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Peter Kay review – from tried and tested everyman routine to jaw-dropping pageant

Manchester Arena After 12 years away from the stage, the slimmed-down entertainer is more unapologetically nostalgic than ever

N o hotcake ever sold in greater quantity than tickets for Peter Kay’s new tour : at one stage in my own bid for access, I was numbered 450,000 in the online queue. It’s a fair bet, then, that Kay will break the record he himself set in 2010 for the biggest-selling standup tour of all time – 1.2 million people saw that show. But is all the fuss justified? And will the long wait for this new show, fraught with speculation about Kay’s health and the likelihood of him ever touring again, prove worthwhile?

If there was any doubt, it was dispelled the moment the slimmed-down 49-year-old stepped onstage at the Manchester Arena. The reception was long, loud and, for Kay, tear-jerking. He took a pause to settle himself: “How’m I supposed to do bloody comedy now?” Not much doubt, though, how Kay was going to do comedy. The two-hour show scarcely deviated from the everyman formula that has made him such a popular success. Some of it, indeed, was almost parodically formulaic, as the Bolton man riffed on modern technology (“What did we do before Amazon? Catalogues!”), led a singalong of 1970s advertising jingles, and gave his famous “garlic bread” routine an Italian makeover.

But for all that, it didn’t come across as just another Peter Kay show. It has a more reflective air: the first half found Kay reminiscing on the dead-end jobs he worked before he was famous, including a stint as an usher in this very arena. The show’s other theme is the recent death of his 96-year-old nan, a big presence in Kay’s life. Earlier, that manifested as some first-base gags about gran’s malapropisms. Later, it prompted a sentimental finale, as a conversation grandson had with granny at the end of her life is replayed over a family-album slideshow.

Elsewhere, while the set never directly addresses the reasons for Kay’s temporary disappearance from public life, there is a section on his recent health challenges. In comic terms, it’s the strongest part of the show, as Kay rolls his eyes at the anaesthetist asking for a selfie, then recounts the indignities of his recent operation for kidney stones. It’s familiar standup territory, but Kay’s got a minimalist gift for expressing indignity and dismay – and there’s a great acting-out of a genitally entangled couple making their way to hospital after an unfortunate post-op accident.

While this routine is fit to stand alongside well-loved favourites from Kay’s earlier shows, some of the material in the first act barely registers as comedy. When our host orchestrates the audience in a TV theme recital, say, or goes all misty-eyed at one chocolate-bar jingle after another, his role is more conduit for our collective memory than comedian. You look in vain for punchlines – at least until the show’s multiple encores, when those early sections are revisited and built upon in quite spectacular fashion.

It would be unsporting to say too much about the jaw-dropping pageant that Kay lays on here, after the comedy show proper has come to an end. In keeping with the evening’s reflective vibe, there’s a section on misunderstood song lyrics, calling back to one of Kay’s most popular routines – and as funny as ever, because Kay takes so much pleasure in sharing with us these daft misapprehensions. After that, things get wilder, as all those TV themes and jingles return with bells and whistles added – and celebrity cameos, and hot air balloons, and our host dressed like Sergeant Pepper, living out his rockstar dreams.

By the end of Kay’s return to the stage after 12 years away, you can’t help but submit, not just to the spectacle, but to Kay’s commitment to celebrating his generational experience. Top Cat, the Bodyform advert, Blockbuster video: Kay doesn’t just joke about these Proustian madeleines of our shared youth – he fashions his whole show into a hymn to them. One can only imagine what anyone under 30 would think. But for Kay’s fans, it’s catnip. He returns to the stage older, as unapologetically traditional and even more nostalgic than ever, and delivers a show that’s pretty much irresistible.

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Peter Kay, O2 Arena review - comeback show is worth the wait | reviews, news & interviews

Peter kay, o2 arena review - comeback show is worth the wait, nostalgia-fest delivers an emotional punch.

In 2017, Bolton comic Peter Kay had to cancel his planned tour because of “family circumstances”. But then, when he announced last year that he was back in the saddle, the tickets for Better Late Than Never sold like the proverbial. Well into what has mushroomed into a mega tour continuing until 2025, I caught him at the O2 Arena.

While it's good to have him back, much of the first half could have been written for any of Kay's previous tours since he was nominated for best show in the 1998 Perrier Awards (now the Edinburgh Comedy Awards) as he riffs on one of his mainstays, advertising jingles from his youth. At one point he even leads the audience into a singalong of them.

His material moves to firmer, although no less nostalgic, territory as he recalls jobs from his youth, working at a video rental shop and at a Top Rank bingo hall (younger fans may need to do online searches). There's a decent riff on his unintentional catchphrase “Garlic bread!” and how he now can't pop down to the supermarket to buy it, and he references his appearance on Doctor Who (he says he did it just so that he could make a joke about “Dalek bread”, which I hope is true).

Much has happened to a very slimmed-down Kay since he was last on tour – as it has to much of the population, of course – but threading through the show are his more reflective view of life and mentions of his beloved 96-year-old Nan, who died last year. We hear about some of her malapropisms and later a conversation between them as a family slide show appears on the onstage screen. There's a very funny section, too, on his recent brush with ill health as he has had kidney stones and needed an operation, the experience not made any easier by the anaesthetist asking for a selfie.

And, always a crowd-pleaser, Kay does a lengthy section of his party piece – misheard song lyrics, using his trusty old Walkman just to underline the nostalgia-fest we're experiencing.

Then, just as the evening appears to be winding down, Kay delivers an astonishing coup de theatre, expertly drawing all the seemingly unconnected threads into a hilariously bombastic finale full of colour and spectacle.

The audience are asked to keep the secret for those coming to later dates, and I hope they do because the sheer theatrically of it grabs not just one's attention, but one's emotions too. Kay proves that under that everyman exterior there beats the heart of a showman.

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Peter Kay review round-up: Comedian’s first live show in 12 years called ‘catnip’ for fans

'i've been looking forward to this for five years,' emotional comic said, article bookmarked.

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Peter Kay left fans and critics in hysterics during his first tour date in 12 years.

On Friday (2 December), the comedian, 49, returned to the stage after taking a lengthy hiatus from the spotlight.

Kay’s tour kicked at Manchester ’s AO and, as he came onto the stage, the comedy star was greeted by a standing ovation, which left him emotional .

“How am I supposed to do comedy now?” he said through tears. “I can’t believe you made me cry.”

Kay addressed his absence from the stage, telling the audience: “I love you too, in ways you’ll never know. I’ve been looking forward to this for five years.”

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Kay was originally set to go on tour in 2017, but cancelled for reasons he has never divulged. The show on Friday was the first of 110 arena dates the Bolton star will perform over the next two-and-a-half years.

The Guardian gave the set four stars, calling it “catnip” for his fans, writing: While the set never directly addresses the reasons for Kay’s temporary disappearance from public life, there is a section on his recent health challenges. In comic terms, it’s the strongest part of the show, as Kay rolls his eyes at the anaesthetist asking for a selfie, then recounts the indignities of his recent operation for kidney stones.”

The Telegraph also gave the show four stars, writing: “Anyone worrying that his funny bones would be creakier than usual need rest assured: Kay delivers the goods all over again, albeit they’re remarkably similar to what came before – the package he offers being one of comfort not edgy challenge.”

It was four stars from iNews , also, whose review read: “By the time the lights came up for an interval, I was enthused, not enthralled. This was the Peter Kay I’d watched on my TV as a child. I could watch this sort of comedy from the comfort of my own home. The second half assuaged all concerns of irrelevance.”

Meanwhile, The Times gave the set three stars, writing: “What started with a big sense of event turned anecdotal, meandering. A sense of “is this it?” started to descend.”

When tickets went on sale last month, fans faced huge online queues as they attempted to secure tickets.

Many reported seeing messages on the Ticketmaster website telling them there were more than 200,000 people ahead of them in the virtual line.

Tickets are currently sold out until 2025.

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Culture | Comedy

Peter Kay at the O2 Arena review: delivered in spades

Sub-zero temperatures and rail strikes were never going to keep Peter Kay ’s fans away from the 02 Arena. They had anticipated his appearance for five years, when his last tour was cancelled for private reasons. So was the Better Late Than Never show worth the wait ? It was touch and go but eventually it delivered in spades.

Kay has lost some weight, but has hardly reinvented himself for his epic tour, which includes groundbreaking monthly gigs here until 2025. His material still trades heavily on shameless nostalgia. The bulk of his audience looked well over 30 and you might need to be almost twice that age to recognise some of his references.

But there were plenty who clearly did as the first half moved quickly from Christmas Cracker one liners – “karajoke” – to a TV advert singalong. If Kay hasn’t arranged a sponsorship deal or at least substantial free samples of Club biscuits, Mars bars or Fairy Liquid he is missing a trick.

And naturally there were his catchphrases. He can no longer buy garlic bread in Morrisons, he said, because asking for it makes everyone laugh. He claimed that he only appeared in a Doctor Who episode so that he could make a joke about “Dalek Bread”.

Elsewhere he compared the past to the present. Blockbuster Video to Netflix, chunky mail order catalogues to Amazon. No book token prizes for guessing which ones he prefers.

One change to Kay was that even he now talks about his mental health, albeit lightly. He explained that his OCD means he has to eat every baked bean in the can and puts tape around hotel door frames so keep light out. The latter led into a stand-out anecdote about a family trip to New York dominated by a search for an English cuppa.

Now that Kay is 49 and genuinely middle aged rather than prematurely middle aged there was the inevitable routine about intimate medical examinations. His account of being treated for kidney stones had the entire male contingent laughing and wincing simultaneously. My legs remained firmly crossed throughout.

A vein of sentimentality ran through the show too, most notably when he talked about his late grandmother. Kay took a break from the relatable quips to play a recording of their conversation about her funeral plans while a montage upped mushiness levels to new heights.

And then suddenly he was gone, before returning and asking everyone to keep his spectacular encore secret. Let’s just say it was not strictly comedy but as it shovelled surprise on surprise it certainly put smiles on everyone’s faces.

Next show January 21, then one monthly until April 2025; theo2.co.uk

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Peter Kay Live

Review of his comeback stand-up tour, from the first of many nights at the O2

As if dozens of arena dates stretching into 2025 weren’t enough to prove how much the public loves Peter Kay , the generous standing ovation he received on his first night at London’s O2 before he’d uttered a word said it all. That fans had waited for 12 years for the chance to see him – and the fact some undisclosed family health problem scuppered the last planned tour – only added to the sense of occasion.

But aside from looking trimmer, it was as if he’d never been away. What’s a decade or so for a comedian for whom culture peaked at Mud’s Tiger Feet and the ‘finger of Fudge’ advertising jingle? Kay’s cosy nostalgia is the epitome of that notion that things were better, simpler and more innocent back in the day, and he’s almost as conservative when it comes to his own act.

In fact, much of the first half felt as if the ChatGPT artificial intelligence machine had been asked to generate the optimal Peter Kay routine, dropping in bygone references, sharing generic pub gags and leading a singalong through TV theme tunes. This comedy magpie spends the first 20 minutes or so without using a line of his own writing, instead taking scraps of popular culture to build a nest we can all feel comfortable in. The crowd enjoy going through the motions and especially the friendly, ad-libbed mockery as he scans a camera across the audience (‘like seeing yourself in the window at Dixons’) to find his targets.

He plunders his own back catalogue, too, with a few nods to catchphrases past, including an amusing way of getting ‘garlic bread’ back into the conversation.

But absorbing so much from what’s already out there means his material can feel generic. How many middle-aged comics have started routines with: ‘If you’d wanted to send a dick pic in my day…’? And when he mocks the video to Lionel Ritchie’s Hello, it’s hard to overlook the fact the reference point is 39 years old.

Kay also seems strangely listless in telling some of this: a routine about knowing Eric Clapton takes a dull meander to get to the crux, which is uncharacteristically undersold. And his version of a story about getting locked out of a hotel room that also featured in Paddy McGuinness ’s autobiography doesn’t pop as effervescently as you’d hope from Britain’s most successful comedian at a landmark gig.

A rare glimpse of personal material makes it into this first section, as he talks a little about his obsessive tendencies. And the show comes alive when first-hand stories come to the fore in the second half, whether it’s hilarious tales of his brief stint working in a funeral parlour or the indignities of being treated for kidney stones, showing his full abilities as the comic Everyman.

There’s a huge chunk of sentimentality, too, as he recalls the recent death of his gran, whose malapropisms contributed so much to his act over the years. That she died at 96 invites him to draw parallels with the Queen.

But such borderline schmaltz is forgotten as Kay hurtles towards his finale, with all the glitzy, if cheesy, showmanship of a Butlin’s redcoat, but writ ever-so large. This chunk starts with him dividing the room into sections, getting us to quack and moo – leading to an unexpected namecheck for Stewart Lee , who he jokingly thanked for providing the routine. How many of Kay’s crowd know of Lee’s work, I wonder? His (or possibly ‘the internet’s’) misheard lyrics make a comeback before a showstopper that the whole audience are sworn to secrecy not to disclose. Suffice it to say, it properly utilises the size of the venue, which so few comedians acknowledge. It’s a memorable, fun spectacle which cements Kay’s status as an entertainer extraordinaire, whatever the shortcomings of his stand-up.

»Peter Kay​ tour dates and tickets

Review date: 19 Dec 2022 Reviewed by: Steve Bennett Reviewed at: The O2

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REVIEW: Peter Kay makes triumphant return to stand-up with rapturous homecoming at Manchester AO Arena

It was always going to be a special night as Peter Kay returned to stand-up at the Manchester opener of a mammoth 110-date tour

• 23:09, 2 DEC 2022
• Updated 09:12, 3 DEC 2022

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It may be 12 years since Peter Kay’s last stand up tour, but within minutes of the comedy legend’s triumphant comeback at Manchester’s AO Arena on Friday night it was like he’d never been away. Crowds chanted his name, and his mere silhouette was enough to have the audience in stitches.

Having near sold out a mammoth 110 dates across the UK you’d think he might have expected a rapturous reception. But it was clear that the roaring warmth of a home crowd here in Manchester really touched him on opening night.

“Lovely Manchester you made me cry,” he said, seemingly unable to believe the emotion himself.

READ MORE: Peter Kay in tears as crowds roar his Manchester Arena entrance

Wiping away those tears though, the rest of the night was firmly about making his fans laugh - and laugh and laugh they did.

This show really did have it all - for the die-hards there was the knowing laughs to famous quips from years gone by. For those who have never seen him live before there were his hilarious musings on modern life.

Boltonian Peter’s charm is his brilliant observations on everyday life, and this new show reminded fans just what they’d been missing. It clearly meant a lot to Peter to be starting it all in an arena where he actually used to work as a steward - gleefully telling us about his interview for the job back in 1995.

“I’m so f***ing grateful,” he said “I was a steward and now I’m up here”, surveying with wonder the jam-packed arena with a sea of some 15,000 faces smiling up at him.

There were his musings on famous faces he’s since met along the way in his career, and some hilariously near-to-the-knuckle anecdotes about some of them.

And yes, garlic bread gets a hefty old mention, the purists will be pleased to hear.

Peter, 49, looked in fine form in a smart black suit with a blue shirt which showed off a trimmer figure of late. He made a nod to his weight loss during one anecdote about internet clickbait stories joking: “See how much weight Peter Kay has lost”, to huge approving cheers from the audience.

There were plenty of dazzling surprises in this two-hour show. And it represents some serious value-for-money for the standard £35 ticket price that Kay insisted on setting this new tour at to make it affordable for fans.

The rocking finale allows him to live out his rock n roll dreams, in the inimitable Peter Kay way. And there is a stunning star cameo that leads to huge gasps from an audience wondering whether they can really believe their eyes - but I won’t ruin the surprise.

Peter has asked fans to respect future audiences by not videoing any element of the show which is met by cheers from most in the crowd.

“Let’s just live in the moment, and not spoil it for other people,” he says.

Given there are another 109 shows to get through over the next three years he’s probably got a point.

He told the audience that being a stand-up comedian was “the best job in the world”. And tonight, in Manchester, he proved that he’s just about the best in the world at that very job too.

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Peter Kay did ‘hilarious’ first show of his comeback tour and got a standing ovation

Related video: Peter Kay announces first live stand-up tour in 12 years

The reviews are in for Peter Kay’s first show of his latest arena tour, which took place on Friday at Manchester’s AO Arena, and needless to say people thought the Car Share star was “hilarious” and has “still got it”.

Reassuring then, as it is his first tour in 12 years.

The garlic bread enthusiast’s The Tour That Doesn’t Tour Tour… Now On Tour from 2010 entered the Guinness Book of World Records two years later as the most successful stand-up tour of all time, after playing to 1.2 million people.

He was due to tour in 2017, but this was cancelled due to “unforeseen family circumstances”.

News of the tour came last month , when an announcement was broadcast during an episode of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! before going on sale almost a week later.

As is to be expected, demand was high, crashing the mobile app for some and leading to SJM Concerts apologising for “a number of technical issues”.

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Kay, meanwhile, was “absolutely blown away” by the response, in a statement which also saw him call I’m A Celeb contestant and Tory MP Matt Hancock a “b***-end”.

And the reaction last night was no different, as he was filmed in tears at a standing ovation from the crowd before the show had properly started – with one individual saying it lasted for “about five minutes”.

\u201cPeter Kay the best to ever do it \ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udffb\u201d — Billy (@Billy) 1670059843

One attendee wrote of the moment: “Peter Kay breaking down crying on stage when he got a standing ovation at the start of his gig was just gut-wrenching.

“Without giving anything away though, if you’ve got tickets to see him consider yourself [very very] lucky because that was brilliant – also we all saw his c***.”

Quite the show, then.

Another, Chris Atkinson, commented : “Peter Kay has still got it. Smashed it tonight, proper funny.”

“Anyone who is going to see Peter Kay on his tour is in for an absolute treat. That was spectacular,” tweeted a third.

Of course, some will be waiting a fair while for their turn to see the Phoenix Nights funnyman, as he’s performing shows until February 2025.

The tour continues with another show in Manchester on Saturday night.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Peter Kay live, AO Arena, Manchester, spoiler free review: A tearful return for comedy’s prodigal son

After a long hiatus from touring, "one of bolton's best comedians" is finally back on the road.

Peter Kay had barely said hello to his adoring, roaring crowd before he began to sob. It was the first time he’d been on stage as a stand-up comedian in 12 years and the immediate standing ovation and the gravity of his return hit him like a ton of bricks. “Aw you’ll have me in bits. I can’t believe you made me cry,” he told us, before launching into a set filled with groan-worthy one-liners (Sadam Hussein’s famous CD rack gets an honourable mention), stories of his time as a celebrity and touching reminders of why he’s considered “one of Bolton’s best comedians” — his words.

The jokes started before he even arrived on stage, with a rainbow-lit curtain inexplicably declaring we were about to watch “PETER GAY LIVE”. The suggestion might have been that the beloved comedian was about to take an axe to his everyman persona and spend the next two hours making uncomfortable jokes about sexuality and, inevitably, cancel culture. Such is the state of live comedy in 2022. Thankfully, there was nothing to worry about, and Kay was no more offensive than he has ever been (though, using Phoenix Nights as a barometer, even that may not pass the 2022 bar of acceptability to some).

It didn’t take long for Kay to get back in his stride, and for the most part, it felt like little time had passed since his last tour in 2010. Dressed in his classic plain suit, his usual short-sleeved purple shirt swapped for a bright blue one, the first half of the show could have been performed at any point in the last few decades. That Kay can spend 15 minutes simply rattling through his favourite TV theme tunes and chocolate bar jingles, getting the audience to sing along and passing it off as comedy, is testament to his mastery of the stage.

Before he got onto his material proper, Kay had put the audience at complete ease, laughing not only at him, but at ourselves. His own self-deprecating stories about hotel scrapes with fellow Boltonion and one-time comedy partner Paddy McGuinness went down a treat, and while any other celebrity waxing lyrical about meeting Eric Clapton would grate, in Kay’s hands — honest, down to earth, humble — the tale of their unbelievable friendship was sweet, and ultimately, as farcical as it seems. Even his lifelong tendency to keep a joke going for a too long didn’t rankle too much.

But by the time the lights came up for an interval, I was enthused, not enthralled. This was the Peter Kay I’d watched on my TV as a child. I could watch this sort of comedy from the comfort of my own home — 2004’s Live at the Top of the Tower is one of the few DVDs I still own. The world we live in, let alone comedy, had changed irrevocably since Kay last took to the stage.

The second half assuaged all concerns of irrelevance. This was already Kay’s most personal show to date, having revealed his OCD tendencies and sertraline prescription, but after a quick tour through his past jobs, from an undertaker’s assistant to working at the very arena we were in (as spoofed in the brilliant mockumentary series That Peter Kay Thing in 2000), he spent time paying tribute to his late nanna, a riotous woman who has played a huge part in his stand-up over the years. As a surprisingly filthy video featuring photos of her and her voice played, Kay wiped away his second burst of tears.

Peter Kay isn’t just one of Bolton’s best comedians, he’s one of the UK’s most beloved, his appeal rooted in his normalcy and willingness to see the smallest details of everyday life — rain, knobhead uncles, supermarket own brand cola — as potential for a joke. To see him not only on-stage telling jokes, but also having fun doing so (and looking incredibly well), was something many may not have believed would happen a mere four years ago, when he was rumoured to be seriously ill and seemed somewhat of a shut-in. He, of course, did not give such matters any further oxygen.

We have had snippets of Kay’s brilliance in his stand-up hiatus years, most notably in the Bafta-winning BBC sitcom, Car Share . But as this live show neared its end, it was hard not to wonder if this was Kay’s swan song. He rattled off his greatest hits, some of which were translated into Italian, and every time received a huge cheer from the audience. That he has such a well-known repertoire is unheard of and who can blame him for giving the audience exactly what they wanted: shouts of “garlic bread” could be heard around the arena all night. Kay is a staunch believer of not fixing what isn’t broken.

To say that Kay’s finale is grand would be an understatement. All notions of a traditional comedy show, so fervently celebrated by the early part of the evening that it felt like we were all in a tiny working men’s club, went out the window. I am not only reluctant to, but forbidden from sharing what it entails, but you wouldn’t believe me if I told you anyway. Kay, famously a lover of music, gave himself an incredible gift and lived out all his rock star fantasies. Let’s just say it’s more entertaining and bizarre than any ITV producer could come up with for an empty Saturday night slot.

Those with tickets to see Kay (dates are almost sold out until 2025) and hoping for a life-changing night of comedy might want to temper their expectations. Instead, go willing to laugh, to let go, to be unchallenged — and to eventually turn to the person next to you and ask: “am I on glue?”

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Peter Kay review — tears and cheers for the local hero’s massive return

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It started with tears and ended — just as memorably, though much more bizarrely — with Peter Kay floating high above his audience singing a rocked-up old advertising jingle while clutching a spade he was using as a guitar.

It was that sort of evening. Which is to say, after 11 years away from touring, the sort of evening that only Kay could put on. Four years after cancelling a tour that was set to be even more wallopingly huge than the previous one, Kay somehow looked like both a showman deluxe and a bloke who just popped round for a natter about his nan.

This was the first night of a tour that is set to carry on for over a hundred more

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Review of Peter Kay's first stand-up show in a decade praises 'triumphant' return

The comedian played the first show of his comeback in his Manchester hometown

• 09:02, 3 DEC 2022

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Comedian Peter Kay played his first stand-up live show in Manchester's AO Arena on Friday night, and was praised by a reviewer for a "triumphant" and five star return. It was the first of his sell-out 110 date tour across the UK and a Manchester Evening News reporter said "it was like he'd never been away."

Dianne Bourne said the evening started off with crowds chanting his name, adding that it was clear the roaring warmth of the home crowd in Manchester really touched the comedian. Peter Kay said: "Lovely Manchester you made me cry," as he was welcomed on stage.

Dianne continued: " Wiping away those tears though, the rest of the night was firmly about making his fans laugh - and laugh and laugh they did. This show really did have it all - for the die-hards there was the knowing laughs to famous quips from years gone by. For those who have never seen him live before there were his hilarious musings on modern life. You can get more What's On news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here .

Read more: Peter Kay tells fans he's 'blown away' by tour ticket sales before taking swipe at Matt Hancock

"Boltonian Peter’s charm is his brilliant observations on everyday life, and this new show reminded fans just what they’d been missing. It clearly meant a lot to Peter to be starting it all in an arena where he actually used to work as a steward - gleefully telling us about his interview for the job back in 1995."

The reporter described how Peter said: "I'm so f***ing grateful. I was a steward and now I'm up here." He mused on famous faces he's met in his career and told hilariously near-to-the-knuckle anecdotes about some of them.

Garlic bread gets a "hefty" mention too. The 49-year-old was wearing a smart black suit with a blue shirt, showing off a trimmer figure of late. He made a nod to his weight loss during one anecdote about internet clickbait stories, joking: “See how much weight Peter Kay has lost”, to huge approving cheers from the audience.

Dianne continued: "There were plenty of dazzling surprises in this two-hour show. And it represents some serious value-for-money for the standard £35 ticket price that Kay insisted on setting this new tour at to make it affordable for fans.

"The rocking finale allows him to live out his rock n roll dreams, in the inimitable Peter Kay way. And there is a stunning star cameo that leads to huge gasps from an audience wondering whether they can really believe their eyes - but I won’t ruin the surprise.

"Peter has asked fans to respect future audiences by not videoing any element of the show which is met by cheers from most in the crowd. Given there are another 109 shows to get through over the next three years he’s probably got a point."

Peter told the audience: "Let’s just live in the moment, and not spoil it for other people." He described being a stand-up comedian as "the best job in the world", and Dianne said he proved that he was just about the best in the world at that very job.

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Peter Kay in tears as he gets standing ovation at start of comeback gig in Manchester

The comedian's fans give him a welcome back to remember as he begins a huge tour that's set to break records.

Saturday 3 December 2022 14:52, UK

Peter Kay was in tears after walking on to a standing ovation on the first night of his comeback tour on Friday night.

The comedian received a rapturous reception as he opened his gig at the Manchester AO Arena - the curtain-raiser for his first live tour for 12 years.

He appeared overwhelmed as the audience of thousands clapped, cheered and chanted his name for several minutes.

Kay leant against a stool before dabbing his eyes and standing up.

"Oh Jesus look at me, I mean what's that all about... how am I supposed to do bloody comedy now?" he asked the crowd.

"I can't believe I cried, where did it come from, all that emotion?" he reportedly added.

Kay, 49, looked noticeably slimmer as he returned to live duties after four years out of the spotlight.

His cancelled his last tour in December 2017 due to "unforeseen family circumstances" - a hiatus that had raised speculation about his health, but which remains unexplained.

The Bolton-born star looks set to make up for lost time and break his own record for the biggest-selling comedy tour, after recently revealing his comeback during an ad break for I'm A Celebrity...

He now has more than 100 arena dates scheduled around the country stretching into summer 2025, including a monthly residency of London's O2 Arena .

Feel privileged to have seen @peterkay_co_uk tonight. What a comeback from the greatest comedian of all time. Legend #peterkay pic.twitter.com/NidIN0eYx0 — Shred (@Official_Shred) December 3, 2022

Peter Kay tonight, was actually nervous for him thinking he might not be as good as he used to be. 10 mins in I can’t see or hear for laughing, man’s a genius — Paul Greenhalgh (@_Paul_G_98) December 3, 2022

The first reviews of the new show were positive, with the Manchester Evening News giving it five stars and calling it a "triumphant return" with "plenty of dazzling surprises" and a memorable finale.

"This show really did have it all," wrote the reviewer.

@twinkiessarelife The man is back ❤️ #peterkay ♬ original sound - Chris

"For the die-hards there was the knowing laughs to famous quips from years gone by. For those who have never seen him live before there were his hilarious musings on modern life."

Fans also praised the show on social media, with Paul Greenhalgh tweeting: "Peter Kay tonight, was actually nervous for him thinking he might not be as good as he used to be.

Peter Kay has still got it. Smashed it tonight, proper funny 🤣 pic.twitter.com/1CXgIL0jcJ — Chris Atkinson 🔰 (@mrchrisakki) December 2, 2022

"Ten mins in I can't see or hear for laughing, man's a genius."

Shred posted: "Feel privileged to have seen @peterkay_co_uk tonight. What a comeback from the greatest comedian of all time. Legend."

Chris Atkinson wrote: "Peter Kay has still got it. Smashed it tonight, proper funny".

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Peter Kay is currently touring across 1 country and has 68 upcoming concerts.

Their next tour date is at Utilita Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, after that they'll be at The O2 in London.

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‘Femme’ Star George MacKay Spent Eight Weeks Bulking Up to Become a Violent Street Thug in the Queer Revenge Thriller: ‘It’s an Animal Thing’

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But he’s looking much different in his latest film, “ Femme .” He stars in the queer revenge thriller from directors Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping as a closeted street thug who begins a sexual relationship with Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), a man he doesn’t realize is the drag queen he once brutally gay-bashed.

It took him about eight weeks of “bulking” to get in shape. Even so, MacKay admits he did a lot of push-ups for scenes where he had to be particularly “big and scary.”

“There is a lot of jumping up and down and tensing up beforehand,” he tells me on the latest episode of the “ Just for Variety ” podcast.

Preston’s confidence to dominate couldn’t be doubted. “He’s going, ‘I’m doing this because it makes me feel good and it makes me feel strong,'” MacKay explains. “And there is something fundamental about going, ‘I reckon I’m the strongest in the room here. And I reckon you can see that’ … It’s an animal thing. It’s rules of the jungle. I’m the biggest lion here.”

MacKay also stars opposite Léa Seydoux in “La Bête,” or “The Beast.” Directed and co-written by Bertrand Bonello, the film is inspired by Henry James’s 1903 novella “The Beast in the Jungle.” Seydoux and MacKay play a couple whose romance is played out in three different time periods: 1910, 1914 and 2044.

“It’s the story of a couple who are soulmates trapped on a loop in time,” MacKay explains. “Without giving too much away here, what draws them together is potentially what keeps them apart. It’s a relationship that you watch in various iterations throughout time because these people are fated to be together.”

I suggest MacKay could be the next James Bond. MacKay is often included on lists of actors who could play 007. “Manifest it,” he says. “I don’t know. I don’t know what they’re thinking. It sort of pops up now and again in the news, isn’t it? ‘Oh, such and such is going to be it.’ And then who knows where it’s at.”

MacKay has been acting since 2003, when he made his debut as Curly in “Peter Pan” after he was discovered by an acting scout at school. His list of credits is extensive across television and film.

And there’s one audition he’ll never forget, even if he didn’t land the part. His mom told him he was up for a role in a movie about Hannibal the Conqueror. “She got really into the history and she printed off all these pages of historical information about Hannibal and it’s the one audition that she was a bit sort of, ‘Go on, go on, show them you’ve done all of this,’” MacKay recalls.

He continues, “And I went and I sat down with the casting lady and they’re like, ‘So in the first scene, the sister has been eaten.’ It was an origin story about Hannibal Lecter! And I had this whole wodge of things of this man traversing the Alps on elephants in my back pocket. It didn’t go badly, but was just a very near complete misunderstanding.”

You can listen to the full interview with MacKay above or you can download “Just for Variety” wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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Peter Kay Live - 2024

Better late than never.

• Date 5 Apr - 21 Dec , 2024
• Doors Open 6:30PM
• Availability On Sale Now

The ultimate entertainment experience for up to 12 guests, in your very own private entertaining space. Enjoy private pre-show drinks, dining and the best views in the house. Your personal host will take care of everything you need and our in-house chef will excite your taste buds with an array of dishes and snacks served throughout the event.

Event Details

Peter Kay Announces Return to Stand-up with First Live Tour in Twelve Years

One of Britain’s best loved comedians, Peter Kay, is finally returning to stand-up comedy after twelve years. “It’s good to get back to what I love doing best, stand-up comedy and if there’s ever a time people need a laugh it’s now” “And with the cost of living at an all-time high, ticket prices are starting from £35. The same price they were on my previous tour in 2010”

Peter’s 2010 tour still officially ranks with the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest selling comedy tour of all time.Playingto over 1.2 million people.

The Peter Kay show at AO Arena on 22 September 2022 is a BSL show.

When do tickets go on sale?

Tickets are on sale now via our official ticketing partner, Ticketmaster.

Can I access any presales?

Customers of mobile network Three can get their hands on pre-sale tickets through their rewards app, Three+.

To access the pre-sale, fans need to be a Three UK customer (Pay Monthly or Pay As You Go) and have downloaded and registered on the Three+ app before the pre-sale opens.

Pre-sale tickets for this event are available from 10am on Thursday 10 November.

Can I book accessible tickets online?

Yes, you can buy accessible tickets via our ticketing partner, Ticketmaster  

Useful information when booking accessibility tickets online;

• Note that you will need to register with  Ticketmaster's accessibility scheme  in order to receive a free companion ticket.  
• Please make sure you select the 'All Ticket Types' button and highlight Ambulant/Wheelchair space etc. 
• Please note that the Accessible Symbol is used for a number of access requirements.
• Make sure that you read the description thoroughly to ensure you are booking the appropriate tickets.  
• The 22 September 2023 show will have a BSL interpreter.
• Note that ROW X is not suitable for wheelchair users as it has 10 steps to access the row.
• Essential Companion tickets are for accessible customers who require a companion to assist and accompany them during their visit.
• The position next to the accessible ticket should be chosen when booking (where this is an option) and all tickets must be purchased in one transaction. 
• Free companion tickets cannot be added retrospectively.
• After making a booking - you will then be emailed with the instructions on how to register to the Ticketmaster Access Scheme. 
• Please visit the Arena website for all on-sale times and dates.
• If you have access to a pre-sale, please follow the instructions included in the pre-sale email.
• For all other access requirements including sight and hearing-impaired requirements, bringing something else into the venue (for example, assistance dogs, oxygen cylinders, ventilators etc., please contact the venue’s accessibility team on 0161 950 5229.
• When the lines are busy, please leave a voice message and a member of the team will return your call.
• Please do not call multiple times after leaving your initial message.

Is there an age limit for the show?

Yes, this show is strictly 15+

What time does the show start?

The show starts at 8pm prompt

What time do doors open?

Doors are scheduled to open at 6:30pm, please arrive in plenty of time to pass through security and find your seats.

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