comedian Peter’s He broke down in tears when he was given a standing ovation at the start of his first tour in 12 years.
The 49-year-old comic, who has been out of the limelight in recent years, announced in November that he would be embarking on an arena tour from December to August 2023.
The crowd chanted his name as he was taken on stage on the first leg of the tour manchesterK AO Arena.
He had to compose himself before telling fans: “How do I do comedy now? I can’t believe you made me cry.”
The Bolton star will perform the first of 110 arena dates over the next two and a half years.
He was due to tour in 2017, but canceled due to “unforeseen family circumstances”, before returning to the stage in August 2021 for two charity shows to raise money for Laura Nuttall. Who was then 20 years old. An aggressive type of brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme.
Around 20,000 fans turned out in Manchester on Friday to see the comedian, widely regarded as one of the UK’s best stand-up comedians.
Peter K hasn’t toured for almost 12 years
(PA)
When tickets went on sale last month, fans faced huge online queues as they tried to secure tickets.
Several people reported seeing messages on the Ticketmaster website that there were over 200,000 people ahead of them in the virtual line.
Channel 5 News host Dan Walker was among those queuing, tweeting: “Trying to get tickets to Peter’s is like trying to get an appointment at the GP!
“‘Please wait… there are 170,000 people ahead of you in the queue right now’.”
Fellow comedian Jason Manford joked: “Lucky enough to get 2x Peter’s tickets. 2x Peter’s tickets for sale, £3500 each.
Others compared the experience to the famously difficult task of securing tickets to Glastonbury Festival.
Within two hours tickets were already appearing on resale sites, with a ticket for the London show selling for up to £350 on Viagogo.
Mr. K also announced that he has added more shows to the tour through the end of 2024.
These include two new dates at the Utilita Arena Birmingham, four new dates at London’s O2 Arena and six new dates at the AO Arena Manchester.
The London dates would form part of their monthly residency at the venue, as they had been announced as the first artist.