Phil Kay (born 1969) is a Scottish

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

Biography

Education

Kay was educated at

Craigclowan Preparatory School Craigclowan School & Nursery is a private day preparatory school for boys and girls aged 3 to 13 in Perth, Scotland. History Craigclowan School and Nursery is located south of Perth. Craigclowan was established in 1952 by Richard W Noad. Noad ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Scotland, and at nearby

Glenalmond College Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. T ...

Early career

Kay became known to the public when he won the newcomer's competition, '

So You Think You're Funny So You Think You're Funny? (SYTYF?) is an annual stand-up comedy competition for new acts. The competition began in 1988 in the United Kingdom. The finals are held every August at The Gilded Balloon during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Past ...

', at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

in 1989. He then went on to be nominated for the prestigious Perrier Award in 1993. He won the award for Best Stand-Up at the

British Comedy Awards The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. The British Comedy Awards (1 ...

in 1994. Kay continued to work worldwide as a live stand-up, most notably on regular and very successful tours of the

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

and

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the largest international comedy festival in the world. First held in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typically starti ...

in Australia.

Later career

Following his rapid rise and just as rapid fall from comedic fame, Phil has also gone on to other adventures such as selling books in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

. Since 2011, he has performed sold-out runs at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in various venues on Bob Slayer's Heroes of Fringe. The Hive (2011, 2012), Bob's Bookshop (2013, 2014), The BlundaBus (Since 2015), and The Magical SpiegelYurt (since 2017). He is a regular at summer festivals including Kelburn Garden Party at Kelburn Castle, Nozstock: The Hidden Valley, Vogrie Pogrie, Shambala Festival, Machynlleth Comedy Festival, Brighton Fringe and

Glastonbury festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

. Most of Kay's appearances have since been at provincial arts venues. In 2022, he published a series of books with

Go Faster Stripe Go Faster Stripe is an independent filmmaking, film production and Distribution (business), distribution company that operates out of the Chapter Arts Centre, in Cardiff, Wales. The company specialises in the recording of live shows by stand- ...

Television work

Kay hosted his own stand-up comedy series on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in the UK called ''Phil Kay Feels...'', recorded in front of a live audience in 1997. His other works on television have included ''Next Stop, Phil Kay'' (also on Channel 4), ''Edinburgh Nights'' (

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

) and ''Festival of Fun'' ( Channel 5). In conjunction with filmmaker Archie Lauchlan, he also released ''That Phil Kay Video'' onto the retail market in 2000. This unique collection of Kay's live standup gigs was re-released in 2014 via Video On Demand). Off camera, Kay was involved with writing credits including

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show '' Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s and early 2010s, hosted his ow ...

's ''Saturday Show'',

's '' Viva Cabaret'', '' The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer'', ''

Sean's Show ''Sean's Show'' is a British television situation comedy, first broadcast on Channel 4 between 15 April 1992 and 29 December 1993. Stand-up comedian Sean Hughes co-wrote and starred as a fictionalised version of himself, aware that he is livin ...

'',

Harry Hill Matthew Keith Hall (born 1 October 1964), known professionally as Harry Hill, is an English comedian, presenter and writer. He pursued a career in stand-up following years working as a medical doctor, developing an offbeat, energetic performanc ...

's ''Pilot Show.'' As a panellist, Kay appeared on the BBC television show '' QI''. and on Nevermind the Buzzcocks. 19 November 2009, he appeared as the stand-up act on the

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

television show ''

Russell Howard's Good News ''Russell Howard's Good News'' is a British comedy and topical news television show which was broadcast on BBC Three between 2009 and 2014, and on BBC Two between 2014 and 2015. Hosted by comedian Russell Howard, it offered his commentary on th ...

''.

References

External links

official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Phil Place of birth missing (living people) Living people Scottish stand-up comedians British comedy writers People educated at Glenalmond College People educated at Craigclowan Preparatory School 1969 births 20th-century Scottish comedians 21st-century Scottish comedians Scottish male comedians