| Patrick Kielty | |
|---|---|
| Born | 31 January 1971 Dundrum, County Down, Northern Ireland |
| Occupation | Comedian, presenter |
| Known for | Patrick Kielty Almost Live Live at the Apollo |
Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is an Irish comedian and television personality from Dundrum, Northern Ireland.
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He was affected by The Troubles in Northern Ireland. On 25 January 1988 his father, businessman Jack Kielty, was shot dead by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA)/"Ulster Freedom Fighters" (UFF),[1][2] a loyalist paramilitary group. Jack Kielty was to be the key witness in British Central Television's defence of a libel action brought by prominent UDA extortionist Jim Craig. Craig, who was suing the television company over a broadcast of The Cook Report, which connected him to racketeering, is said to have ordered Mr Kielty's murder.[3]
He is a former minor footballer with Down GAA.
Kielty showed promise as a comedian already in his early years. His school held an annual holiday concert and Kielty featured annually with impersonations of local politicians, media personalities, and sportsmen.
Kielty's career started while he was still a student at Queen's University of Belfast. He became well known locally for his stand-up comedy routines at The Empire pub comedy nights -The Empire Laughs Back. One of his regular routines involved donning a balaclava and making spoof paramilitary pronouncements.[4]
In the early 1990s Kielty won the Guinness Entertainer of the Year in INF Warrenpoint, an event fronted by Sean Mallon who is said to have given a young and inexperienced Kielty the courage to go on stage for the first time ever.
In 1993 Kielty presented the show SUS on UTV. He later became the warm-up act for a BBC Northern Ireland programme Anderson on the Box presented by local personality Gerry Anderson. When this show was axed, he presented its replacement, PK Tonight. Although this ran for only a year and was only shown in Northern Ireland, it did attract the attention of London-based broadcasters and Kielty graduated to presenting programmes such as Last Chance Lottery and Patrick Kielty Almost Live which were shown throughout the UK. He also presented a series of After The Break. He did an impersonation of Martin McGuinness singing the Simon and Garfunkel song, "Bridge over Troubled Water". McGuinness and Art Garfunkel are said to have similar features.
Kielty continues to appear on national television, although he has left much of his political comedy background behind, tending to favour light-entertainment shows such as the BBC's Fame Academy, Comic Relief does Fame Academy and Love Island for ITV in both 2005 and 2006. Also in 2006 Kielty hosted a segment on ITV's coverage of The Prince's Trust 30th Birthday LIVE alongside Kate Thornton.
Kielty hosted the original pilot of the American version of Deal or No Deal for ABC in early 2004.[5] However, ABC decided against airing the series, which ended up on NBC, with Canadian comedian Howie Mandel as host.
In 2006 Kielty returned to the stand-up scene with a brand new UK tour. A DVD, filmed at Belfast's Grand Opera House, was later released.
In 2007 Kielty began work on the UK production of A Night in November, a comedy play written by Marie Jones, author of Stones in His Pockets.
The same year he also was a guest on the BBC's third series of Live at the Apollo.
Kielty sits in for Alan Carr on his BBC Radio 2 show when Alan is on holidays. He has also sat in for Steve Wright and Simon Mayo on the station.
Patrick hosted the Saturday morning show on BBC Radio 2 which started on the 24 July 2010 and it ran for 10 weeks.
Kielty presented Sport Relief 2010 alongside Fearne Cotton and others.
In 2010, Kielty took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.
Kielty was the host of the first series of Channel 4's Stand Up for the Week, which began in June 2010 and ran for six weeks.[6]
In March 2007, when presenting a live episode of Comic Relief Does Fame Academy, Kielty referred to BBC Radio 1 disc jockey contestant Colin Murray as a "big gayer".[7] Three complaints were made to Ofcom and the BBC as the comments were perceived by some as homophobic and offensive. The BBC responded saying that the line was unscripted and "spur of the moment" but that Kielty had been reminded "to be more careful during the remaining live shows". He would later apologise on Have I Got News for You.
In September 2007, Kielty apologised after joking about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann during filming of a TV show. The comments prompted several outraged audience members to leave the Olympia Theatre, whilst he was still performing.[8]
On 20 January 2010, when Kielty was a guest on The One Show, he revealed Christine Bleakley's mobile number to the camera, to prove that he had her number to celebrate their double birthday celebrations. Within five minutes of Kielty's mistake Bleakley was bombarded with calls and text messages. She has since changed her number.[9]
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