Des Bishop claims it’s time to get real. “My show is real on a personal level,” he explains. “In the past I’ve done shows about testicular cancer and loss of faith. People are not often used to that kind of reality on a comedy stage”. That’s certainly true, and yet he seems unfazed by the difficulties audiences may face in finding the humour here. “I think some of the best comedy comes from a place of discomfort,” he says, “if you can then liberate that discomfort or shed some light on where it’s coming from, that can be quite a powerful thing”. It’s an ambitious take on an audience, that seems abundantly clear. It seems as though he wants to transform the nervous laughter and jokes that people all-to-often use as a defence mechanism, and open it up into natural, honest laughter.
Tall order or not, the show has already proven popular on tours with audiences and critics alike, before bringing it to Edinburgh, so there may be some truth in the approach. “Essentially my show is about fear of intimacy,” he explains. “There are only so many excuses, avoidance tricks, jokes in intimate situations, head turns, hugs when a kiss is needed and pats on the back that one can pull before people call your bluff and ask why you can’t get closer. That’s the moment I struggle with and that’s what I am trying to get to the bottom of in the show”. And if it sounds suspiciously like there’s a story behind it: “After a very bad break-up I did some soul searching,” he says, “oddly enough, some of the things people were most honest about seemed to also be the same dysfunction that was driving me to get on stage and dismiss everything in a funny way… and they are all funny!”
IN FIVE WORDS
Favourite thing about your show?
Challenging Shame for 26 nights
Favourite thing about the Festival?
Being surrounded by cool people
Where can we find you when you’re not performing?
Training for the Sydney Marathon
What are you most looking forward to once it’s all over?
Doing the Sydney Marathon.
Catch Des Bishop daily at 20:45 at the Assembly Rooms with his show Desfunctional. He’s live from the 6th till the 30th (except the 17th and 24th).
Graham McIntosh
