£1,000 tab after he follows Jason Manford's example

Normally it’s frowned on for one comedian to steal another’s idea.

But in the case of John Bishop it will surely be forgiven – after he followed in Jason Manford’s lead and stumped up for free drinks for his entire audience after he arrived late for a gig.

Bishop got stuck in traffic en route to his performance at the Royal & Derngate Theatre in Northampton last night and ended up starting 45 minutes late.

But he apologised by offering free drinks all round to the 583-strong audience – running up a bar bill that staff said came to almost £1,000.

After the show – a warm-up for his autumn arena tour Supersonic, Bishop tweeted: ‘Thank you to all who came to Northampton gig. I apologise for my tardiness but hope you all enjoy the drink on me- cheers :)’

His generosity comes just months after Manford spent more than £3,000 on free drinks for a crowd of 800 in Lincoln, when he was 40 minutes late.

Published: 28 Jun 2014