Peter Kay

Peter Kay (born 2 July 1973 in Bolton, Lancashire, England) is a writer, producer, actor and comedian. His work includes That Peter Kay Thing (2000), both series of Phoenix Nights (2001, 2002), Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere (2004), as well as other independent productions

Rise to fame

After leaving Mount St. Joseph's High School, Kay took several jobs, many of which inspired episodes or sequences in That Peter Kay Thing. His earliest work was an interview with Granada Television in which he listed the contents of his room, as well as detailing his experience meeting Jimmy Savile. This would later be used in That Peter Kay thing, in the role of Leonard De-Thompkinson.

Most recently, Kay's experience working at the Manchester Evening News Arena inspired him to wear the official yellow jacket of the MEN Arena for the final performance of his Mum Wants a Bungalow tour. Kay has said that he sought a career in comedy. During his time working as a cinema usher, he experimented with stand-up, participating in several local events, as well as others at the Comedy Store in Manchester. Eventually, after losing his job at the cinema, he was presented with the choice between finding another relatively meagre position or moving into comedy. After being told by several of his family that he was talented, he swiftly chose stand-up. He also states that he became a comedian partly to clear debt, although this is believed to be a comedic device, referring only to the fact that he was out of work.

After he entered and subsequently 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 was nominated for the Perrier Award. During this time, he also appeared at various other clubs, such as The Comedy Store, and the Barracuda Club in Lincoln. Although this led to a certain level of public recognition, it was only after his heavily promoted show, Live at the Top of the Tower, in 2000 that Kay attained widespread fame.

During this period, he appeared on several chat shows, such as Parkinson and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, having previously been a warm-up man for the former. Production also began on Phoenix Nights, which was to see him achieve critical acclaim as well as mainstream audience appreciation. Subsequent advertisements for John Smith's Bitter, which imitate the realistic style of Phoenix Nights, saw Kay develop his now much-repeated catchphrases, "Ave 'it!" and "Two Lamb bhunas", both of which now appear on T-Shirts as official merchandise.

In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 Funniest British Comedians. In addition, he made an appearance in a 2005 poll of comedians and critics to find The Comedian's Comedian, a search for the 50 greatest funnymen of all time. In March 2005 he also came top in a survey sponsored by the Jongleurs comedy club to find Britain's favourite comedian.

In 2006, a Channel 4 television show voted him as number one in 100 Funniest Moments, most notably for his stand up act, and in particular for his description of a family wedding.

On 18th April 2006, Channel 4 broadcast a "Peter Kay Night", showing out-takes from Phoenix Nights (previously featured on DVD), a behind the scenes documentary of the Mum Wants a Bungalow tour and also the whole Peter Kay Live in Manchester show. During this evening, Kay was seen in character as Max (from Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere & Phoenix Nights) discussing the tribute with Paddy (Patrick McGuinness). Max stated that he did not like Peter Kay, and thought that Channel 4 was going downhill for dedicating a whole night to him. Paddy commented that he wondered why ITV have not snapped up Kay. Max is also seen to be ignorant of current events, from not realising that civil partnerships are now legal and that Elton John has made use of it, to more controversial news stories involving Michael Barrymore, Gary Glitter, Diana, Princess of Wales and Michael Jackson.

Catchphrases

Peter Kay is notable for the cult following of his sayings. Merchandise can be bought sporting a variety of the most popular phrases. Many of these strike a chord with people due to their down-to-earth nature, reflecting the manner of speech in the north of England.

"Booked it. Packed it. Fucked off!" (Talking about booking a holiday through Teletext)
"Garlic...Bread?" (An impersonation of Kay's father who, on holiday in Spain, was bamboozled by garlic bread, wondering how the two ingredients can be put together)
"Cheesecake?" (A sort of sequel to "Garlic bread")
"It's spittin'!" (Dinner lady cry heralding a shower of rain before herding kids into school)
"It's that fine rain that soaks you through."
"I'd rather lick my own arsehole love, if you don't mind" (Peter Kay Live)
"How dare you." (Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere)
"Put big light on" (Mum Wants a Bungalow tour)
"'Ave it!" (John Smith's Bitter advert)
"I've not lost it" (After flicking the microphone is the air, and then catching it by the handle.)
"Wanna brew?" (While miming a cup in his hand, continuously tipping it towards his mouth. A brew is a Mancunian word for cup of tea.)
"Phone for ya" (While shaping his hand into a phone, putting his thumb by his ear and little finger by his mouth.)

Productions

Kay's first TV project was an episode of Channel 4's The Comedy Lab, "The Services", which was a pilot for the later That Peter Kay Thing. His idea was to create a testbed for ideas and concepts that he could later use within other series. The idea of having several characters all played by himself was something with which Kay experimented, and eventually set on.

That Peter Kay Thing

After a favourable reception to the pilot, That Peter Kay Thing was devised. It was based solely on the experiences of Kay's earlier life working in several remedial jobs. Following continued success, Kay and his co-writer, Neil Fitzmaurice, eventually decided to create another series, and settled on "In the Club". This would use the character of Brian Potter, as well as improve other features that audiences were known to enjoy. The cast was slightly altered, elements thought to be unnecessary were removed, and it became re-incarnated as Phoenix Nights.

Phoenix Nights

Phoenix Nights was a collaboration between Kay, Dave Spikey and Neil Fitzmaurice, as well as other comedians such as Steve Edge and Daniel Kitson — all of whom had appeared in That Peter Kay Thing, and who now played characters in this series. Kay plays multiple roles: two of the principals, Brian Potter and Max the bouncer, as well as a wide range of supporting parts. In addition to writing and acting, Kay also directed the second series.

Phoenix Nights was not only a partnership between Kay and Fitzmaurice to draw upon the success of "In the Club", but was also a chance for Kay to experiment with film techniques he had seen throughout childhood and adolescence. With Phoenix Nights, Kay said that he purposely not only added literal humour, but also aimed to give it a degree of longevity, adding objects, posters or other props that were difficult to date when viewing the episodes.

Other work

Since 2002, Kay has featured in television advertisements for John Smith's beer, through which his catchphrase — "'Ave it!" — gained popularity.

He has had two cameo roles in Coronation Street. The first, in the late 1990s, was a brief appearance as a shopfitter, but in January 2004 he co-wrote his own scenes, appearing alongside real-life good friend, Sally Lindsay, who plays Shelley Unwin.

November 2004 saw the launch of the Phoenix Nights spin-off series, Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere, in which Kay reprised his role as bouncer Max, along with his real-life best friend, Paddy "Eight Grand" McGuinness.

On 17 June 2006, Kay appeared in a Doctor Who episode titled "Love & Monsters". His character, the sinister Victor Kennedy, proved to be an alien called the Abzorbaloff in disguise. Although the episode itself was quite comedic, Kay's role was more serious than those he normally plays.

He has also released several DVDs of live performances, including Live at the Top of the Tower, Live at the Bolton Albert Halls, Peter Kay: The Live Collections (The previous two combined) and Peter Kay — Live At Manchester Arena.

Kay's film appearances have included minor roles in 24 Hour Party People (2002) and The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (2005). He also provided a voice to the character PC McIntosh for the film The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005).

Kay also appeared at the BBC's televised charity event Comic Relief in 2003 and 2005, sharing the stage with Alan Partridge (actor Steve Coogan) in 2003. As part of the 2005 event, on 14 March , Kay promoted a re-release of Tony Christie's 1971 hit "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo". The song had earlier featured in Phoenix Nights, and Kay performed in the accompanying music video. On Sunday, 20 March 2005, the single reached number one in the UK Singles Charts, and stayed there for seven consecutive weeks.

He has appeared on numerous chat shows, including Parkinson and The Paul O'Grady Show. When he appeared with Paul O'Grady at Christmas 2005, he came on in a Christmas tree costume, further reinforcing his uniqueness and eccentricity. He also co-hosted Top of the Pops in character as Brian Potter alongside Fearne Cotton in January 2006.

Kay also had a cameo role in The Catherine Tate Show, playing an elderly gentlemen called Tommy, a good friend of Tate's character Nana.

Kay appeared on stage at the Queen and Paul Rodgers concert at Manchester's MEN Arena (With Patrick McGuinness) and in Hyde Park in 2005 as a cabaret act both in his own right, and in the persona of Brian Potter.

Filmography

The Comedy Lab "The Services" (1998)
Live at the Top of the Tower (2000)
That Peter Kay Thing (2000)
Phoenix Nights (2001)
Live at the Bolton Albert Halls (2003)
Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere(2004)
Live at the Manchester Arena (2005)
Peter Kay — Driven to Distraction (2005)
Max and Paddy's Power of Two (2005)
Doctor Who - Love & Monsters (Aired 17th June 2006)

Criticisms

Kay has attracted criticism for labelling "Phoenix Nights" as "Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights" even though the writing chores were divided three ways. When the series won a BAFTA award, the star insisted on collecting it alone. The release of the Manchester Arena DVD was controversial among many fans as the majority of the show's material had been released already on the Bolton Halls disc. His official website only sells merchandise.

Kay, though, regularly makes light of his criticisms during his television appearances. In an interview with Sue Barker during the 2005 Grand National he sarcastically remarked on his "Garlic Bread" catchphrase, "I don't regret saying that one", and on his "Amarillo" fame, "Can't get away from that one". Another notable occurrence came when he was playing Max (from Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere) in clips played during Channel 4's "Peter Kay Night", broadcast April 18 2006. On the listing for "Peter Kay: Live at the Manchester Arena", Max noted, "He's just brought this out on DVD last Christmas, the money grabbing bastard". This is a reaction to the criticism that Kay received for releasing two DVDs from the same tour.

Trivia

At the British Academy of Film and Television tribute to comedian and actor Ronnie Barker in December 2004, Kay spoke of the influence he had drawn from him in his own work.

Kay has performed at the Reebok Stadium in his home town Bolton as an opening act for Elton John. In addition, Bolton Wanderers F.C.'s fans have adopted "Amarillo" as a theme song, with Tony Christie's recording played at the home ground whenever the team scores.

Kay appeared at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, London on 2 July 2005, where he introduced The Who, after joining the audience in a rendition of "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo". He played a gag on the crowd by first announcing that the Spice Girls were the next act. However, the greater part of his performance was not shown on the live broadcast, producers instead opting to interview George Michael.

Despite raising his profile in a series of advertisements for John Smith's bitter, Kay is in fact teetotal. His father died of alcohol poisoning.

His mother, Deirdre, often goes to his performances .

He supported Queen at the Hyde Park gig in Summer 2005 after appearing on stage at the Manchester leg of the tour, coming on for the encore.

Kay introduced both Texas and the Doves at the V2005 festival in Weston Park, Staffordshire.

He tried to buy the rights to the name Chorley FM from the real station based in Chorley for only £80.

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