Peter Kay did ‘hilarious’ first show of his comeback tour and got a standing ovation

The reviews are in for Peter Kay’s first show of his latest arena tour, which took place on Friday at Manchester’s AO Arena, and needless to say people thought the Car Share star was “hilarious” and has “still got it”.

Reassuring then, as it is his first tour in 12 years.

The garlic bread enthusiast’s The Tour That Doesn’t Tour Tour… Now On Tour from 2010 entered the Guinness Book of World Records two years later as the most successful stand-up tour of all time, after playing to 1.2 million people.

He was due to tour in 2017, but this was cancelled due to “unforeseen family circumstances”.

News of the tour came last month, when an announcement was broadcast during an episode of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! before going on sale almost a week later.

As is to be expected, demand was high, crashing the mobile app for some and leading to SJM Concerts apologising for “a number of technical issues”.

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Kay, meanwhile, was “absolutely blown away” by the response, in a statement which also saw him call I’m A Celeb contestant and Tory MP Matt Hancock a “b***-end”.

And the reaction last night was no different, as he was filmed in tears at a standing ovation from the crowd before the show had properly started – with one individual saying it lasted for “about five minutes”.

One attendee wrote of the moment: “Peter Kay breaking down crying on stage when he got a standing ovation at the start of his gig was just gut-wrenching.

“Without giving anything away though, if you’ve got tickets to see him consider yourself [very very] lucky because that was brilliant – also we all saw his c***.”

Quite the show, then.

Another, Chris Atkinson, commented: “Peter Kay has still got it. Smashed it tonight, proper funny.”

“Anyone who is going to see Peter Kay on his tour is in for an absolute treat. That was spectacular,” tweeted a third.

Of course, some will be waiting a fair while for their turn to see the Phoenix Nights funnyman, as he’s performing shows until February 2025.

The tour continues with another show in Manchester on Saturday night.

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