Des Bishop

Desmond Bishop (Irish: Deasún Mac an Easpaig; born November 12, 1975) is an American comedian. Born In London, he was brought up in New York and moved to Ireland at the age of 14.

Bishop attended St. Francis Preparatory School in the Fresh Meadows neighbourhood of the New York City borough of Queens. At the age of 16, he began school at St Peter's College, Wexford in Ireland. He later re-sat his Leaving Certificate at Blackrock College, Dublin. He has a degree in English and history from University College Cork.

Bishop has worked as a comic in Ireland since the late 1990s. He began hosting shows and honing his act at the International Comedy Cellar, a venue set up by Irish comics such as Ardal O'Hanlon, Kevin Gildea, and Barry Murphy.

Bishop appeared in the 2002 film In America, in which he played a high stockbroker rapping in the back of a New York taxi cab.

He reached a broader audience after his TV show The Des Bishop Work Experience screened on RTÉ Two in 2004. The show featured him attempting to survive for one month working a minimum wage job in various parts of Ireland. During the series, he worked at Abrakebabra, Waterford; The Aqua-dome, Tralee; Superquinn, Dundalk; and the Central Hotel, Dublin.

A 2006 TV show named Joy in the Hood featured him travelling to deprived areas of Ireland's major cities and mentoring local people in stand-up comedy.

Bishop received significant criticism during a show in 2006 for ableist comments he aimed at an audience member who was in a wheelchair and had an intellectual disability. Bishop later apologised for his actions.

Bishop speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and has also worked in China where he has adopted the Chinese stage name Bi Hansheng (毕瀚生) and has appeared in a few Chinese dating shows.