Peter Kay has announced he will perform his new standup show in a year-long monthly residency at London’s O2 arena. Here are five of his best comedic moments.
Misheard Lyrics
Kay’s UK tour in 2010-11 broke the Guinness world record for the largest-selling standup tour, selling more than 1.2m tickets.
His misheard lyrics routine has had nearly 10m views on YouTube. “I was singing Take That’s Back for Good, singing ‘wash your back’ instead of ‘want you back’,” says Kay.
The words “state for the record” in Sister Sledge’s We Are Family were misheard as “staple the vicar”.
Garlic bread
The line regarding garlic bread, which Kay also used in his standup shows, was first delivered by his character Brian Potter in the 2001 show Phoenix Nights, in which he says: “Garlic bread! It’s the future, I’ve tasted it.”
The joke became so infamous that when appearing on a talkshow in 2017, Kay said people still shouted “garlic bread” at him in the street.
Knee slide at weddings
During one of his standup shows, Kay memorably demonstrated what each family member was like at a wedding.
While acting out what “little lads” do at weddings, Kay slid across the floor on his knees.
Fine rain that soaks you through
During a sketch, Kay joked about how the school playground becomes carnage when it begins to rain, and how adults would remark that it is the fine rain that soaks you through, while comparing their efforts to get schoolchildren inside to Saving Private Ryan.
“If it rained, [the teachers] would have fits, they’d go all hysterical. They could sense it, they could smell the rain,” he said.
Is This the Way to Amarillo?
In 2005, Kay recorded a video in which he mimed to Is This the Way to Amarillo, the 1971 pop song by Tony Christie, while wearing a striking purple suit.
After the success of the video, the single was reissued to raise money for Comic Relief, with Peter Kay featured on the track, and it went on to be a UK No 1.
In 2020, as part of a Comic Relief fundraiser, Kay recreated the iconic video with members of the British public.
• This article was amended on 10 November 2022 to replace the last video clip with a more recent version.
