Peter Kay
Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973)[2] is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He has written, produced, directed and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books.
For the footballer, see Peter Kaye (footballer). For the philanthropist, see Peter Kay (philanthropist). For the rugby player, see Peter Kay (rugby union).Peter Kay
Peter John Kay
2 July 1973
Farnworth, Lancashire, England
1996–present
That Peter Kay Thing (1999)
Phoenix Nights (2001–2002)
Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere (2004)
Peter Kay's Car Share (2015–2018)
Born and brought up in Farnworth, Kay studied media performance at the University of Salford. He began working part-time as a stand-up comedian, winning the North West Comedian of the Year award. In 1997, he won Channel 4's So You Think You're Funny contest and the following year was nominated for a Perrier Award for his show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. With his public profile raised, in 2000 he co-wrote and starred in That Peter Kay Thing for Channel 4. This resulted in a spin-off sitcom, Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights, which ran for two series from 2001 to 2002 and in turn generated another spin-off, Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere, in 2004. In 2005, he recorded a promotional video in which he mimed to Tony Christie's 1971 hit "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo", which was reissued to raise money for Comic Relief: the song reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming that year's best-selling single in the UK.
In 2008, Kay co-wrote and starred in Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice, a parody of several British reality television shows. As the series' fictional protagonist Geraldine McQueen, he released the single "The Winner's Song", which reached number 2 in the UK singles chart. His 2010–2011 stand-up comedy tour was recorded in the Guinness World Records as the most successful ever[3] selling over 1.2 million tickets. He co-wrote and starred in Peter Kay's Car Share, a sitcom screened by the BBC for three series from 2015 to 2018. He also starred in the 2015 BBC sitcom Cradle to Grave.
In 2016, Kay won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Male Comedy Performance, the BAFTA TV Award for Best Scripted Comedy and the National Television Award for Best Comedy for ...Car Share. He also received an honorary doctorate from the University of Salford.[4]
Early life and career[edit]
Peter John Kay was born on 2 July 1973 in Farnworth, Lancashire,[5] where he attended Mount Saint Joseph School, leaving with a GCSE in art.
His father, Michael, was an engineer who died just before Peter's career took off.[5] His mother, Deirdre (née O'Neill), is an Irish Catholic originally from Coalisland, County Tyrone,[6] and Peter was brought up in her faith.
He took several minor jobs, including working in a toilet roll factory, a Netto supermarket, a video rental shop, Manchester Arena, a cash and carry, a cinema, a petrol station and a bingo hall, which later inspired episodes for That Peter Kay Thing. He was routinely sacked from each, after a few months, for 'not taking things seriously'.[7]
He began a degree course at the University of Liverpool in Drama, Theatre Studies and English Literature.[1] He had misinformed the university to accept him, telling the university that he had four GCSEs and A-levels in Psychology and English Literature. Struggling with the course, he changed to studying a Higher National Diploma (HND) in media performance (including stand-up) at the University of Salford's Adelphi Campus School of Media, Music and Performance.[4] In recognition of his contribution to the entertainment industry, Kay received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Salford University on 19 July 2016, at Salford's Lowry Theatre.[4]
He started at the Frog & Bucket, on Oldham Street, from July 1996, whilst his girlfriend worked at Boots.[8]
Personal life[edit]
In 1998, Kay met Susan Gargan while he was working at the local cinema. They married in 2001 after being in a relationship for three years. They have one son together.[5] The family resided in Bolton until 2017, when they relocated to Lough Derg, County Tipperary in Ireland.[9]
Kay is a teetotaler.[1]
Kay is a supporter of Bolton Wanderers.
Film career[edit]
In 2001, he played Cyril the Barman in Blow Dry, based on the screenplay Never Better by Simon Beaufoy. Kay later admitted he only took the part expecting his scenes to be filmed in Keighley, Bradford, West Yorkshire. However, he was annoyed to discover that his scenes were being filmed in Shoreditch, Greater London.[12]
Theatre work[edit]
In February 2007, Kay played director Roger DeBris in the Mel Brooks musical The Producers at Manchester's Palace Theatre for 120 shows.
Sporadic appearances and hiatus (2017–2022)[edit]
On 9 September 2017, Kay took part in the "We Are Manchester" benefit concert to mark the reopening of Manchester Arena following the terrorist attack in May 2017. He gave a speech to the crowd before introducing the concert's headline act Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.
In April 2020, Kay featured in the BBC's Big Night In where he introduced an updated version of "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo". It marked his first television appearance for two years.[13][14]
On 2 January 2021, Kay was a guest on BBC Radio 2's Saturday morning show, with Cat Deeley hosting this 10am to 1pm programme as Graham Norton had now left the slot.[15][16][17]
In August 2021, Kay performed two sold out shows at the O2 Apollo Manchester called 'Doing It for Laura' which took place on Saturday 7 August and had been organised in aid of Laura Nuttall - who was battling an aggressive brain tumour. The tickets for both shows sold out within 30 minutes.
Stand-up career[edit]
His first stand-up success was in the competition the North West Comedian of the Year, which was held in Manchester and hosted by Dave Spikey, who would later be the co-star and co-writer of Phoenix Nights. Kay was last on the bill and won the competition, beating Johnny Vegas. Kay has said that he sought a career in comedy. However, he continued to work part-time as an usher at his local cinema in Bolton whilst performing stand-up locally. When the cinema closed, he was presented with the choice of finding another job or moving into comedy full-time.
After he entered and won Channel 4's So You Think You're Funny? contest in 1997, his first semi-professional stand-up appearances were at the 1998 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where he received a prestigious Perrier Award nomination. During this time, he also appeared at various other clubs, such as London's Comedy Store.
Although this led to a certain level of public recognition, it was only after his first live special Live at the Top of the Tower in 2000 that Kay attained mainstream recognition. During this period, he appeared on several chat shows, such as Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and Parkinson, on the latter of which he had previously served as warm-up. It was at this time that production also began on Phoenix Nights.
In November 2009, after an absence of seven years, Kay announced a return to stand-up with four (later extended to 20) dates at the Manchester Arena the following April with a show entitled The Tour That Doesn't Tour Tour...Now On Tour. Demand for tickets caused him to announce soon after that the show would be toured. In January 2012, the tour entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful stand-up comedy tour of all time, playing to a total of 1.2 million people.[3]
Kay's tour received minor criticism in the press when his disabled fans were hit with bills of up to £39 on premium phone lines booking tour tickets. It was later clarified that this was an issue with the ticket booking services associated with specific venues rather than a matter directly associated with Peter Kay or his production company.[19]
Kay was included in the Independent on Sunday's "Happy List" in 2009 as "simply Britain's best comedian", and – as an exception to their general rule – was included again in 2010 for also raising funds for Children in Need.[20][21]
In November 2017, Kay announced his intention to return to stand-up with his first tour in eight years. Peter Kay Live: Have Gags, Will Travel was scheduled to begin touring in 2018, beginning with the Genting Arena in April before touring at venues such as SSE Hydro, Manchester Arena, The O2 Arena, First Direct Arena, SSE Arena Belfast, Sheffield Arena and Echo Arena Liverpool. On 13 December 2017, Kay announced that he was cancelling all future work projects (including Peter Kay Live: Have Gags Will Travel tour) for family reasons.[22] He had asked that the media respect his and his family's privacy.[23] The tour hit criticism again regarding phone calls as fans were charged 62p per minute to call premium rate phone lines to claim ticket refunds.[24]
On 6 November 2022, via an advert during the series 22 premiere of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, Kay announced his first stand-up tour in twelve years, running from 2 December 2022 to 11 August 2023. In solidarity of the current cost of living crisis, Kay stated that tickets would start at £35, matching the price of his previous 2010 tour.[18] Due to demand, additional dates were announced for 2024 and 2025.[25]