Bradley Cooper has made a film about comedian John Bishop – here’s what I thought

This probably takes the title as one of the most unexpected biopics in recent years, with Hollywood director and actor Bradley Cooper being unexpectedly inspired by the story of Liverpudlian comedian John Bishop.

But if you see Is This Thing On?, it actually makes a lot of sense as a neat and heartfelt character-driven comedy film – it just happens to be based on the true and quite remarkable story of how John Bishop started his career in performing (and is also produced by Claudia Winkleman’s husband Kris Thykier, FYI).

To put you at ease straight away though, this film contains no mangled attempts at regional British accents, with the story moved instead to New York.

Canadian-born US star Will Arnett plays Alex Novak, a man who works in finance and, as the film starts, has agreed with his wife Tess (Laura Dern) that it’s time to throw the towel in on their marriage after over 20 years together.

Although very sad, they initially seem to be handling it quite well; after sharing a weed-laced cookie on a final night out with friends while ‘still together’, Alex ends up outside a bar.

And when he discovers he has to pay a $15 (£11.17) cover charge just to enter, and then stump up for the drink he wants, he does the totally normal thing you do when your judgement may be impaired – he signs up to perform comedy onstage instead, thereby skirting the fee.

What happens next would have been easy for co-writers Cooper, Arnett and Mark Chappell to imagine as some sort of slow-motion car crash, with Alex dying a slow death up there due to his complete lack of experience.

But instead, his honest monologue about his impending divorce slowly turns to humour as he processes it while at the microphone – and thanks to his earlier snack, without inhibitions.

Soon, he’s found an unexpected new hobby and lease on life while juggling splitting school pick-ups with Tess, telling his parents about their divorce and dealing with their sweetly earnest two sons.

But the comedy firmly remains a secret, even as he starts to hone his craft and make friends in the community, because he has so much going on, including a mother (Christine Ebersole) who is happy to stay speaking on the phone every day with Tess and tells him: ‘Oh honey, I had no idea your life was so bad.’

What Is This Thing On? mines so well is the rich vein of real and honest comedy that can be found in moments of personal tragedy, without ever going over the top.

While Dern initially draws the short straw as the estranged wife character, after Alex’s secret comes out in a most wonderfully hands-over-the-eyes moment – which allows her to shine with some perfectly played facial expressions – things take an unexpected turn.

It’s a turn you’d argue probably wouldn’t happen in real life – except for the fact it did for Bishop. There’s also a nice nod to him and his roots in one scene that drew a laugh of appreciation from the BFI London Film Festival audience in my screening.

Throughout their separation, Alex and Tess still spend time with their gang of friends, including Alex’s best bud Balls (yes really, played by Cooper) and his wife Christine (Andra Day), who are the most defined among the group as a jobbing actor whose facial hair changes for every audition and his long-suffering wife who is harsh towards Alex.

While this is Cooper’s first directing gig where he hasn’t taken a lead role, as in A Star is Born and Maestro, he does still steal some of the biggest laughs for himself as the rather clueless Balls – in one particular scene, his expert timing and lack of guile squeezes everything out of an otherwise quite mundane exchange about a photograph.

But it’s Arnett who truly – and rightfully – shines in the best part of his career, showing range and emotion that Arrested Development and The Lego Movie franchise, as entertaining as he was in them, never allowed for. 

It’s also quite a change of tone in film for Cooper, who handles a quieter, more personal and less grand story with aplomb – and the perfect amount of humour.

Is This Thing On? screened at the London Film Festival on October 14, 15 and 19. It’s set to be released in us cinemas on December 19 and in the UK on January 30, 2026.

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