Aahana Swrup
Directed by Bradley Cooper, ‘Is This Thing On?’ is a comedy-drama film about the complexities of a diminishing marriage. Alex Novak, a middle-aged finance worker, helms the narrative as the protagonist. After a 26-year partnership with his wife, Tess, he finds himself going through an unexpected separation, moving out of the house and into an apartment. The looming divorce isn’t a result of infidelity or any evident problem, but rather the simple truth of the spouses’ apparent estrangement.
As Alex struggles to deal with the reality of his new life, he stumbles into a possible career as a budding stand-up comedian. Meanwhile, Tess re-identifies with parts of herself she has lost over the years, trying to find her way back to her life’s passion. As the duo takes this journey, they are forced to confront the brutally honest, authentic parts of themselves and each other. The film presents a pleasant blend of light-hearted fun mixed with the relatable and realistic inner lives of two people dealing with life’s ups and downs.
Is This Thing On? is Loosely Inspired by the Career of the Stand-up Comic John Bishop
‘Is This Thing On?’ has a fascinating origin story with deep roots embedded in real life. Penned by Will Arnett and his screenwriting collaborators Mark Chappell and Bradley Cooper, the film draws loose inspiration from the life of John Bishop, a beloved English comedian who entered the scene in the 2000s. The project found its earliest legs after Arnett had a random, but fateful, meeting with the comic for lunch on a canal boat in Amsterdam. During this meeting, Bishop told the filmmaker about how he came to become a stand-up comedian.
Early in the 2000s, Bishop, a medical representative working as a salesman, was undergoing a rough patch in his marriage with his wife, Melanie Bishop. The two were separated, and the future comedian used to only see his kids over the weekend. As a result, on one lonely Monday night, he ended up gravitating toward Manchester’s Frog and Bucket, a bar that is also a comedy club. The establishment was hosting an open-mic and thus, charging an entry fee at the door. Consequently, Bishop, who didn’t wish to pay the fee, put his name down as a performer to secure entrance into the bar. Although he was expecting to simply sneak away after a drink, his name ended up being called, which is how he found himself up on the stage. Even though Bishop had no prior stand-up experience or even a routine, he ended up talking about his life and his impending divorce.
Bishop’s charm and honesty had a positive effect on the audience, and his set, originally meant to be 7 minutes long, went on for 25 minutes instead. In the end, the establishment ended up asking him to return for another gig, and he jump-started his career as a stand-up comedian. After Arnett learned about Bishop’s story, he decided to use it as a premise for his film ‘Is This Thing On?’ Thus, for the most part, the characterization of Alex, the role Arnett himself takes on, finds a tangible basis in the real-life stand-up comedian. Yet, since the film swerves from a biographical approach, the on-screen narrative also ends up taking notable creative liberty, particularly in the interpersonal relationship between Alex and Tess.
Is This Thing On? Focuses on an Authentic Exploration of Marital Complications
Early on, during the development of ‘Is This Thing On?,’ actor/director Bradley Cooper became Will Arnett’s creative collaborator for the project. Initially, the original script centered on Alex’s foray into stand-up comedy, employing it as the nucleus of the narrative. However, Cooper wanted to shake things up, preferring Alex and Tess’ relationship to become the heart of the story. Eventually, once Laura Dern came into the fold, the filmmaker found the spark that he needed to perfect the core of the film’s emotional storyline. Together, Dern and Cooper fleshed out her character, Tess.
Although the latter has an inherent basis in John Bishop’s real-life wife, Melanie Bishop, her final characterization as a former Olympic volleyball player remains more fiction than fact. As such, Alex and Tess’ dwindling marriage and their complicated romance became a foundational pillar for the story. Despite the fictionalized elements of Tess’ character, this aspect of the film also finds a firm basis in reality. In real life, Bishop’s unexpected comedy career directly contributed to his eventual reconciliation with his wife. As the story goes, during the final days of their separation, when their divorce finalization was in its ending stages, Melanie Bishop attended one of her husband’s routines at the comedy club.
During the set, the comic talked about missing his soon-to-be-ex-wife, which ended up becoming the catalyst for their reunion. After some counselling and hard work, the couple were able to find their way back to each other, continuing their lives together as spouses. Even though the film only loosely bases its plotlines around these real-life instances, their influence on the on-screen narrative contributes greatly to creating a sense of realism. In a featurette, Cooper discussed the core of the film and shared, “This movie is about people trying to come to terms with who they are in life, what their goals are, their curiosities, their relationships in the new communities they build.”
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