Peter Kay is returning to stand-up comedy after eight years away

After eight whole years away, Peter Kay is finally returning to stand-up comedy, with the announcement of a UK tour in 2018.

Kay didn’t disappear during his time away from the stage - most recently we saw him on his BBC series Car Share - but you could say that in coming back to stand-up, the Max and Paddy star is returning to his roots, and going back to what he does best.

Kay still holds the Guinness World Record for the biggest-selling comedy tour of all time. He played to 1.2 million people on his 2010 tour, ‘The Tour That Doesn’t Tour Tour… Now On Tour’.

Why has Kay chosen now to make his comeback? He says: “I really miss it. I know how lucky I am to be making television series and have really loved these past few years working on Car Share but I miss doing stand-up. 

“As terrifying as it is, when it works there’s nothing more fun and exciting. Plus, a lot has happened in the last eight years, with Trump, Twitter and my nan getting her front bush trimmed at the age of 96. I can’t wait to get back up on stage.”

Tickets for the tour go on sale very soon - Sunday 19 November, and can be purchased from gigsandtours.com or ticketmaster.co.uk from 10am.

The tour beings in April 2018 in Birmingham, and will visit all major UK and Ireland areas running through until March 2019.

Here’s the list of gig venues and dates:

2018:

Saturday 21 April, Birmingham, Genting Arena

Sunday 22 April, Birmingham, Genting Arena

Monday 14 May, Glasgow, The SSE Hydro

Tuesday 15 May, Glasgow, The SSE Hydro

Monday 4 June, Manchester Arena

Tuesday 5 June, Manchester Arena

Wednesday 6 June, Manchester Arena

Saturday 9 June, Manchester Arena

Thursday 13 September, London, The O2

Friday 14 September, London, The O2

Saturday 15 September, London, The O2

Thursday 20 September, London, The O2

Tuesday 2 October, Leeds, First Direct Arena

Wednesday 3 October, Leeds, First Direct Arena

2019

Sunday 13 January, Belfast, SSE Arena

Monday 14 January, Belfast, SSE Arena

Wednesday 23 January, Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena

Thursday 24 January, Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena

Friday 1 February, Dublin, 3 Arena

Saturday 2 February, Dublin, 3 Arena

Monday 11 February, Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena

Tuesday 12 February, Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena

Monday 4 March, Sheffield, FlyDSA Arena

Tuesday 5 March, Sheffield, FlyDSA Arena

Monday 18 March, Liverpool, Echo Arena

Tuesday 19 March, Liverpool, Echo Arena

Given Kay’s immense popularity and how long he’s been away from the stand-up scene, tickets are sure to sell out in minutes, so make sure you’ve got 15 tabs open across several computers to be in with a chance of snaring one.

Let’s end by remembering a few of Key’s classic one-liners:

When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bike. Then I realised that the Lord doesn’t work that way, so I stole one and asked him to forgive me.

A cement mixer collided with a prison van on the Kingston Bypass. Motorists are asked to be on the lookout for 16 hardened criminals.

So this bloke says to me, “Can I come in your house and talk about your carpets?” I thought, “That’s all I need, a Je-hoover’s witness”.

There was a man who entered a local paper’s pun contest.. He sent in ten different puns, in the hope that at least one of the puns would win. Unfortunately, no pun in ten did.

(Image: Rex)