Edinburgh Fringe: Doctor Who's John Bishop returns to Edinburgh Festival with live Three Little Words podcast shows

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The comedy superstar best known to Doctor Who fans as Dan Lewis, one of Jodie Whittaker's time-travelling companions, is to bring a special live edition of the Amazon Exclusive podcast, which is co-hosted with Tony Pitts, to the Gilded Balloon this August.

Three Little Words is a celebration of language and words, big and small, familiar, and strange. Each episode paints a picture through bold and brilliant storytelling. It has been described as ‘a rollercoaster of emotions: funny, warm, and beautiful’.

Running for five days only, from August 16 to 20 August, at 2pm daily, in Gilded Balloon Teviot’s Debating Hall, each live recording will see Bishop and Pitts meet a special guest to chat about three words that mean something to them, and the one they would gladly never, ever hear again.

Bishop, who turned to comedy after a career as a footballer playing for, among others, Winsford United and Crewe Alexandra, says, “I’m delighted to be taking Three Little Words to Edinburgh with Tony. It will be great to be back at the Festival and bring the podcast to a live audience. We’ve got a fantastic mix of guests lined-up for your lunchtime entertainment, which we’ll announce very soon.”

With screen credits that include the teen drama Skins and Ken Loach's film Route Irish, Bishop's turn as a podcast host will come as no surprise to anyone who ever listened to his regular Sunday slot on Liverpool's Radio City, Bishop's Sunday Service.

The funnyman has certainly come a long way since his appearance in the final of Gilded Balloon's So You Think You're Funny in 2001, a year after he launched his stand-up career - in 2009, his Fringe show, Elvis Has Left the Building, was nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award.

Karen Koren, Artistic Director of the Gilded Balloon adds, “It’s great to have John back in Edinburgh after so many years of his huge success. We worked with John in his very early days when he used to perform on Late’n’Live and So You Think You’re Funny? We’re delighted to have John and his podcast back in this very special Fringe return.”

Presented by Amazon Music, the podcast features stars from all walks of life from actors to authors, musicians to comedians and everything in between, with previous episodes boasting the likes of Robbie Williams, Melanie C, Eddie Izzard, Russell Brand and many more.

Three Little Words co-host Pitts says, “I am super excited to bring my top-rated Amazon podcast Three Little Words to Edinburgh this year, ably assisted by promising young Liverpudlian comedian John Bishop. It’s been 20 years since we were at the Festival together and hopefully our little misunderstanding with the local Constabulary is all water under the bridge now. We can’t wait to bring the podcast to a live and mainly sober audience.”

Tickets for John Bishop & Tony Pitts: Three Little Words Podcast, priced £15, are available here​.​

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