Comedian John Bishop has revealed how a macabre joke about his wife ultimately saved their marriage. The performer and his wife Melanie were going through divorce proceedings when she overheard him delivering the joke during a stand-up performance, leading to their reconciliation.
Bishop recounted the story on BBC's The One Show, explaining how the incident inspired a new Hollywood film starring Will Arnett. Directed by Bradley Cooper, Is This Thing On? centres on a protagonist called Alex and draws from a gig Bishop did early in his career.
He told presenters Alex Jones and Lauren Laverne: 'I split up with my wife Melanie and I found myself walking into the Frog and Bucket one night in Manchester. Because I didn't want to pay the entrance fee, I ended up putting my name down on the list and getting up and doing stand-up.'
Bishop elaborated: 'Melanie came with some friends that she was working with, didn't know I was doing stand-up comedy. And I said a joke on the stage about not living with my wife anymore but keeping her head in the fridge. Not the best joke I've ever said! I looked to the left and the head that was meant to be in the fridge was in the audience!'
He continued: 'We were at the final stage of the divorce. I thought, "This is going to make the divorce more expensive." She came over to me at the end and said, "That was quite funny. It's like seeing the man that I met." We ended up going to Relate and getting our marriage back.'
