Peter Kay Live: The Tour That Doesn't Tour - Tour (Liverpool Echo, 21/04/11)

Back in January 2010 my sister bought tickets for me, Andrew and her to see Peter Kay for our birthdays, the catch being we had to wait until April 2011 to do so! I'm pleased to say that it was well worth the wait. I was slightly afraid that Kay would rehash his old shows and trot out the same catch phrases and set ups used in his previous stand up DVDs (not to mention jokes that were recycled in Phoenix Nights). When I was at uni Peter Kay was huge in my social circle and 'garlic bread' was repeated ad nauseum to the point it became irritating, not amusing. I don't get people who just mimick and repeat comedy over and over, it kills the joke, it doesn't extend it. 

Anyway, my fears were allayed and the whole 90+ minutes of stand up (and music...) was fresh and new, albeit with references to his old stuff, e.g. Kay acknowledged that he gets given free garlic bread in restaurants now, so he's trialing a new catchphrase: 'plas... ma? TV?' The only bits I'd heard before came when he played snippets of songs on a dictaphone, showing that Celine Dion sings 'the hot dogs go on' and that Duffy was 'begging you for bird seed'... A couple of these he'd done at the Royal Variety show years ago - Duffy was new though, and like many occasions that night, had me laughing out loud until I was horse. Tears ran down my cheeks several times as Kay talked about his Mum's card draw, his Nan's problem with long words, his experiences at the dentist. All typical comedy tropes, given an extra level of hilarity by Kay. 

He finished the set with a few singalong bits of Amarillo and 500 Miles, plus We Are the Champions, playing along on his shovel. It was an explosive and upbeat way to end what was a great night packed to the gills with laughs. On an aside, it occurred to me and Andrew that we've actually seen Peter Kay before, years ago when he had a starring role in The Producers musical, in which he was fantastic.