Des Bishop is back with a new stand-up show, Tongues, which draws on his experiences learning Irish in Connemara, where he has been based since the beginning of the year. The New Yorker was also in attendance at Electric Picnic, where he performed at the International Comedy Club tent, which showcases some of the comedic talent to be regularly seen at the Dublin club run by Bishop and his brother. Did he enjoy the festival?

“It was great man,” enthuses Des. “To be honest, the last few years I’ve been doing the Electric Picnic, I’ve been sort of half involved in organising the comedy tent, and I was MC-ing all the time and doing my own show. As far as the comedy went, I never really enjoyed it that much, and then as a result I never really took in the whole experience properly. But Jesus, this year I just had the best weekend. Not just with the comedy, but I managed to figure out the formula to work at the festival and enjoy it.”
As it happens, on the Saturday night, Bishop bounded by your correspondent at Erasure, and he certainly seemed to be in great spirits.
“The funny thing about Erasure is that I said for the previous two months that all that mattered in my life was being up front for the Beastie Boys,” explains Des. “That was my mission, so I went to Erasure so that I could get up the front. But I fuckin’ thought Erasure were brilliant! I was a bit cynical – slightly protecting-my-sexuality cynical – about them, but I really thought they were class.”
They certainly put on a great performance, although Andy Bell is noticeably carrying a few extra pounds around the midriff these days.
“Yeah, but what I loved about him is that he fuckin’ didn’t give a shit! It was as if he was saying, ‘Have a look at my big fuckin’ belly. I don’t care!’ I just thought it was class. He really can perform, that guy. When he sang that second-to-last song, it starts kind of ballad-y…that was a pretty charismatic moment, I thought.”
Away from the realm of classic ‘80s synth-pop, Bishop’s main focus these days is of course his stint learning Irish in Connemara, which will form the basis for a new comedy series next year (its prospective title – in a fine pun worthy even of Stuart Clark – is In The Name Of The Fada). How has he found the experience thus far?
“It’s cool,” he replies. “Obviously the language side of it is a progression, so that’s all fine. There’s a lot of practical humour and just basic language things you can talk about. But the more interesting aspect really is living in a rural community and experiencing a part of Ireland that I know nothing about.
“It’s normality has been a real surprise, because I think this phrase ‘the Gaeltacht’ has a certain association. My baggage that I brought to it is that I only knew about the Gaeltacht through a little bit of literature, but more importantly just from kids saying they were down there when they were teenagers. ‘The Gaeltacht’ was this separate place.
“So, to be honest, the normality of it, the fact that life goes on pretty much the same as it does anywhere else, only through the Irish language, that was maybe the biggest surprise.”
According to the advance publicity, the second half of Tongues focuses more on religion.
“I don’t think you could do a full show on learning Irish,” suggests Bishop. “I would have no problem doing that, but first of all, it’s not the only thing I have to say, and also I don’t think it’s fair. Some people just aren’t into Irish, and that’s their total right. It’s not this intense thing, but the other thing that has been kind of floating my boat over the last year – I made the mistake of reading Richard Dawkins – is my own waning faith.
“And also the growth of conservative Christianity in America, which is almost a bit hack, except that I haven’t heard that many people discussing the ridiculousness of it. They just kind of talk about this other place, but they don’t really tackle the fact that these people actually believe it. Why I called the show ‘Tongues’ was that, obviously, ‘teanga’ is the Irish word for language, and that literally means tongue, and then in the second half there is a large section about speaking in tongues.”
Again, the publicity material on the show relates that Des has had actual first hand experience of seeing people speaking in tongues.
I’ve seen it, loads of times,” he says. “I’ve seen it at some born-again Christian masses in Ireland. You can see it on YouTube, if you want. I’m obsessed with speaking in tongues in that I’ve been aware of it for years, and it comes from the Holy Spirit. They were tongues of flames that fell onto the Apostles’ mouths and gave them the ability to speak in any language so that they could spread the word of God.
“One of my jokes in the show is that ‘Now I think it’s true. God has given these people the ability to speak in this language, which is a language everyone can understand. And that language is God letting you know that if you hear someone speak like this, get the fuck away from them because they’re insane.'”
But do people actually believe it, or are they just putting it on?
“Well, I’ve been to some stuff like holotropic breathwork, various different breathing techniques, shamanic journeys. I’ve done a lot of the spiritual exploration that one does perhaps when they stop drinking, you know what I mean? I’ve done a lot of soul searching. And I’ve had a number of experiences where, in the intensity of the moment, you’re in touch with a lot of emotion, music, energy, adrenaline, and you let go.
“And you start to express yourself in ways that you never really expressed yourself before. But I don’t think that expression is supernatural, I just think you let go. And when it happens to people, it can be pretty overwhelming. I do believe that they could honestly feel that because of the intensity of the movement, that it is, you know…God. Especially when some charismatic guy is up the front telling you that it is!”

Des Bishop’s Tongues show visits Vicar Street on September 22, 27-29 and October 13. He also plays INEC Killarney (October 26), TF Theatre Castlebar (October 28) and Limerick Concert Hall (November 9).