The Bolton comedian soared across the O2 Arena uring his record-breaking stand-up tour
Comedian Peter Kay has treated fans to a surprise finale as he soared across London’s O2 arena during his record-breaking tour. Known for his observational humour of British culture, the 53-year-old returned for his 49th stand-up show at the stadium on Friday night as part of his four-year-long national Better Late Than Never tour.
The Bolton-born comedian kicked off his national tour in December 2022 in Manchester – marking the end of a 12-year break from touring and setting the record for the only comedian in the world to have performed a monthly residency at London’s O2 arena.
As he bid his fans goodbye at the end of his two-and-a-half-hour show, Kay reappeared on stage for a surprise finale which began with the comedian “playing” a two-handled shovel-guitar.
He went on to sing a string of songs and remixed classic advertising jingles and tunes, including AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” and the Mars bar slogan “A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play”.
As he sang, his face was deepfaked to look like Oasis‘ Noel Gallagher before he reappeared on stage in a pink suit with colourful polka dots and an upgraded three-shovel guitar.
Kay was then lifted into the air by a makeshift stand with dozens of fake balloons – imitating David Blaine’s 2020 live-streamed Ascension stunt.
Strumming on a sparkly triple-shovel guitar, he belted out songs and TV jingles including Scooby Doo, the theme to the Australian soap opera Neighbours and Cadbury’s 70s A Finger Of Fudge advert.
Audiences were up on their feet singing the tunes back to Kay as he flew over the arena – a spectacle completed with sparklers and multicoloured confetti.
It comes months after Kay was ushered off stage mid-performance with the audience evacuated during his show at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham in May.
The show was halted after a “suspicious bag” was reported, but West Midlands Police later said “nothing suspicious was found” during searches.
A 19-year-old man, Omar Majed, of Saltley, Birmingham, was later charged over an alleged bomb hoax with a trial scheduled for November 3.
The tour is due to end in November at Blackpool’s Opera House.
All the proceeds from his 2026 shows will be donated to 12 cancer charities including Children With Cancer UK, Teenage Cancer Trust, Kidney Cancer UK, Prostate Cancer UK, and Ovarian Cancer Action.
It is his first live tour since 2010, when he scored the Guinness World Record for the biggest selling run of all time, playing to more than 1.2 million people.
He was due to go on tour in 2018, but had to cancel due to “unforeseen family circumstances”.
Kay became best known by the nation following his early 2000s TV creation Phoenix Nights, and has starred in other sitcoms including Peter Kay’s Car Share.
Earlier on in the show Kay also brought out emerging singer-songwriter Emily Rhodes, who worked as a member of his crew for the past three years and sang her newly released single, Famous To Me.
