(Brian Logan’s article appeared in the Guardian. The above clip is from Bishop’s Australian show.)
Cynic that I am, I approached Manhattan Irishman Des Bishop's show about his father's terminal cancer with trepidation. When standup takes on personal trauma, goodwill can substitute for laughs, and trite uplift for the complexity of experience. But that's barely the case here – Bishop sails close to but resists sentimentality for most of the show, at least until a tearjerking, coup de théâtre finale. The show is only sometimes great comedy, but it's always a totally compelling story about a father's sacrifices, and the midlife awakening of an errant son.
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