Pete Price is back doing live stand-up comedy … and he's in Hot Water!

Pete Price is back doing stand-up in Liverpool and, not surprisingly, he’s landed himself in Hot Water!

After starting his comedy career in the ‘70s, Pete celebrated his landmark 80^th birthday this year, so what better time to return to the stage for some live gigs.

And he couldn’t have picked a better venue to do it than Hot Water Comedy Club inside Blackstock Market.

He’s promising audiences a classic combination of chat, gags, a singalong and some special surprise guests at each date.

The first Pete Price in Hot Water is on Sunday May 3, and he says it’ll be an afternoon show full of laughs.

He said:

“It’s old-fashioned entertainment which is good entertainment and I just want people to go away with a great big smile on their faces,”

“I’ve not done a stand-up comedy show for three years and I’ve missed it so I’m looking forward to being back and Hot Water Comedy Club is a great place to do it.”

Pete first had the idea of doing a show at the venue when he went there to interview comedian Paul Smith.

“As soon as I went in I thought, why am I not doing stuff here? I had it in my mind and the owner Paul (Blair) said, ‘why don’t you’?

“We talked about maybe doing three a year which was perfect for me, and I thought about what could work.

“I used to love doing Rubber Soul on Fridays from 5pm to 8pm. That started off with gags followed by a singalong, then I moved to The Grapes and did that there on a Sunday afternoon.

“I was there for five or six years, and after that I was hosting an evening at the Royal Court called Pete Price Holds Court for a couple of years. That would sell out, 175 people in the basement for a 7.30pm start, me with two acts, and it worked so well.

“I spoke to Paul and we agreed that kind of mix would be good on Sunday afternoons so we decided on three dates for this year – May 3, September 20 and November 1.”

For Pete, a return to stand-up is like coming full circle to the early days of his career around the cabaret clubs in Liverpool.

“I was DJing at the Cabin Club when I first started then I went to the Shakespeare and on the first night I sang two songs, told three gags and got a standing ovation,” he remembers.

“A star was born … so I thought! Actually that was just the start of me learning my trade watching other acts, seeing their tricks and their stage presence.

“I’ve been booed off stage and I’ve died on my backside, but it was all about learning.

“I’ve been doing comedy for 55 years now. I’m 80 and I don’t write gags, I never have, but I can tell gags, and I know how to talk and bring the audience into the show.

“I always finish with New York New York and I get a standing ovation – and if I don’t, I sing it again until I do!”