TV icon tops list of highest-earning British comics with over £27m in 2024 thanks to huge residency

PETER Kay laughed all the way to the bank in 2024 — as the world’s fourth biggest comedy earner.

The 51-year-old star's Better Late Than Never arenas tour made £27million.

The massive figure represents the gross earnings for the tour, although Peter's personal pay will have been less than this.

Only Michael McIntyre came close for UK comedians, taking £10.3m, said the Pollstar analysis of all entertainers’ box office earnings.

Tickets to Peter’s 35 gigs cost an average of £59.70, while Michael’s were priced at £45.35 a pop.

The Pollstar figures, featured in a special Year End 2024 Report compiled for the music industry, reveals the box office earnings of the biggest live entertainers on the globe.

Out of the comics, US stars dominated the top three spots.

US stand-up stars Nate Bargatze (£56m), Sebastian Maniscalco (£38m) and Jerry Seinfeld (£31m) took the top three spots.

Singer Taylor Swift had the year’s most lucrative tour, taking £831m.

Pollstar’s JR Lind said comedians were benefitting from streaming and podcasting.

He said: “The mainstreaming of stand-up comedy continued in 2024, shoving its way into the serious sides of the discourse.

“The proliferation of streaming, social media and podcasting has accelerated the career velocity of a working comic and changed the calculus.

“The new math gives comics the ability to reach an audience anytime, anywhere, building a fanbase as rabid and dedicated as a pop star, they no longer can be pigeonholed as the court jesters skewering the powerful and humorously noting their shortcomings.”