CELEBRITY
Peter Kay, one of the country’s best-loved comedians, tells Shire about his lockdown project to spread smiles by recording his autobiography as an audiobook in an effort to try and cheer people up a bit. So hopefully it will lift people’s spirits. We all need a laugh. Especially without McDonald’s doing porridge.”
Working from home
Peter recorded the whole book from home, which he says made for a relaxed experience all round.
“Hopefully, it will lift people’s spirits. We all need a laugh. Especially without MCDonald’s doing porridge”
T
he Sound Of Laughter is not only the title of Peter Kay’s best-selling autobiography – it is pretty much a guaranteed response to the stories within it too. The book observes the absurdities and eccentricities of family life: elderly relatives, garlic bread, cheesecake, weddings, funerals and all the other familiar tales the Bolton comedian has regaled us with over the years. And now you can enjoy all the mirth and merriment without even having to read a word, because Peter has recorded it as an audiobook. Peter has won numerous awards for his TV work, including Car Share and Phoenix Nights, and has had three number one singles. He also holds the Guinness world record for the biggest-selling stand-up comedian on the planet, while The Sound Of Laughter still holds the record for the biggest-selling British hardback autobiography of all time, selling over two million copies. However, it took 15 years for him to record the audiobook, for which he jokingly blames Covid: “I blame the pandemic! Mind you, people are still blaming the pandemic for everything. You know, I still can’t get porridge at McDonald’s because of the pandemic. What’s all that about? It’s oats in a microwave!” The truth, he admits, is that “Audible approached me during the pandemic to ask if I’d like to record The Sound Of Laughter
“I could record at my own pace and that made the whole experience much more fun as I was able to drift off the subject matter and have a different view about it all these years later. I’d never read the book since I wrote it in 2006. It was fascinating, like reading something that somebody else had written. Although weirdly, even though I knew what was coming next, I’d forgotten so much of what I’d written.” Then again, Peter says, he never intended to write a book in the first place. “But I found out that a book was already being written about me. I wasn’t happy so I decided to write my own. If anybody was going to write about me, I thought I’d probably be the best person to do it. “I felt completely out of my depth when
I wrote it. I didn’t start writing until March 2006 and it had to be completed by the June. I spent the first few weeks constantly clicking on the thesaurus, looking for better words. I was so self-conscious – I didn’t even have my English GCSE – but then I began to find my own voice, and everything fell into place. It turned out I really enjoyed writing. I just wanted to make it as funny as possible.” Peter’s second book, Saturday Night Peter, was also a best-seller, but the comedian hasn’t written anything since. “I suppose life gets in the way,” he says. “Becoming a dad changed my priorities. The trick is getting the balance right in your life. I think a lot of people were forced to realise that during the pandemic. A lot of people’s priorities will have changed forever now. Hopefully for the better.” Peter Kay’s The Sound Of Laughter is available to download from Audible
November/December 2021 | SHIRE MAGAZINE 41
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