It’s always of interest to me when clearly successful comedians from overseas arrive in Edinburgh to perform at the Fringe for the first time, when – generally speaking – first Festival appearances from UK comedians tend to be a pretty/very early step in their careers. 

In any case, this one, Graham Kay, has been on ‘The Tonight Show’ with Jimmy Fallon, which is pretty impressive. And despite that, this month you can see him at a venue near you – assuming you are in the Scottish capital. 

His show also has a really interesting theme, so I thought it would be good to find out more. I arranged a quick chat… 

CM: Can you start by explaining what ‘Pete And Me’ is about. Who is Pete and why are you talking about him?
GK: ‘Pete And Me’ is about growing up with a disabled sibling. Pete is my brother. He’s a fantastic adult man who loves telling pretty women he’s “Peter Parker Spider Man”. 

CM: What themes do you focus on in the show?
GK: I focus on what it means to grow up and age alongside a disabled sibling. 

CM: This is about your real life, obviously: what’s it like sharing this with crowds? Is it scary? Cathartic?
GK: It’s cathartic for both myself and, I think, other siblings of disabled people in the audience. At least that’s what I’ve been told after shows. Haha.

CM: Is it all true? Or have you embellished things a bit? 
GK: It’s the only hour I’ve written that is 100% true, but it took me 43 years to write. 

CM: What made you decide to make a show about this? What was the inspiration for it?
GK: There was no one talking about what it was like growing up like me. The inspiration was myself, thinking about what makes me unique. Every morning I wake up and FaceTime with a 40 year old man and we pretend we are Bert and Ernie from ‘Sesame Street’.

CM: What made you decide to bring this show to Edinburgh?
GK: I did a successful off Broadway run in New York and felt like it wasn’t done. I love this show so much and I wanted more people to see it. 

CM: Have you been to the Fringe before? What hopes and expectations do you have of it?
GK: I have never been and I hope that I make it out alive. 

CM: What plans do you have for when you are not performing?
GK: I’m going to try and see some comedy shows that hopefully really weird me out. I’m also going to try and go hiking three times a week. Maybe I’ll take the train to Paisley to see where my grandfather was born. Fingers crossed I don’t get stabbed. 

CM: Can you tell us a bit about your career, now? Have you always worked in comedy and is it what you always wanted to do?
GK: The last office job I had, the woman beside me got a Blackberry and we all crowded around and looked at it. So it’s been a while. I would say this stage of my career is exactly what I always hoped I would do growing up. I wanted to be Jerry in the show ‘Seinfeld’. 

CM: Will stand-up remain your main thing or do you have plans to diversify? What else would you like to do?
GK: It’s definitely my main thing but I always pick up an acting gig here and there. And I’m currently in the beginning stages of producing a TV show based on ‘Pete And Me’. 

CM: What have been the highlights of your working life thus far?
GK: Performing on ‘The Tonight Show’ with Jimmy Fallon and also getting to perform in front of 18,000 people every night opening for Nate Bargatze. 

CM: What aims and ambitions do you have for the future?
GK: I hope to make my TV show and become a stand-up theatre act. 

CM: Do you have any new projects in the works?
GK: Yes, the TV show and also my new line of skin creams.  

CM: What’s coming up next for you after this?
GK: I’m going to Portugal to lay on a beach for a week. Then I’m back on the road in the US pretty heavily until January. Headlining my own shows but also opening for my famous friend Nate Bargatze on his sold out arena tour. 

Graham Kay’s ‘Pete And Me’ was performed at Gilded Balloon Patter House at Edinburgh Festival 2024.

LINKS: grahamkay.com | x.com/mrgrahamkay