Des Bishop's 'Coming Home'

The funny man is back on Irish soil after an interesting time in China

From the Glen to Beijing and back home again.

Des Bishop’s ‘Coming Home’ tour left audiences with tears rolling down their cheeks as he performed his hilarious, sold-out gig in Cork last weekend.

His stand-up show garnered impressive reviews at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last summer and, having brought it back to The Everyman for two nights this year, it’s easy to see why.

‘Coming Home’ tells the entertaining, amusing and laugh-out-loud account of Des’s two years living in China where he challenged himself to learn one of the world’s most up-and-coming languages.

Having already spent a year in the Gaeltacht in a bid to learn cúpla focal and speak as Gaeilge, Des decided to set the bar even higher and try his hand at Mandarin.

Our tickets for the show last Friday night.

Without giving too much of the show away, I can tell you, if you’re lucky enough to see this performance it will leave your cheeks hurting and stomach aching from laughter. Des’s anecdotal stories of working in a local restaurant as a ‘welcomer’, attending match-making fairs, learning to play ancient Chinese instruments with the locals and, finally, making an appearance on the Chinese version of ‘Take Me Out’ are guaranteed to entertain you.

The problems he encounters along the way, the inevitable difficulties he has with the language and the differences he experiences with the culture are all told in brilliant, comedic fashion by the much-loved Irish-American.

His recount of his time on Take Me Out is one for the books as he recalls how he got the audience clapping along to ‘Come Out Ye Black and Tans’ while also yapping away in Mandarin AND trying to woo the ladies for almost half an hour. Talk about multi-talented!

However it was just a fleeting visit to his old haunt in Cork as the New Yorker returns to his home city next where his ‘Made in China’ tour, as it is known outside Ireland, hits the Barrow Street Theatre for a three-week run.

Having spent years laughing over his jokes and eagerly waiting to finally see him, Des Bishop did not disappoint, and, if this show is anything to go by I can’t wait to see the next!

Picture c/o: desbishop.net