Peter Kay defends ejecting ‘disruptive’ hecklers
Peter Kay has said he had “no choice” but to ask security to eject two hecklers at his show on Saturday because their “repeated disruptions” made it “impossible to continue”.
The comedian asked staff at Manchester’s AO Arena to remove a man who shouted “Garlic bread”, his Phoenix Nights catchphrase, before telling them to throw out a woman who kept calling his name.
The man told the Daily Mail he was “treated like a terrorist”, while the woman, who Kay called Lisa Riley because of her resemblance to the actress, told the Manchester Evening News she was “annoyed and upset”.
Kay said they had been “disrupting from the very start” and he “did my best to address the situation and made light of it, as any comedian would, but unfortunately, their interruptions continued”.
He explained: “I then tried to ignore them, hoping they’d settle down, but when the disruption persisted into the second half of the show, I asked the audience around them if they were being bothered by the noise. They all shouted ‘yes,’ and when I asked for a show of hands, at least 40 people raised theirs.
“At that point, I had no choice but to take action.
“The lady who was escorted out did bear a striking resemblance to Lisa Riley, though I don’t see how that’s an insult.”
He said he had only kicked out one other person in the previous 114 shows of his three-year tour.
“As a comedian, you never want to eject anyone, but when repeated disruptions make it impossible to continue, it’s important to consider the experience of the rest of the audience, who’ve paid to see a show without interruption,” he said.
‘Garlic dead’
A video of the incident published by the Sun showed Kay making jokes at the first heckler’s expense before taunting him as security stepped in. The comedian declared the man “garlic dead” and pulled up a chair to watch him being ejected.
When the woman started shouting Kay’s name and “We love you, Peter”, he asked the audience “Is she a nightmare?” before calling on security staff to evict her too. “Go on, Lisa Riley,” he told her.
The woman told the Manchester Evening News that was a dig at her weight because Riley “has lost a lot of weight and looks great but she used to be a bit bigger”.
“I’m self-conscious about that so to go to a show and feel like you’re having the mick taken out of you because of your weight, I was just a bit shocked,” she said.
On social media, one user who said they were at the show said they had “lost a lot of respect” for Kay after the way he treated the hecklers.
However, another fan wrote that “people were cheering him for throwing out the heckler” and “it had to be done”.
Another audience member replied to his statement: “I think everyone who was there will agree you did nothing wrong! It was a fantastic show and we loved it!”
The actual Lisa Riley also posted on X: “PLEASE draw a line under this now, l am not offended, never was offended,” she wrote.
“I love Peter Kay to pieces. Laughter is my favourite medicine.”
