Tubby Lancashire comedian Peter Kay became the nations favourite son a couple of years ago but has he still got it.

For:

The "Live At The Top Of The Tower" DVD - comedy gold.
Phoenix Nights - ditto.
That Peter Kay Thing - A little lesser than the others but still good.

Against:

Geraldine.
The blatant rip off DVD's (Special Kay, Stand Up UKay).
Falling out with the co-writers of Phoenix Nights (Neil Fitzmaurice, Dave Spikey).
The lack of new material.

Over to you...........

Was a genius, now totally lost it. If he doesn't come out with a killer funny original material stand up tour in 2009 he's a gonner.

You can only milk garlic bread for so long.

you forgot to mention Max and Paddy...the best imo:thumbsup:

I also loved Britains got the Pop Factor....fantastic

He is funny, just not the most original.

But as always, it depends on your humour.

Some like Chubby Brown, I can't stand him etc.

That X factor spoof he did was good until he came on screen as that Irish tranny, that just ruined the whole programme for me.

What happened with Spikey and Fitzmaurice then? How did they fall out?

The first time I saw him, he was on some cable channel and it was the live at the top of Blackpool Tower gig.

Me and me dad were just flicking through some channels one night. I was in tears.

Is he any good? Yes he is. A comedian is supposed to be funny and I find him to be very funny.

Phoenix Nights is hilarious. Anyone who has ever been in a club like that will love it.

I think what happened with Spikey and Fitzmaurice was that even though they co-wrote Phoenix Nights, Kay took all the credit and didnt even acknowledge them when the show was winning comedy awards.

What I find most despicable are his endless cash ins which rip off the very public who have put him where he is.

Can be very funny though.

Message deleted.

To be honest i find his humour a little too safe for my liking.

Having said that though, on Phoenix Nights / Max and Paddy he had McGuinnes/ Spikey and Fitzmaurice writing with him and it gave it more of an edge.

For example, one of my favourite moments from PN is when they have the bucking bronco and Spikey says
"Christ, I haven't seen them this excited since they printed that pedophiles address in the paper"

I just cant see Peter Kay ever doing a gag along those lines in his stand up show, or even writing a gag like that.

To be honest i find his humour a little too safe for my liking...

Not only that, but doing what he knows works is what put him where he is today.

I saw his act as a newbie on the comedy circuit on the Comedy Store and it's EXACTLY the same as the performance on the "at the top of the tower", near enough word for word.
from the "NOW WE'VE STARTED" bit to the Funeral bag of crisps and the walking to the dance floor dance.

Now there must be at least 6 years between 'em and to have not changed it during that time is just lazy.

Yeah, you can say "the material doesn't age, so why should he change it" and the reply is because it's too easy to just lob out a practiced routin that is guaranteed to work.

Compare him directly against the real great stand up comedians, Eddie Izzard, Frankie Boyle, Bill Bailey, Bill Hicks and he really doesn't measure up to the "comedy genius" that so many have titled him.

Look at the names mentioned above, group them together and compare to the likes of Jimmy Carr, Dylan Moran, Peter Kay. These are comedians that have found their niche or a format that works and stuck to it, without really deterring from where they started.

That said, I do have the peter kay stand up DVDs, phoenix nights and max and paddy doovdees and concur that they are very good, however I wouldn't class them as genius, as this would be a little insulting to the real genius sit alongside them in me doovdee cabinet.

Where is Toby Foster when you need him?

Not only that, but doing what he knows works is what put him where he is today.

I saw his act as a newbie on the comedy circuit on the Comedy Store and it's EXACTLY the same as the performance on the "at the top of the tower", near enough word for word.
from the "NOW WE'VE STARTED" bit to the Funeral bag of crisps and the walking to the dance floor dance.

Now there must be at least 6 years between 'em and to have not changed it during that time is just lazy.

Yeah, you can say "the material doesn't age, so why should he change it" and the reply is because it's too easy to just lob out a practiced routin that is guaranteed to work.

Compare him directly against the real great stand up comedians, Eddie Izzard, Frankie Boyle, Bill Bailey, Bill Hicks and he really doesn't measure up to the "comedy genius" that so many have titled him.

Look at the names mentioned above, group them together and compare to the likes of Jimmy Carr, Dylan Moran, Peter Kay. These are comedians that have found their niche or a format that works and stuck to it, without really deterring from where they started.

That said, I do have the peter kay stand up DVDs, phoenix nights and max and paddy doovdees and concur that they are very good, however I wouldn't class them as genius, as this would be a little insulting to the real genius sit alongside them in me doovdee cabinet.

Fair points all, but does a comedian really need to progress? To draw a parallel with music, Kay is the Oasis of the comedy scene insofar as that he did one great routine/album and has spent the rest of his career recreating it. Both effectively captured the zeitgeist but the downside of doing that is that you're forever stuck in a time capsule when fashions move on.

And whilst the comedians you list as "real great stand up comedians" may be cleverer and more imaginative, I'd suggest Peter Kay's DVDs are more likely to be found in the average working class home in the same way that they're more likely to have an Oasis CD than a Radiohead one.

It's been the same with Gervais and those two off Gavin and Stacey - once you have a hit programme on BBC, you're the funniest person in history.

Unless you write the best bbc sitcom since Fools and Horses (Early Doors) then for some reason they don't want to know!

I say I say I say, my wife has gone to the West Indies?

Your wife's gone to the West Indies? Jamaca?

What, in these post colonial, neo feminist times?

Kay's not just about Stand up though, which is why he created Phoenix Nights, Max and Paddy and Geraldine etc. He is still coming up with new material, it's just not all stand up! It's fairly common with comedians these days to start out with stand up and then move on to character driven stuff for TV.

Wish he'd do some more though as it's my favourite out of his material.

Fair points all, but does a comedian really need to progress? To draw a parallel with music, Kay is the Oasis of the comedy scene insofar as that he did one great routine/album and has spent the rest of his career recreating it. Both effectively captured the zeitgeist but the downside of doing that is that you're forever stuck in a time capsule when fashions move on.

And whilst the comedians you list as "real great stand up comedians" may be cleverer and more imaginative, I'd suggest Peter Kay's DVDs are more likely to be found in the average working class home in the same way that they're more likely to have an Oasis CD than a Radiohead one.

Does a comedian really need to progress? - hmm. . my tastes say yeah. I was a little bitter about having seen Kays act on the Comedy Store and then buying the Top of the tower DVD and basically paying to watch a repeat. There's no value or pride to be had from finding summat that works and then doing it over and over again, just cos it works.

If you do summat a shed-load and don't get better at it, then your not really trying or making an effort.

Look at Bill baileys comedy career. Started off as a double act with Sean Locke called the rubber bishops and Sean was keen on keepin' the act the same and just touring with it. Bill didn't like this and wanted to diversify a lot and as a result, they fell out and went their separate ways (which is why when you see 'em together on summat like QI, you may notice an air of hostility between them).

Cosmic Jam, you can see he's rather nearvous, not sure of his place or if what he's doing is actually as funny as the audience makes out and as a result, a bit of a shakey show, but worth watching none the less.
Then came bewilderness, more confidence and more on the ball but still lacking in self belief. Part troll was magic and near faultless and seeing Tinselworm first hand at Sheff arena, this was by far better than the DVD filmed at wembley (as that was at the end of the tour and he'd pretty much lost his voice by that point).

I agree that Kays performance is wholesome family orientiated stuff, and nowt to be sniffed at but its for this reason alone I would say it's pretty far from genius.

Concur completely, that Radiohead are far more progressive and revolutionary than The Manc Ladds and same rules apply. I'd call Thome Yorke and Jonny Greenwood genius, way before even considering Liam or Noel.

Dave Spikey was interviewed on Rock Radio the other week. Hi stand up shows are now bigger than ever.

Peter Kay is very funny but he's coasting a bit at the moment, relying on his past glories. That whole Geraldine thing was awful. He needs to come up with something good soon or he'll fade into the background.

Yeah, you can say "the material doesn't age, so why should he change it" and the reply is because it's too easy to just lob out a practiced routin that is guaranteed to work.

Compare him directly against the real great stand up comedians, Eddie Izzard, Frankie Boyle, Bill Bailey, Bill Hicks and he really doesn't measure up to the "comedy genius" that so many have titled him.

Even geniuses like Izzard have been guilty of just doing the practiced routine once or twice. When he did his Circle tour years ago half of the material was taken directly from Dressed To Kill.

I was one of Peter Kay's biggest fans! The humour and timing was amazing, the real life stories that are so funny, even though it's just about normal life, Pheonix nights, a stroke of genius! Max and Paddy, even better than PN in my opinion, stand up tour (mum wants a bungalow) was just inspired comedy! .......Unfortuantely, all this stuff is now a while a go, Pheonix Nights was 9 years ago! When it was announced he was doing new material (pop factor) i thought, fantastic.........What a load of tripe! I think he gets a kick out of dressing up as 'Geraldine'. I seriously think he has to get back to his comedic roots and bring back The Potter!!! :thumbsup:

Lets be honest he is a one act dog, if you could fast forward 30 years he would be putting on the same act in some god-awful club in Blackpool. Funny at first but I believe in 20 years we will be cringing at ourselves for laughing at him.

I think he is extremely funny...

I find the problem with the likes of Bill Bailey, Bill Hicks and Eddie Izzard is they may be very intelligent and very clever but are they particularly funny..........having seen the material of all three, I dont think so.

I once met Peter Kay whilst he was walking through meadowhall ,this was about ten years ago.He was not known at all but i remember seeing him on tv (this must be comedy store).I approached him ,he had longish curlyish hair,and i ask him if he was Peter Kay,and he looked astounded somebody recognised him.He said "yes.".
I said to him "you are the funniest man i've ever heard.Don,t stop doing it".
He smiled and said "thankyou".He was still abit taken aback.
My now wife looked at me as though i was stupid.He has progressed he now writes comedy programmes (whether it be with other people).
As for repeating old jokes and routines ,i can't think of anyone worse than Billy Connelly for that.
Lee Evans is the most original (and probably most hard working).
ALL LAUGHTER IS GOOD AT TIMES LIKE THESE.