Bradley Cooper’s 'Is This Thing On?' Tells the True Story of a Broken Marriage Saved by One Joke

Back in 2001, John Bishop was a 34-year-old pharmaceutical sales executive with three young children and was newly separated from his wife. While looking for a place to drown his sorrows, he stumbled into the Frog and Bucket comedy club in Manchester, England, and, to avoid the £4 cover charge, he put his name down on the list for the Open Mic night. That impulsive decision marked the start of a wildly successful comedy career and, twenty-five years later, Bishop is a household name with sold-out tours across the UK. His latest project, the Bradley Cooper-directed biopic Is This Thing On?, documents just how unbelievable his rise to fame was and shows how one decision catapulted his career and ultimately saved his marriage.

While promoting Is This Thing On?, John Bishop retold the story on The Graham Norton Show of how he had painfully separated from his wife, Melanie, in October 2000, after having their three sons so quickly. They were starting to co-parent and navigate their single lives when Bishop spent the evening at a comedy club in Manchester trying to lift his spirits. When he signed up for the open mic night to get into the bar, he didn’t think he’d ever be called up to the stage, but when it was his turn, he completely opened up. Standing before seven strangers, he delivered his first “stand-up” set, telling stories about heartbreak with his unique personality and natural humor.

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As he said to RTE, “no one can feel sad and laugh at the same time," so Bishop kept returning to the club, stand-up, and chasing audience connection. But here's the Hollywood twist. One night, his estranged wife, Melanie, turned up with a group of friends also looking for a mood-boost, and neither of them knew the other was there. The surprise turned quickly into shock when Bishop told one of his most popular jokes about keeping his ex-wife’s head in the fridge. Bishop recently shared on the BBC’s The One Show, that he “looked to the left and the head that was meant to be in the fridge was in the audience.” You may think Melanie would be hurt, but instead, when they met up after the show, she told him that he "reminded her of who he used to be.” The couple reconciled, went to relationship counseling, and remain together today. Bishop credits comedy as the reason his marriage was saved.

Will Arnett’s ‘Is This Thing On?’ Tells The Story Of John Bishop’s Unlikely Rise To Fame

John Bishop’s accidental stumble into comedy is now the origin story of Is This Thing On?, the US comedy-drama directed by Bradley Cooper. The cast includes Will Arnett (as Bishop), Laura Dern (as Melanie), Amy Sedaris, and Ciarán Hinds. Arnett stars as Alex Kovak, a comic navigating his career and a marriage on the edge, with Dern as his estranged wife, Tess. Bradley Cooper also stars as Alex’s friend Balls, and, alongside directing, he made his debut as a camera operator in the film. Hinds plays Alex’s father, and Emily Blunt was initially linked to the production but had scheduling conflicts with Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day.

A comedy of remarriage, Is This Thing On? premiered as the final film of the 2025 New York Film Festival and was released in the United States last December. Recently launched in the UK, the film was conceived when Bishop met Arnett on a barge in Amsterdam around November 2018. He recounted on The Graham Norton Show, how the pair were introduced by a mutual friend, producer Kris Thykier, and discussed the unlikely story of his rise to fame. Though the film relocates the story from Liverpool to New York — and was filmed in real New York comedy clubs — it does preserve Bishop’s heart. Arnett wears the comedian's Liverpool FC shirt in a nod to his hometown and beloved team. The film is sentimental and explores the restorative power of laughter and extraordinary coincidence.

Twenty-five years after putting his name down on an open mic list to avoid a £4 cover charge, John Bishop can trace almost everything back to that night at the Frog and Bucket. He shared on Virgin Radio UK that he returned to perform at the Manchester club to celebrate his silver anniversary after playing to 10,000 people in Leeds the night before — a stark difference from the initial seven. Bishop described his early gigs to the BBC as a "sliding doors' moment." What began as a distraction from a painful separation became the catalyst for a comedy career that has now filled arenas, taken over Hollywood, and helped repair his marriage.

Is this Thing On? is available to stream on VOD services.

Release Date December 19, 2025

Runtime 121 minutes