Latest news with #PeterKay
Press and Journal
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Press and Journal
Gallery: Peter Kay fans turn out for sold-out comedy show at P&J Live
Funnyman Peter Kay entertained a sold-out P&J Live when he brought his latest comedy show to Aberdeen. Fans travelled to the Granite City for the most northernly stops on the Better Late Than Never (Again) tour over the past two nights. There was much anticipation for the comedian's Aberdeen dates – marking his debut at the arena. And he did not disappoint. Laughter was ever present throughout the two-act show which featured many throwbacks to his classic stand-up routines. As to be expected from Kay, he combined observational comedy with 'nostalgia and naughtiness', much to the delight of the crowd. The Bolton funnyman will return to P&J Live to do it all over again in March next year.
Leader Live
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Peter Kay's Car Share star Sian Gibson on her acting career
Sian Gibson, from Mold, is best known for her collaboration with comedian Peter Kay in BAFTA Award winning series, Car Share. And it was that, she says, which led to her acting career getting back on track, having virtually given up on the dream. Gibson recently sat down with Woman's Hour presenter Kylie Pentelow to discuss that and the upcoming return of the hit BBC comedy 'The Power of Parker' in which she also stars. That returns for a second series on Friday (May 30) and also stars the likes of Conleth Hill and Steve Pemberton. Gibson co-wrote the show and stars as Kath, a mobile hairdresser by trade and the devoted mistress of her sister's husband. Set around the fortunes of the Parker family's electrical shop in 1990s Stockport, the next instalment sees a shift of power between the trio of Kath, her sister Diane and the object of their affection, Martin Parker. Speaking on Woman's Hour, Gibson talked of how Peter Kay's Car Share led to other opportunities for her acting-wise, after she had been working in a call centre. She said: "Like many other actors, the work's not always there. I was very lucky when I left college that I could still play teenagers, but then I hit my 30's and the work really dried up. I wasn't getting any auditions. "I was very lucky that Peter Kay's carshare came along and that Peter thought of me. I was very very lucky to have a friend who supported me like that." TOP STORIES She added: "It was a massive sliding doors moment, because I live in north Wales, where I live its not the centre of the entertainment world. "I was happy, I wasn't absolutely gutted that this could be the end of the career or the dream. "But, I still live in the same place, the same village, so things haven't changed that much."
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Former BBC presenter sympathises with Peter Kay in heckler row
A former BBC presenter has sympathised with comedian Peter Kay after recent controversy surrounding his handling of hecklers. Alfie Joey, a North East comedian and former BBC Radio Newcastle presenter, shared his views on BBC Radio Newcastle after a clip of Peter Kay dealing with a heckler went viral. In a chat with Kelly Scott on BBC Newcastle, Joey said: "I was reading all of the comments on the TikTok video I saw and then headed to the comments to see what people said. "Lots of people see it from the audience's point of view, but they don't get what the comedian has to deal with and what they have to go through." He added: "Most people go to see the comedian, they don't go to see the heckler. "Although sometimes [at other gigs] it does get a little heckley, which I do find a bit of fun and sometimes it's the bit that people remember." Joey pointed out that people pay a lot of money to see comedians like Peter Kay. He said: "When you watch the clip [of Peter Kay], nobody's paid less than £50 to go and see Peter Kay, some have paid over £100, so if you're sat there, that guy's said garlic bread 35 times now, it was funny the first few, you're starting to think, he's wasting my money here." Recalling his early days in comedy, Joey shared some advice he received: "When I started out, somebody said to me, if you get heckled, deal with it as a comedian, don't deal with it as a teacher, and that was a good lesson for me, because I got a bit strict once, hey you, stop this now. "And I turned into a teacher and wasn't a comedian anymore." He praised Kay's handling of the situation, saying: "When you watch the clip, he deals with it as a comedian, he's funny, he takes a chair over, he says lots of funny stuff. HMRC warning issued for anyone with a savings account Stradivarius to open first North East store at Metrocentre Armed police swoop on Front Street in Consett "When you're in front of thousands of people there, you're literally thinking on your feet. "You've got to deal with the moment." Joey is also known as a writer, actor, impressionist, singer, presenter, and artist/cartoonist.
BBC News
15-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'There's a line': Comedians on whether Peter Kay was right to eject hecklers
Peter Kay made the news last weekend when he kicked two hecklers out of his show at the Manchester Arena. Kay defended the move afterwards, saying he'd done his "best to address the situation and made light of it, as any comedian would, but unfortunately their interruptions continued".One heckler was removed for loudly ordering the Bolton comic's favourite "garlic bread" one too many times. He went on to tell the Daily Mail he felt he'd been "treated like a terrorist".Another had announced "we love you, Peter" in the aftermath, resulting in Kay calling her Lisa Riley as she was ejected, because of her resemblance to the woman later said on TikTok that she felt "humiliated" and thought his reaction was a bit "over the top".BBC News journalist Ellen Kirwin told the BBC the "vibe was good" in the place before the red cards, which "seemed unjustified".The incidents prompted a week-long discussion about when piping up can be fun, and how it can quickly get out of this in mind, we asked an English, a Welsh and Scottish comedian - almost a joke in itself, if they were to walk into a bar together - for their thoughts on the subtle art of dealing with hecklers. 'Most brutal heckle ever' Larry Dean, who starts his UK tour on Wednesday 19 February in Cardiff, tells the BBC he "felt sorry for the audience, not just Peter Kay"."It's a really hard thing to do because no one wants to see a comic go serious, you feel like a teacher sometimes," he says."It changes the atmosphere when a heckler goes too far, but it really is about gaging, do the people around me want me to keep going?"Last year, Dean found himself the victim of what he has described as "the most brutal heckle ever".When discussing the topic of ghosts, he overheard a woman loudly talking to someone else in the audience and decided to ask if she was okay."My dad bought me these tickets because he's dying and he wanted me to have a laugh," came the reply. "We're not laughing", she added, "so I've said to my pal we're going to leave."Dean recalls his shocked response. "Obviously I'm not gonna make fun of that," Dean tells the Glaswegian looked so discombobulated by the heckle that another audience member asked him if he was okay."Looking at it, perspective wise, Chris Rock [who was slapped on stage at the Oscars by Will Smith) and Peter Kay - who have the two most famous show interuptions from the past few years - they've have had it easy!"They need to get this woman from Dundee to know what a heckle really is." His second-worst heckle involved a man on the front row repeating the same whispered swear word at him, so low that only he could hear it. "I just had to ignore it," he like the ones Kay performs in, bring in more people but they can also bring problems for stand-ups, he says."They're harder to play than a theatre or comedy club because the laughter goes up, it doesn't come towards the stage," says Dean, who has played support slots in says it's difficult for comedians in Kay's situation to hear what audience members are actually saying, and that their interjections are also distracting for others watching in different parts of the arena."People say, 'he should have said this...', but usually people who say that have never been on stage before and they don't know how hard it can be thinking that quickly in the moment about what the best thing for the show is; because you just want everybody to have a good time."Another British comic James Acaster last year released a special entitled Hecklers Welcome. Not because he particularly enjoys the experience, but in order to face his biggest fear and, as he told GQ, "run towards the thing I was scared of".Dean feels that "nothing will ever catch people's attention more" than watching a comedian get heckled. Heckling versus crowd work Abi Clarke, who has almost a million followers on TikTok, thinks most comedians will be on Kay's side of the though, the Bristolian notes: "There's a difference betwen heckling and crowd work."With crowd work a comedian is inviting it, you're asking a question, you're wanting a chat and that's very different from somebody shouting out a random thing."Once is fine, or twice but if the comedian stops engaging with you or says that's enough, then at that point you're ruining it." New comic superstar Paul Smith made his name roasting crowds as an MC/compere in Liverpool, while Jimmy Carr is also famed for inviting and actively engaging with Clarke, heckling comes into its own when comics are workshopping new material. If someone joins in, it can create new "source material" that can be used as a fresh joke at the next gig."I've had hecklers who have interupted multiple times but if they're engaging, joining in with what you're saying and being positive, I don't mind that, it's quite fun."If they're just derailing the gig because they like the sound of their own voice, then I think you should just chuck them out!"'Garlic bread' - there's not much you can do with that." 'Spontaneous moments' She thinks if you're going to someone's headline show that they've honed and crafted - "they've perfected the rhythm, set-up and punchline" - then the time to interject has passed."I promise you, It will be a better show if they get to perform it how it's meant to be performed."The other time that heckling comes in handy, she says, is for promotional purposes online, as comics don't want to give away their best written material for free, when a great bit of crowd banter will show off their skills just as well."The ones we will post are the wonderful one-off spontaneous moments because they'll never happen again, so they won't ruin the show."She's "quite lucky so far", she says, having had only "two or three horrible instances" of bad heckling, and in those cases the audience had her back."It's easy to win an argument against a person that no one in the room likes."Her new tour, Role Model, which kicks off on Thursday 17 April in Southampton, finds her keeping a humorous tally of bad behaviour, while questioning if she herself is a bad person for doing certain these moments she finds other girls will supportively offer, "no, it's fine", which she really appreciates on a human level, but "that's not what the joke is for!". 'Chaos and magic' Welsh comic Paul Hilleard, who won the BBC New Comedy Award last year, believes that dealing with hecklers is "part of the job" and that Kay - a finalist in the same award in 1997 - may have "thrown his toys out of the pram" a given he was playing to a room of "people who love you", he a bit different from some of the venues - or "bear pits" - that he currently plays as an up-and-coming comedian in Bristol, while also working as a teaching assistant. He sometimes performs in back rooms of pubs, where people don't always know that comedy is about to take place around them."Heckling is just part of the game, it's not fun... but it can be," he adds, mischievously."I've always been taught you've got to play the room. If it's chaotic, it doesn't matter if you've written the best 20 minutes ever, you've got to control that room of people who are intoxicated, and show them that you're funnier."Stag and hen dos, which tend to gravitate to comedy nights, can bring such says he has spoken with other comics who agree that audiences "are a little more feral" since returning from the Covid lockdown, "heightened" by social media."One guy was on magic mushrooms, we found out, and it became part of the show, you lean into it," he says. "That's the best thing you can do, until they become very abusive." "There's a line," he continues. "If you're ruining the show, that becomes the venue's problem."But it's our job as a comic to make that heckle part of the show, as that's where the magic is."He will perform at the Machynlleth Comedy Festival in May, and said there are "tricks of the trade" including certian "jokes and comebacks" that experienced comedians can lean on to deal with such it's all worth it, he says, "if you can turn something on the fly that wasn't planned into something hilarous"."That's when people are like, 'oh my God, how did you do do that?'."Nine out of 10 hecklers, he believes, are not trying to ruin the show, they just think it's "part of the fun" or "want to be acknowledged".And the one that does, "might have had a bad day, drank too much or they might just be an [idiot]!"I think it's something within people, we like a bit of drama."
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Yahoo
Europe's most romantic city break is only a £27 flight from Manchester Airport
If you're stumped for a Valentine's gift this year and want to treat your partner to something extravagant, a last minute city break might just be the ticket. A new study has found the most romantic cities across Europe, although the number one spot might surprise you. Prague in the Czech Republic came out on top, beating the likes of Rome, Paris and Amsterdam to be the most romantic citybreak destination. A trip to Prague won't break the bank either, although it's a little bit more pricey to head there this weekend for the big day itself. READ MORE: Every word in sweary four-minute exchange as two people kicked out of Peter Kay concert READ MORE: Film crews spotted in Manchester as they transform beloved 18th century pub for returning BBC show Skyscanner currently shows one-way tickets from Manchester Airport to Prague later this month from as little as £27. If you did want to fly out on Valentine's Day it will cost you a little more, with one-way tickets from £71. Return tickets vary depending on when you travel, with prices in the region of £70 (it's important to note these prices don't include seat reservations or baggage allowance) . Travel insurance experts from analysed data to create the 2025 Couple's City Break Index, which revealed the top ten romantic destinations in Europe. Researchers analysed factors such as hotel prices with a city view, the price of a meal for two, must-see landmarks, spa and wellness facilities and picturesque parks. Prague was crowned the best city to visit, with the average room with a view priced at €69 a night and a three-course meal for two coming in at just €42. Couples can enjoy romantic sightseeing walks through the Old Town and marvel at the stunning architecture, including the Astronomical Clock, the iconic Charles Bridge and the largest castle in Europe. When it is time to escape the hustle and bustle, couples can seek out one of the many idyllic parks and gardens. Rome came in second place, where a hotel room will set you back €98 and a meal for two will cost €65. But the city has an endless supply of romantic spots for couples to discover, including the beautiful 17th century Villa Borghese Gardens, the Colosseum and the famous Trevi Fountain where you can throw a coin in for good luck. Istanbul bagged the third spot with the cheapest hotel prices in the index at just €51 per night for a room with a view. The Turkish capital is also the third cheapest for dining out, coming in at €51. Spa lovers can treat themselves to some Turkish-style pampering in one of the many luxurious bath houses (known as hammams), admire the magnificent palaces or experience a scenic cruise on the Bosphorus. Prague Rome Istanbul Paris London Porto Seville Amsterdam Dubrovnik Bruges For more of the latest What's On news, click here.
