Peter Kay

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8.9 Great
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Biography

Recent Role:
Himself on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Gender:
Male
Born:
7-2-1973
Birthplace:
Daub Hill, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, UK
AKA:
Peter Kay (I)
After leaving school, Kay took several jobs, many of which inspired episodes or sequences in That Peter Kay Thing. Kay has said that he sought a career in comedy. After losing a job as a cinema usher, and being told by several people that he had comic talent, he decided to pursue comedy as a career, partly with the intention of clearing debts.
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.


… More During this time, he also appeared at various other clubs, such as The Comedy Store, and the Barracuda Club in Lincoln. Although these appearances 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.
In this period, Kay appeared on several chatshows, such as Parkinson and Friday night with Jonathan Ross. Production also began on Phoenix Nights, which was to see him achieve critical acclaim as well as mainstream appreciation. Subsequent advertisements for John Smiths 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 a 2005 poll of comedians and critics to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted amongst the top 50 greatest comedians 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.

Kay's first TV project was an episode of Channel 4's The Comedy Lab, The Services. The spoof documentary style of The Services was carried over into Kay's first series, That Peter Kay Thing, in which he played a range of different characters, usually in heavy make-up.
An episode of That Peter Kay Thing in turn inspired two series of Phoenix Nights. Kay plays multiple characters in Phoenix Nights - two of the principal parts, Brian Potter and Max the bouncer, as well as a wide range of supporting parts. He had a cameo role in Coronation Street in January 2004, co-writing his own scenes and 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 Phoenix Nights' bouncer Max, along with his real-life best friend, Paddy "Eight Grand" McGuinness. Peter Kay was born, bred and still lives in his beloved Bolton. He left school with one GCSE in art and proceeded to drift from one dead end job to another, earning a living as a cinema usher, a steward at Manchester Arena, even a mobile disc jockey.
When Kay eventually tried his hand at stand up he found his 'wilderness years' had furnished him with an almost endless supply of characters and situations to draw on for material.

Within a year of launching himself onto stand up circuit, Kay won the 1997 Channel 4 'So You Think You're Funny?' competition. From there his rise to the top was rapid. Along the way there were Perrier nominations, the Big Breakfast, The Peter Kay Thing, sell out tours, British Comedy Awards and, his best work to date, Phoenix Nights.

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  •  
    9 Superb
    One of the best comedians around. hide show

    Peter Kay is one of the most talented comedians of the last decade.

    His wonderful talent at observational humour means that what ever he touchs turns to comedy gold.

    `Phoenix Nights`, created by Peter Kay, was one of the best comedy series of the 21st century with it's wonderful mix of down to earth characters continuously getting mixed up in some of the most hilariously awkward comedy moments shown on TV since the golden days of `Only Fools And Horses`. Although the series only lasted 2 seasons, it never hit a bad note, and it mostly definately finished at the top of it's game.

    `Max & Paddy`, wasn't as funny as `Phoenix Nights`, but it still mangaged to hold it's head up against a lot of the current comedy shows around.

    As a stand-up comedian, Peter is easily as funny as any of his TV characters, with a wonderful line of humour that will have you laughing in the aisles from start to finish.

    Although he hasn't been on our screens for a few years, I expect Peter's eventual return will definately be another must see comedy moment.

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    LB80 Added Nov 30, 2006 All my reviews
  •  
    10 Perfect
    Absolutely Hilarious !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hide show

    I think this man is the funniest man on earth !!!!!!! He is so witty and everyone of his jokes you can easily relate to . It wasn't until the end of last year that he was so greatly recognised but why ???? he's amazing !!!!! what a cool man he is !

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    eastendersmad Added Nov 10, 2005 All my reviews
  •  
    9.2 Superb
    Hilarious hide show

    Peter Kay is one of the all-time great comedians ever! All of his live shows are excellent, as are the TV programmes such as Phoenix Nights, Max and Paddy and That Peter Kay Thing. Everytime you see him you can be guaranteed a laugh. The parts he plays on TV are brilliant, showing a variety of comedy that is all hilariously funny. The berr ads are good too - 'ave it!

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    mjmarshall Added Aug 29, 2005 All my reviews
 
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