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pride
of manchester -
peter kay |
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"I might be collecting wheely bins in
12 months time but at least they'll be wheely bins outside back
gates that I know, in a part of the country that I love. There's
no place like home!" -
Peter Kay |
Peter
Kay has gone from being a service station attendant in his hometown
of Bolton, Greater Manchester, to being the country's favourite
comedian - selling out massive venues like The Lowry and MEN Arena
in the process on a year long sell-out tour.
His material has largely been drawn
from his experiences working and living in Greater Manchester. Amongst
many part-time jobs, his previous work expeience includes packing
toilet rolls at the paper mill owned by Manchester City legend,
Franny Lee. He worked at the Majestic petrol station in Bolton and
then Booker Cash & Carry. He was sacked from Netto for calling
his supervisor a fucking dyslexic bitch - although she couldn't
spell it on the report she had to file to HR. He also suffered a
similar fate at Take Two Video for putting an adult movie in a children's
video case. He then got the boot from Bolton's Top Rank Bingo for
putting the wrong washing fluid in the dishwasher. Somehow he found
another job at the original Yates's Wine Lodge in Bolton and he
also worked at The Blue Boar pub. |
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Manchester's Nynex
Arena was Peter Kay's next stop. Not as a comedian though - not
just yet - but as a steward. He also got a job in the ticket office
at Bolton's Octagon Theatre before being sacked for telling Phil
Middlemass (Des Barnes in Coronation Street) he couldn't come in
wearing white jeans. He found alternative employment as an usher
at a local cinema before it closed down.
He claims his first taste of TV fame
came at the age of 8 during the Bolton marathon... he was in the
background as Jimmy Saville ran down Fallen Ends. If you pause the
video at the right moment on a recording of Telethon'90 at Liverpool's
Albert Docks - he claims you can also see him in the background
there too. |
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As a student,
Peter Kay transferred from Liverpool to Salford University to study
a HND in Media Performance. With the confidence gained from his
studies of Stand-Up Comedy, he decided to enter the 1997 'City Life
North West Comedian Of The Year Competition'. Much to his amazement,
he won - beating Johnny Vegas into second place. It was here that
he became best friends with the host and previous winner, Dave Spikey.
He enjoyed a few cameo appearances
on TV, including 'Let's Get Quizzical' (which he named) and the
similar 'I Love the 1990's' programmes from BBC Manchester. He took
over from Dennis Pennis on 'The Sunday Show' and also appeared in
an episode of Coronation Street, buying fish from Fred Elliott.
He teamed up with Dave Spikey and Neil Fitsmaurice to film 'Mad
For the A6' for the 'Mad For It' TV series - which saw them travelling
from Buxton to The Lake District and having fun - including dressing
cows up in rain jackets.
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As well
as touring the country performing Stand-Up, including a superb performance
at The Royal Variety Show (he was as equally enjoyed by his rich
Southern audience as his usual Northern fans). A cameo performance
presenting 'The Big Breakfast' led to Channel 4 offering him the
opportunity to make an episode of the 'Comedy Lab' series:
Teaming up with Dave Spikey, and heavily
influenced by Victoria Wood, he produced 'The Services', a superb
spoof documentary filmed at Bolton's M61 First Services in 1998.
Channel 4 were that impressed, they offered him his own series.
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'That Peter
Kay Thing' was screened in 1999 and consisted of six hilarious episodes,
all fimed in the same spoof fly on the wall documentary style of
'The Services'. He insisted it was filmed not in London but on location
in Lancashire and Greater Manchester. Each episode looked at a different
character in their everyday life (the local cabaret club, the bingo
hall, the ice cream van, the MEN Arena, the road sweeper and the
local rock-star-wannabe). It was obvious Peter's experience of dead-end
jobs had been used massively.
It was around this time that Pride
Of Manchester boldly claimed on these pages that Peter would become
a household name like similar Mancunian comic legends Les Dawson,
Mike Harding and Victoria Wood. The success of his next two projects
certainly proved us right.
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Whilst widely ignored
by the rest of the country, 'The Services' and 'That Peter Kay Thing'
had made the Bolton comedian a favourite in the north west and his
stand-up tour packed venues around the region. He recorded the show
(in colour) at Blackpool Tower's Circus in 2000 and released it
on video and DVD as 'Peter Kay Live at the Top of the Tower' (NB,
the circus is actually at the bottom of the tower).
The local success of the video ensured
his catch phrases, 'Garlic!?! Bread!?!', 'Booked it, packed it,
fucked off!' and 'do you want a brew?' suddenly became more and
more used each day in offices, shops and bars around Greater Manchester
- each time with people giving each other that 'I love Peter Kay
too' nod.
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In 2000,
Peter Kay was invited to cameo in Jim Doyle's violent gangster film,
'Going Off Big Time'. Starring alongside Bury actor Bernard Hill
and Neil Fitsmaurice, who he was later to collaborate with, he plays
a comical prisoner called Flipper.
Away from working, Peter married Susan,
his girlfriend for 8 years, in 2001. The wedding guest list read
like a who's who of Manchester comedians. Many whom were to join
him on his next adventure...
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Episode
1 of 'That Peter Kay Thing' was set in a working man's club in Bolton,
and it was here that the inspiration came for Peter Kay's next TV
series. Teaming up once more with Dave Spikey and scouse comedian
Neil Fitzmaurice, they wrote 'Phoenix Nights' together in 2001 (originally
titled 'Ukranian Nights' and set in a Ukranian club on Chorley Road
in Bolton).
Peter Kay played the role of Brian
Potter, the wheel-chair bound owner of the Phoenix Club, as well
as various other parts including Max, one of the doormen, and Keith
Lard, a fire safety warden who allegedly liked dogs 'a little too
much'. The character of Keith had also earlier appeared in an episode
of 'That Peter Kay Thing'.
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Incidentally,
the makers of the show agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to a certain
Keith Laird - a real live fire safety officer in Bolton - as compensation
for the distress he had been caused. They claimed the similarity
in name and occupation was purely coincidental but this seemed to
be contradictied by early interviews Peter had carried out when
promoting the show.
The other characters in Phoenix Nights
were all played by stand-up comedians from the Manchester scene,
including co-writers Dave Spikey (as Jerry 'The Saint' St.Clair)
and Neil Fitzmaurice (as DJ Ray Von) - who interestingly had to
audition for their parts. |
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Archie Kelly (better
known as Jackie 'Mr.Goodtime' Valencio) played Old Kenny, a compulsive
liar, Steve Edge and Toby Foster play Les and Alan in Jerry's brilliantly
named backing band, Les Alanos, Bernard Wrigley played Eric, the
fruit machine seller, Daniel Kitson was Spencer, the cheesiest DJ
you've ever heard, and Justin Moorhouse played Young Kenny, a less
than clever Manchester City fan whose only lines in the whole series
were edited out. Incidentally Justin is a big Manchester United
fan.
Peter Kay was also able to offer a
part in the series to his best friend, Patrick McGuinness. He plays
the part of Paddy, Max's self-obsessed partner on the door.
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With such
a good cast and three superb script writers, it was no surprise
that Phoenix Nights was a massive success. For the die-hard Peter
Kay fans there was even some of the old catchphrases hidden in the
script - including his most famous, 'Garlic? Bread?'
Many of the cast, including Dave Spikey
(as Jerry St.Clair), Steve Edge and Toby Foster (as the hilarious
Los Alanos), and The Rumbergers (the very old ball dancers) played
a few gigs in Manchester, taking the Phoenix Club on the road. Despite
the sell-out success, the owners of the characters (Phil McIntyre
Productions? Channel 4? or even Peter Kay himself?) frowned upon
the idea of the cast cashing in on the name and prevented further
showings.
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Starring
alongside Steve Coogan, Peter Kay played the part of Don Tonay in
Michael Winterbottom's award-winning '24 Hour Party People' movie.
The film, which chronciles the life of Manchester journalist and
Factory records boss, Anthony H Wilson, is arguably the greatest
music film ever made and also features many of the other stars of
the Manchester comedy circuit.
Interestingly, Don Tonay is a cabaret
club owner, although is not in a wheelchair. There's a superb scene
in which Peter and Steve Coogan (who plays Anthony H Wilson) are
caught in the back of a transit van with a couple of prostitutes.
Hopefully Peter's mum hasn't seen it!
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.In
2002, the second series of Phoenix Nights was delivered, providing
more laughter to the living rooms of the UK. The original cast had
reunited and there was cameo appearances from the likes of Jim Bowen
and Smug Roberts. The series started where the last had left off
- with the Phoenix Club burning down.
Brian gathers together all the regulars
to rebuild the Phoenix. Jerry St.Clair is persuaded to give up his
job as a singing sales announcer at ASDA ("Don't forget your
black bin bags, no matter what your gender") and in the funnist
episode of the lot, is forced to wear a big red berry outfit at
a family day. Young Kenny also has his face painted as a tiger with
permanent paint - a look he wears for the rest of the series! The
DVD of the series was released in October 2003 and became the fastest
selling TV DVD ever in the UK |
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By now,
Peter Kay had become a household name. He was also the new face
of the John Smiths beer adverts, introducing a new catchphrase ('Ave
it!'). His 2002 'My Mum Wants A Bungalow' tour sold out breaking
all box office records. The demand for tickets even became a joke
within his act - pointing at empty seats where late comers hadn't
yet arrived, he'd quip "we could have got £600 between
us on ebay for those!".
The tour was extended time and time
again - making him a multi-millionaire and probably affording his
Mum every bungalow in Bolton - and he capped it all off with a massive
gig at the 18,000 seater MEN Arena (which sold out in minutes),
proving he had come a long way since working there as a steward.
One of his homecoming gigs at Bolton's Albert Halls was released
on video and DVD in Nov 2003
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Peter also contributed to the script of what many
argue to be one of the greatest TV comedy series ever. The superb
'Early Doors' (which has still gone widely unnoticed) featured The
Royle Family's Craig Cash and was based in a Manchester pub.
The birth of Peter and Susan's first
child in August 2003, may have given him more material, however
it understandably delayed the filming of his new TV series. A spin
off from Phoenix Nights, titled 'Max & Paddy (Road To Nowhere)',
it follows the two comical bouncers around the UK in their camper
van. Other members of the Phoenix Nights cast do not appear in the
show. Expect to see it hit the screens in 2004.
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Peter
- who surprisingly is not a Bolton Wanderers fan - played in front
of his largest audience yet in October 2003. Appearing at half-time
with his nephew at the Manchester United v Fulham game in front
of a record 67,727 Old Trafford crowd, he cracked jokes (including
his famous Garlic? Bread?) and commentated whilst a talented Norwegian
super kid impressed everybody with his ball juggling skills. As
the Norwegian completed what seemed like his 1,000th 'keepy-uppy',
Peter counted, "26...27..." before delighting everybody
with a trademark "Ave it!" as the kid booted the ball
into the air, catching it cleanly and balancing it on the back of
his neck. Peter laughingly claimed "Brian Potter can do that
too!"
Despite becoming Britain's favourite
comedian and a multi-millionaire in the process, Peter Kay has kept
to his roots and still lives in Bolton. He may have moved out of
his mum's house (a brand new bungalow) but according to the man
himself, he'll never leave the region...
"I love Bolton. I really, really
love it. I love where I'm from... you could do a Woody Allen in
Bolton, do 40 films and still find something new because there's
something new in every house."
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