If you had told me last week that I would spend my Friday night singing along to classic TV adverts, I would have called you crazy. But at a Peter Kay show, all bets are off.
A Night of Nostalgia
The legendary comedian started this tour four years ago and took to the stage at Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena for his final show in the city. He was met with thunderous applause from the nearly full arena, pulling out his Kay Cam to get a closer look at the crowd with hilarious results.
No latecomer to the show, which had warned fans of a prompt 8pm start on the ticket, was safe as he scanned the audience picking out stragglers trying to find their seats. 'I know love, outrageous,' he quipped as a woman forced to stand to allow two fans to reach their seats threw her hands up in mock exasperation.
This is one of the biggest comedy shows I have ever attended. I have seen plenty of comedians before, but by the standards of this massive arena production, they feel incredibly small. Yet despite its size, Peter Kay held the thousands of people in attendance in the palm of his hand.
He knows his audience well, delivering a nostalgia-drenched opening in which he reminisces about TV adverts. Inspired by some mini chocolates that had been thrown on stage, he sang the opening bars of the famous Mars bar advert. Soon the whole arena joined him in a rendition of 'a Mars a day helps you work rest and play,' and he encouraged the crowd to shout out other notable jingles or TV themes from back in the day.
Someone shouted 'Max and Paddy,' and a cheer went up as he launched into the opening song from 2004's Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere. It was a cozy opener, setting the stage for a show that felt more like a variety performance than straight stand-up.
Stories and Surprises
The star is a consummate storyteller, delivering warm and fuzzy anecdotes. He shared how he used to live in Liverpool, in Aigburth 'before it were posh,' and how he used to shop in a store in town called Crazy George's. He also shared how he played some of his early comedy shows in Baby Blue, and how the Scouse crowd used to heckle the 'p*** poor' impersonator he shared the bill with.
His comic timing is still impeccable, extracting peals of laughter with a simple look or gesture. The story of him playing a venue above an Everton pub where the doormen 'threw people in' was genuinely funny, as was his brush with technology and his GP.
However, some jokes fell a little flat, such as pretending to mistake a woman in the audience for Andrew Lloyd-Webber, and there were a few stories that started strong but ultimately fizzled out. In true Peter Kay tradition, there was 'a bit of blue for the dads' and an incredibly touching tribute to his late nanna.
The second half of the show was the strongest, and even four years into the tour, it is loaded with surprises. All I will say is do not leave until the house lights come up.
Coasting or Classic?
For a comic of Peter Kay's stature, it felt like he was coasting at times. But for every flat moment, there was a joke that landed and rocked the crowd. He left the stage to cheers and applause, thanking everyone for attending the show, with all profits being split between 12 cancer charities.
This may not have been Peter Kay at his finest, but I am glad I got to experience it.
