''The Sound of Laughter'' was British comedian

Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...

's initial volume of

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, released on 5 October 2006. The book was a bestseller. ''The Sound of Laughter'' was a success with 278,000 copies sold in its first day (including pre-orders). It went straight in at Number 1 on both the

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and

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book charts and was the Number 1 highest selling autobiography in the UK.

Cover

The cover of the book features Kay's head on

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...

' body from '' The Sound of Music''. The raised effect on the head is supposed to look as if it has been cut out and stuck on, which ties in with the homely feel of the book.

Promotion

Kay has only done one promotional appearance for the book on '' The Paul O'Grady Show''. On the show, Kay came on dressed as a nun, with a mask of his face over his ordinary face - a parody of the cover of the book. In the interview he criticised Billy Connolly's biography, ''

Billy Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge * Billy, a youn ...

'', as well as making numerous jokes about his education by nuns. He said he had many nuns teaching him: *

Sister Sledge Sister Sledge is an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consisted of sisters Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. ...

* Sister Scissors *

Sister Act 2 ''Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit'' is a 1993 American musical comedy film, directed by Bill Duke, and released by Touchstone Pictures. It is the sequel to the 1992 film ''Sister Act'', and is loosely based on the life of Crenshaw High School cho ...

* Sister Matic * Sister Zar Doin-it * Sister Swingout * Sister O'Mercy He added that every year, he sent a Valentine's card to each nun from Jesus.

Follow up book

It was announced by Kay at Jason Manford's stand-up gig in Salford, that he would be releasing another book to follow on from ''The Sound of Laughter''. This was later confirmed by Random House and ''Saturday Night Peter'' was released in Autumn 2009.

Notes

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sound of Laughter, The 2006 non-fiction books Show business memoirs