Laugh it Up: Des Bishop in Town to Learn Chinese

What would drive you to move all the way to China to live with a Chinese family? For comedian Des Bishop, it was working at an Irish kebab shop. He got along so well with his Chinese coworkers that he decided to come to Beijing and study Mandarin – with the dream of performing in Chinese.

Bishop has been here for a bit, but now he's going to perform a monthly comedy night at The Bookworm with comedians from around the world. His jokes will be in English – he has to hit the Chinese books a little longer yet.

The comedian, originally from New York, is no stranger to foreign experiences. He moved to Ireland as a teenager and rose to fame with three popular TV shows: The Des Bishop Work Experience, Joy in the Hood, and most recently, the acclaimed six-part funny documentary In the Name of the Fada.

The star later shot to international fame with a memoir and stand up act based on his father's missed chance to play James Bond. Apparently the old man lost the role to George Lazenby. Des Bishop premiered My Dad Was Nearly James Bond at the 2010 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. It was so well received that the stand up act was invited to festivals around the world.

According to The Independent, "fitting in, from learning how to engage with people out of necessity" is what gives Bishop his inspiration and unique style. His move to Beijing is all about fitting in with the locals and turning his unique perspective on life in this city into jokes. He's already confident that "there's plenty of humor in mispronunciation and crossed-wires material."

Learn more about Bishop's mission to study Chinese and his father's missed calling as 007 at The Bookworm on April 27. And if you're into laughs, don't miss Beijing Improv's comedy festival this week.

Photo: The Independent