It's a performance. Yes, but many. So the truth of that story was it was backstage at Vicar street, which is one of the big Dublin, like, theater venues, and she was hanging backstage with me, like, coming to hang and watch the show. And many years later, she was like, do you know what's funny about that story? Because what I actually said was, did you take a shit in my green room? That's the true story. And she said, no, I have my period. And I went like. And she was like, what? What's the big deal? You know? But the funny thing was that years later, she was like, you know what's funny? I actually did take a shit. And I said that because I was so embarrassed that you could smell it. So the whole thing is actually, it's kind of a true story based on a lie, but the actual lie was her.

[Cory Wara]

But I also think that as society's more has changed the pivot like which is the more quote unquote shameful thing. So at least she's telling you that shit is now more shameful than period Y 100%. That is a lived experience referendum on that age old question.

[Des Bishop]

And here's another funny. Here's another funny double standard. When, when a woman does a joke about having her period, automatically the comments will fill up with, oh, another female comment talking about a folk period. And do you know that nobody has ever in the comments once been like, oh, another male comic.

[Cory Wara]

You're a hero.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah, it's a joke. Like, it's, it's, it's a hilarious double standard because I'm actually. I joke about sex a lot. And like nobody in my comments goes, oh, is all he talks about sex.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

But like when a female comic does immediately be like, oh, another female comic talking about sex.

[Cory Wara]

You know, the another thing that I gleaned or thought about when watching your special and both, both specials, some of the China show and how you do things is. I don't know why it is, but most many comics just like a little combat with the crowd. Right. To take an oppositional point of view. And so it might be I'm the cranky old guy. Your generation is weak. You don't really do that. You do that, you make your points. While also I think you tease it out through a conversation with a godson. You acknowledge the point that he has at least one or two points that are harder for his generation.

[Des Bishop]

And I do think that's also a true story. And he denies ever saying it.

[Cory Wara]

He did not. But how would he.

[Des Bishop]

Because I was like, well, how am I. This sentence that's come out of your mouth that I literally, when I do that bit, I always visualize where you were standing in the kitchen when you said it. Yeah, but he denies it. But there's, there's absolutely no way. Because the funny thing was that I was over there doing new material shows and I was in their house all the time like, like spending time with them while I was doing those new material shows. And that's when I did that bit. Because you literally said it one of the days where I went and did a show that night.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah, yeah. Neither that's not it seems like it proves it. Yeah. So also I noted that you have a bit in your. What was the special before Bridge and Tunnel?

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What was the name?

[Des Bishop]

Oh, what did I call it? Oh, of all people.

[Cory Wara]

Of all people. So in of all people there is a large chunk which generation had it harder. And then in Bridge and Tunnel there is another chunk with almost entirely new material which generation had it harder. But your godson making the point that he is constantly tracked is in the new special. So this is obviously something that not only on your mind but that audiences love hearing.

[Des Bishop]

Well, I like talking about it because I think it's a big issue of our time.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

Because I actually think like when, when I say like my recovery time, like I start going to therapy and like I go, I look back at my parents and some of the, the way that they raised me and I like have issues with it. But I feel like mental health wise, our generation got better. And I know that maybe this is naive and that that generation think they've gotten better too, but I really do think that they're in a worse position. You say that, but I, I really think that they are though in real terms, like on like the serious side of the conversation, the npr, like we're talking to a child developmental psychologist or Jonathan Haidt, the anxious generation guy. You know, like I really think that it's been unfortunate for them through a collection of social media, but you know, also like a. What they thought or what even I think actually adults thought there were certain things in terms of like acknowledging mental health or like diet, you know, like labeling everything. I think they thought that that was going to make them better, but I actually think it's been counterproductive.

[LifeLock Advertiser]

Yes.

[Des Bishop]

Now I am not a scientist, so, so I am very open to correction on this, but I think that there's more and more consensus out there that the lack of resilience that has been created by that method. And I don't think that the reason, by the way, some of the things you're saying about how I'm like trying to be understanding because I don't think they've done anything wrong. I think they were like ill served.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

You know.

[Cory Wara]

Well, what you're putting your finger on is the idea of perseveration. They're perseverating on all of their problems and they don't see the way forward. They don't see a cure as possible because that hasn't really been told to them that you can get out of it.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah. And I think that's like a real thing now. I don't, I don't have kids, but any of my friends that do have kids, they all speak en masse about the mental health struggles being like a serious issue amongst the teenagers. Right?

[Cory Wara]

Yes.

[Des Bishop]

Like, not in a way of like these kids these days, like actually they're all worried. They're all worried about their kids and their kids friends.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

Like, and I just, I'm hoping that we'll, we'll find the next phase will sort of like correct that to a degree. Because I think they were badly served and unfortunately a lot of them were bad. They hit their adolescence during the pandemic and they got radicalized, like by being online too much.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah, I know. Important time they see a TikTok about Osama bin Laden and say that guy had some good ideas, which literally happened.

[Des Bishop]

It's an unfortunate like, like sort of, you know, exacerbation of events. I mean, the anxious generation guy basically says that it's the advent of the iPhone. He doesn't even think it's the Internet, 2014. Yeah. He thinks the iPhone is like the really the beginning of like the real problem.

[Cory Wara]

Right. And part of what you were talking about, Haidt puts his finger on the idea of the locus of control. Is the locus of control within ourselves or is it somewhere else? And I think you're my generation. Maybe we didn't think we could self help our way out of it, but we kind of did a little bit. It was possible. And there's no way that kids these days. Kids these days think like that.

[Des Bishop]

But it's funny because my, you know, I have a. I have a joke that'll probably become part of my new show. But I used to do it in Ireland because the, the main punchline requires information about Ireland. But I'm gonna figure out a way to wrap this bit up in an American way. But anyway, one of my bits is, coincidentally enough, also about Bella, where she accuses me of being from the suck it up generation. Now she actually, she said something like that to me once. But one, I don't think I'm actually from the suck it up generation. I think she's really talking about the generation before. But two.

[Cory Wara]

Sorry to interrupt, but you know how like, in history, if you didn't live through history, everything is history, so. Meaning that there's no differentiation between the Civil War and the Revolutionary War for us, just like for them, there's no differentiation between the Reagan years and the Eisenhower years.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But like, I feel like, you know, like adolescence in the 90s, like, we were, like, introspective, and we were, like, navel gazing. You know what I mean?

[Cory Wara]

Like, but remote be grungy type.

[Des Bishop]

Yes. And so. But also, even with Hannah, the one thing generationally, like, because I think that generation of female comics, that one of their tropes is basically like, men don't want to go to therapy.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

And I always say, hannah, that's fine. And sometimes she throws it at me, like, in a general way, but, like, it's fine, except that I have 100% done more therapy than you. Like, Particularly, like, all of my 20s was literally, like, my main focus in life was trying to, like, sort out my mental health. We didn't call it mental health. I called it, like, my. My spiritual journey. But, like, okay, I did it all. I did. I did workshops, I did therapy, I did group sessions. I did it all. So, like, it's quite funny because I think sometimes, too, when you have, like, a New York accent and you, like, like, have this tough guy exterior, even though you're not a tough guy, I think there's this assumption that I'm like, one of these guys is like, I don't fucking feel my feelings. I'm like, the antithesis of that.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah, yeah.

[Des Bishop]

I've been a recovery guy since 19.

[Cory Wara]

But what's interesting about your New York accent, and by the way, great accent. I do sense hear a little Irish

[Des Bishop]

here and there every now and then. Yeah.

[Cory Wara]

I think you said tink instead of think. Did I? Yeah. What's the number after two?

[Des Bishop]

Well. Oh, I would say three. I really. You know what? When you ask me.

[Cory Wara]

Yes, I know.

[Des Bishop]

It has to happen naturally.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah, yeah.

[Des Bishop]

And it also, on more serious conversations, I think sometimes the New York accent calms down. It really depends. And it goes in and out. And we made fun of my father. My father had an Irish accent, sometimes an English accent, other times. And sometimes. Yeah. Well, he lived in England a lot of his life.

[Cory Wara]

Okay.

[Des Bishop]

So we would make fun of him. Depending who he talked to, he'd sound more like them. And then I literally became the same. I became the same person.

[Cory Wara]

But what's really fascinating about you, and I've talked to Southern comics like Dusty Slay and the Liberal Redneck, and they talk about they love their accent. It's a secret power. There are things they could do about it to surprise a crowd, but also, it's their accent. They can never not have it. You actually did an experiment where you didn't have it, in a sense, as you talk about when you Go to Ireland, they don't sense that you have a Queen's accent.

[Des Bishop]

No, they, they do hear the New York accent, but what I mean is they are not. They're not really like. Like, it's not. It doesn't mean as much to them.

[Cory Wara]

The associations, they don't assume that you're a certain type of guy. These are just the people they've seen in movies.

[Des Bishop]

And also they just really see me as an American.

[Cory Wara]

It's a really interesting experiment, isn't it?

[Des Bishop]

But it's not an experiment. It's. It's. It's something that I just roll like. Yeah, but something that I discovered only when I came back. Because even though I've, I've. I had done gigs in the States, I'd never been here full time. And after a while, I could tell that people were making assumptions about me based on my accent. And that really was the first time other than people going, you're American. Irish people were judging me for being American. But it was a very. That's a very general thing. I could feel people like making assumptions about me based on my accent in a way that I just wasn't used to in Ireland. I have a joke that doesn't work here where I say, where I give the Dublin equivalent of my accent. And it helps them to understand because they know that they judge people when they hear that accent.

[Cory Wara]

Right, so is that the tough part

[Des Bishop]

of Dublin is I give myself what I. What in Dublin, I call it like a working class accent. And then I make the comparison between like, not the really, like the heroin addict accent, but, you know, but like, just like the plumbers and the electricians. And again, the whole bane of my existence is how so many of my Irish jokes don't translate. But needless to say, trust me, that that joke, the joke is, is part of the bit that you're talking about where I talk about, like, people suddenly judging me on my accent. But I can do some of that joke in Ireland by helping them to understand what I'm talking about by giving them a context, right?

[Cory Wara]

So if there was an English guy or an Irish guy working American clubs, and he was. He. He maybe would say something like, well, maybe you think I have. Have an accent that makes me sound smart, like a newsreader. I gotta say, back in England, they don't think of me as having this accent. Here's what it sounds like to them. And then he bursts into a Queen's accent. That would be the equivalent of your job.

[Des Bishop]

Bishop, for example, like John Bishop. Great. British comedian. I do a podcast with him, but he's been coming over to the States. He enjoys doing the Cellar. And he has a Liverpool accent, which in British terms would be considered like working class city, to be honest, which

[Cory Wara]

we know from the Beatles.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah. But like, to be honest, like for a lot of southern England, like Liverpool action be the butt of the joke.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

Like naturally, like assumed to be less intelligent, blah, blah, blah. Whereas he comes here, like, I don't think people can hear the difference. They're just like, oh, an English guy.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

Maybe they might understand him less than like a London comic, but they won't know why.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah. So I've, I've written down many questions about specific jokes, but I will let you go. I just want to maintain the mystery.

[Des Bishop]

Ask. Ask me questions about a couple specific jokes before we go.

[Cory Wara]

Is you learn to love pineapple on pizza in Ireland. Is that because the base of pizza in Ireland is not so great to begin with?

[Des Bishop]

I mean, that is a very. That could be seen as a valid point. I mean the pizza's not. The pizza's not as good as in Ireland.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

I mean these days you can get good wood fire pizza in Ireland. But like when I first went, it wasn't good. Like, it wasn't like I was saying this pizza is better than New York pizza. But like they were big on pineapple and eventually I got into it and the thing is that you see pineapple and pizza on offer here a lot. Like you can get it around the corner right now from the comedy seller. I get it there all the time. But like I do like it. But it's a fun thing because it's one of those weird. There's like, there's like a few dumb controversies in this life of things that are not important but people get very passionate about.

[Cory Wara]

Like, is a hot dog a sandwich?

[Des Bishop]

Yeah, yeah.

[Cory Wara]

I was related.

[Des Bishop]

Maybe I was joking today saying that a pizza is basically a grilled cheese. It's like an. Oh, it's like a grilled cheese with. With no top.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah. Which is open faced grilled cheese.

[Des Bishop]

Open faced sandwich. That's what I had an argument with Hannah about it once. But anyway, it's fun. Kind of like benevolent controversies.

[Cory Wara]

So this is really what I wanted to ask the big question. You have a very good joke, an observation about, you know, if you have a parent who's dying, believe me, you're not going to hear a MAGA accent. It's going to be all Jamaican and Filipino know. So I recently came across, I subscribed to the nber, which is the National Bureau of Economic Research. And they came out with a paper. Now, it's not peer reviewed, I want you to know, Des. But they came out with a paper about the effect of the crackdown on immigration, and they looked at home health care, aids, and they had a calculation that it has cost Americans something like 100,000 years live. Exactly what you're saying. Because we can't have Jamaicans and Filipinos in this country. It's literally killing Americans. And my question is, do you like when the economic research validates a joke or does that undercut the creativity involved in thinking of it in the first place?

[Des Bishop]

No, because it was inspired by the. Well, first of all, it was inspired by the fact that both my parents died. The actual hypocrisy of that joke is I was there with both of them.

[Cory Wara]

Yes, yes. A guy with a mag ahead, at least.

[Des Bishop]

No, but I was the child. I'm claiming that, like, your kids might not even be there. I'm making this whole joke about I'll be looked after by a Jamaican or Filipino, but actually I was there. And I think it did matter to them that I was dubs.

[Cory Wara]

Right?

[Vanessa Quirk]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

But like. But I think it did matter to them that I was there. And I think that if I didn't have a kid, I think I probably will have a regret at that moment to be. But that's neither here nor the there. That goes against the joke. But, but I, I did. I did, like, with both of them. We did have some home help that was like, you know, from the islands, you know, in most cases. But I had done some stuff in Ireland over the years, like, where I would moderate debates about immigration. And I had had some, like, very learned people that were basically just giving the cold hard numbers of just. It's like, undebatable that economically immigration is a net positive. Yeah, It's. It's not. It's not invalid to point out some of the negatives. Right.

[Cory Wara]

There are cultures.

[Des Bishop]

Some of the negatives exist. Right. But they do not supersede the economic positive of having large amounts of immigration in your country. Any country, not just the United States.

[Cory Wara]

Right. Well, especially countries with low population growth, like Ireland and the United States. Yeah. No population. Population growth without immigration.

[Des Bishop]

Yeah. So it's fine that all these people want to sort of really exaggerate the ills of immigration for whatever reason. And it's very easy to argue that they're just racist. And I think that is the case sometimes. But I also think sometimes they're Ill informed. They assume that the price of houses or unaffordability, you know, or that they, they believe the propaganda that the amount of government funding that's going towards these groups of people is greater than it is or that they're like a drainage. Like I think sometimes the biggest misinformation is that immigrants are a drain on America's resources. Right. This is just an objective fact that they're not, they're a net positive.

[Cory Wara]

Net.

[Des Bishop]

Yes, net positive objective fact. Okay, if for cultural reasons and other reasons you want to continue to argue against immigration, fine. But like, I promise you that at least some of your reasons are wrong. And I for that matter, because like now it's become really popular to be like, oh well, we do need to regulate immigration and that's fine. Okay, you can argue that. But I actually think even in a society with unregulated immigration, it's not as big a deal as people make out. I think for some reason it's been a boogeyman for a long time. But I think the reason why America is the most powerful nation on earth is because we have always had, had huge injections of the most ambitious people from all over the world.

[Cory Wara]

Right.

[Des Bishop]

That's my personal opinion. It's not a popular opinion these days, but I don't, I don't really care.

[Cory Wara]

You just have to make it an interesting and entertaining opinion.

[Des Bishop]

Well, when I, and, and, but you'll probably notice because at the end of the day, I'm a 50 year old white dude.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

I'm not looking to like be a fucking hero for liberal causes on stage. But what I, I one, I'm not going to be, I'm going to remain true to who I am. But, and every time I sneak in my little liberal jokes, I'm going to do it in a way that's still entertaining and hopefully even for people that completely disagree with me, they will go, that was funny. And yes, it's insightful. I don't agree, but it's not pissing me off.

[Cory Wara]

Yeah.

[Des Bishop]

You know what, I mean that in this day and age of a very divided society, that's my mission. I was preachier in my earlier career.

[Cory Wara]

And so for an hour of comedy that won't piss you off and Derek, I say, will entertain you. Check out Bridge and Tunnel, which is on Hulu.

[Des Bishop]

It's on hulu and on YouTube. I mean, I'm pushing people to YouTube now. A very unique deal with Hulu where they had it for two weeks exclusively. It'll be on Hulu for a year. So you can pop it on Hulu on your tv. Absolutely. Great way to watch it. But you can also watch.

[Cory Wara]

It's a valid way to watch.

[Des Bishop]

Valid.

[Cory Wara]

Gainsay the validity of that.

[Des Bishop]

But what you know, you can go on YouTube and jack up my views and make me feel better about myself.

[Cory Wara]

Des Bishop, thank you so much.

[Des Bishop]

Thank you for having me.

[Vanessa Quirk]

Me.

[Cory Wara]

That's it for today's show. The Gist is produced by Cory Wara. Jeff Craig does How to. Ben Astaire is our booking coordinator. Kathleen Sykes does the Gist list. And Michelle Pesca is extraordinary in her role as coo. Thanks for listening.