DJ warms up to an Arena comedy first

Jun 11 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

Comedian and broadcaster John Bishop _158

COMEDIAN John Bishop will be walking out in front of his largest ever crowd this weekend. The stand-up and talk radio DJ will be warming up the crowd and compering in between the headlining acts at Saturday night’s The Three Fellas gig at the Echo Arena Liverpool, featuring Father Ted star Ardal O’ Hanlon, Black Books creator Dylan Moran, and Irish comedy’s hottest property Tommy Tiernan.

It’s the first comedy gig to be held at the venue since its opening in January, and will be the largest audience ever for all the comics on the bill, who have never appeared together on stage before.

“Ten thousand people will be thinking “who’s he? What does he want? Is he the one that reads out the safety announcements?”

“But it’ll be fantastic. It’s a great occasion for all of us,” said Bishop.

“It’s an honour to be the first person to walk on the stage at the arena and do comedy.

“I saw Ringo Starr there and that was funny enough, but I’ll be the first comedian.”

Bishop, who presents a weekend show on Radio City, seems an obvious choice for the job to bridge the gap between Liverpool and Dublin.

Aside from his unmistakably Scouse heritage, he has been courting an Irish audience by managing to become the only non-native making regular appearances on The Panel, one of Ireland’s biggest shows and equivalent of Have I Got News For You.

He is a former player for South-port FC and has known and worked with O’Hanlon, Tiernan and Moran over the years, regularly appearing at the Kilkenny Comedy Festival and other events where they have gigged together.

“It’ll be interesting to see how many Irish people come over for this,” he says . “You can’t get a ticket to see Tommy Tiernan in Ireland. It’s going to be brilliant. Everyone’s going to have a good night whether you like Ardal or Dylan or Tommy. The bonus is, you’re getting me for free.”

* DON’T miss Box Office, in Friday’s Daily Post, for an interview with the mastermind behind the Three Fellas gig, Liverpool-born comedy promoter Mick Perrin.

vickyanderson@dailypost.co.uk