British Sign Language charity reports 210% increase in searches following John Bishop documentary

Signature, a charity providing British Sign Language (BSL) courses and qualifications, has reported a 210% increase in people searching for centres to learn BSL following the airing of John and Joe Bishop: Life After Deaf last night.

The ITV documentary followed the Liverpudlian comedian and his son Joe – who lost his hearing as a teenager – as the funny man looked to perform his first comedy routine completely in BSL.

According to Signature, more than 9,000 people have searched their website for information since the episode aired at 9pm last night.

Lindsay Foster, executive director, said: “John and Joe’s documentary was very insightful and wonderful to see on mainstream television.  

“It showed how, as a family they came to terms with Joe’s hearing loss, John honestly admitting he wanted to ‘fix him’ and these are the sort of conversations and thoughts that will be happening across the country.

“I hope the documentary will help people to have conversations about hearing loss and the support that is available. It was great to see the way the deaf community welcomed Joe so warmly, this is the community that we see on a daily basis in our centres and teachers to our board and consultants.”

The reported increase echoes a rise following Rose Ayling-Ellis’ performance on Strictly Come Dancing last year, where searches for learning BSL went up by 488%.

John and Joe Bishop: Life After Deaf is available to watch on the ITV Hub with burned in subtitles and a signed version available on-demand.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.