He is gradually switching over to household name status, yet John Bishop is still an approachable and funny comedian with a down-to-earth touch. His recent BBC TV series "John Bishop's Britain" was a decent enough light-hearted stand-up/sketch format that hovered just beyond the watershed. Now the show has been nominated for a National Television Award.

Its real charm-offence though came from involving real members of the public, without resorting to ridicule or smut (well, not much). His memorable 'Manchester Fun Run' skit is still amusing after a few watches, but if you fancy seeing him 'live', you'd better look sharp.

Bishop has added ten more gigs to his already bulging 2011 leg of his national tour, including his home-town (21st Dec), Hull (10th March), Middlesbrough (12th), Leicester (18th), Carlisle (20th), Derby (29th), Cambridge (31st), Portsmouth (6th April), Plymouth (9th) and Bristol (12th April). Some of the venues are additional, some are first-timers. Tickets are now on sale, priced from around £25 plus fees.

In addition to the above ten, John will also play Belfast on 3rd June - tickets go on sale this coming Saturday at 9am. And, as if that wasn't enough, the Scouser has added a further October 2010 date for Swindon on 14th.

Don't forget, if you want to vote for "John Bishop's Britain" for the NT Award, pop over to www.nationaltvawards.com and do the biz.