How do you keep up with this guy? The peripatetic Irish-American comedian and television star Des Bishop is relocating to New York where he is preparing to launch a new Chinese comedy scene in his native Flushing in September. The initiative will trade on the success of Bishop's groundbreaking Beijing comedy club, which still hosts China's first and only stand-up comedy night.
Called "The Humor Section," Bishop's new venture launches at the brand new Huang Chang Kang Tea House, 135-14 Northern Boulevard -- in bustling Downtown Flushing -- on Saturday/Sunday September 26 & 27, and is, appropriately enough, two-prawned: on alternating nights the show is an English language dim-sum-and-comedy experience, and on the others it's strictly a Chinese affair.
On Saturday September 26, at 8pm, Bishop inaugurates "The Humor Section's" first English-language dim sum comedy night, co-starring Tony Chou, Bishop's partner in comedy in Beijing. (Since Bishop left China in June, Chou continues the popular monthly shows at The Bookworm.) The evening features comedians from across the country, hand-picked by Bishop to appeal to a diverse, cosmopolitan audience.
On Sunday September 27, at 9pm, after taking part in the annual Moon Festival celebration and parade produced by Fred Fu and the Flushing Development Center (the Chinese mid-autumn harvest festival similar to our Thanksgiving), Bishop kicks off America's first-ever All-Chinese Comedy Night. Also co-starring Tony Chou, and featuring a handful of the comics nurtured by Bishop and Chou in Beijing, the all-Mandarin night is the funniest cultural immersion experience out there.
Both nights are just $20 per person with table seating. Enjoy Chinese dumplings, tea and beer at the lavish new Huang Cheng Gen Tea House, 135-14 Northern Boulevard. Come early for a massage! For tickets call
866/811-4111 or visit
www.desbishop.net or for info in Chinese after September 14 call
917/375-7740.
"MADE IN CHINA" PERFORMANCES BOOK-END FLUSHING COMEDY NIGHTS Bishop also performs his critically acclaimed "Made in China" solo show for four special nights in Manhattan, as part of the 2015 Origin's 1st Irish Festival. A chronicle of his journey to China to learn Mandarin so that he could perform stand-up for a Chinese audience, "Made in China" will be presented in association with the
Irish Arts Center at Lucky Jack's, 129 Orchard Street, Friday September 25, and Thursday through Saturday October 1, 2, 3, all at 7:30pm. Tickets are $25 and are available by calling
866/811-4111 or by visiting
www.1stirish.org
In "Made in China" Bishop chronicles his eight short months in Beijing learning Mandarin so he could perform stand-up in front of Chinese audiences. Not only did he succeed in learning the notoriously tricky tongue, he landed a hosting job at a busy restaurant, started a comedy club, then found himself on a television dating show seen by over 40 million viewers. His adventures were captured by the Irish broadcaster RTE, which aired Breaking China -- a much-discussed, six-part reality series starring Bishop -- last year, and once again this year.
Bishop performed "Made in China" in front of sold-out audiences at the Edinburgh Fringe last summer, and in a critically acclaimed three-week run at The
Barrow Street Theatre in March. The New York Times called "Made in China" "incisive and giddy."
Raised in Queens, Bishop was an unruly boy with a drinking problem, and at 14 he was sent off to boarding school in, of all places, Ireland! Celebrated in Ireland for his non-fiction theatre shows and reality television appearances, Bishop has taught stand-up to regular Joes in the slums of Dublin, stirred up debate about Irish identity, alcohol and drug abuse, and freely questioned double standards toward women. "Made in China" boldly explores the very timely and alarming cultural divide between the West and China.
