‘I’m like a volcano ready to erupt as I have all this suppressed filth inside me,’ says comedian Julian Clary, 62, of his current tour Born To Mince.
His eruption has been delayed because of lockdown – the original version of the tour hit the road almost three years ago but each subsequent leg was postponed due to Covid restrictions. But Julian is back, spreading his ‘filth’ throughout the land, in a tour that’s been substantially changed from the original.
‘Some of it was a bit old so I’ve rewritten it,’ says Julian. ‘I talk about doing panto with Donnie Osmond at the Palladium, wearing masks, lateral flow tests, it’s a lot of nonsense frankly…’ he says of the first half of the show. It all changes in the second, though, with plenty of audience interaction.
‘In the second half I conduct my heterosexual aversion therapy experiment on some men from the audience, which involves wiring up intimate parts of their body and showing them photographs of Ann Widdecombe and Dame Joan Collins. If they show a flicker of arousal they get some voltage through them.’
Isn’t this a high-risk strategy in the post Me Too era? Touching people and making sexual suggestions? Isn’t disaster potentially lurking at each new venue?
‘Well it’s all pretend, you know,’ Julian points out. ‘It’s amazing how people go along with things. I get four people out of the audience. I seem to have a gift for picking the right people so there are usually no problems.
‘I then whittle the four down to two so if anyone looks like they’re trouble or if they look intoxicated or mad I can remove them quite quickly.
‘It’s a comment on gay aversion therapy which I thought would be fun…’ And while he isn’t concerned about conducting a heterosexual aversion therapy experiment on his audience, neither is he worried about the potential threat of cancellation.
Comedians have been increasingly complaining about reactionary, politically right-on audiences. Gay stand-up comedians have also spoken about some audience members accusing them of being homophobic themselves because of jokes they have made.
‘I don’t think about that,’ says Julian. ‘People who come to see me know it’s going to be rude and maybe not politically correct. If I get cancelled so be it, but it’s not something that enters my mind.
‘I’m indifferent to people’s opinions. I don’t care. I’m just doing what I want to do. People can analyse it how they want. I was accused of being a caricature of an effeminate homosexual years ago, it’s nothing new.’
Julian’s skills at interacting with live audiences have been honed through almost 40 years in showbiz – from appearing in rooms over pubs as The Joan Collins Fan Club at the start of his career to dealing with members of the public on his ground-breaking, risqué 90s TV gameshow Sticky Moments, to all his subsequent live tours and his current regular appearances at the Palladium’s Christmas pantomime.
‘There was a point where it went from doing The Comedy Store or Jongleurs to doing a tour. And I did some elaborate tours with backing singers and pianists and glamorous assistants. Now it’s all pared down. It’s a simpler thing,’ he says.
‘The need for a big production is satisfied by doing the panto at the Palladium every year – that’s a big spectacular show with dancers and feathers. I quite like the intimacy of a one-man show.’
Julian is using pictures of Dame Joan Collins in his heterosexual conversion therapy but clearly no offense is meant to his former-idol-turned-pal as they regularly meet up for evenings together.
‘We did panto together in 12 years ago and got to know each other. She likes to play poker so I play poker with her quite often. It’s for money. I’ve got better at it, but she tends to win…’
When the tour finishes on May 1 Julian can look forward to more poker sessions with Dame Joan, he returns to the London Palladium for Jack And The Beanstalk at the end of the year and he’ll be getting back to work on his new book – a novel for adults.
He finished his hit series of children’s books The Bolds, about a family of hyenas, with sixth book The Bolds Go Green, out now in paperback, and he adapted The Bolds for the stage over lockdown.
‘It was an unexpected delight to amuse children,’ he says of The Bolds’ popularity. ‘It’s just as thrilling as amusing anyone else,’ he adds. And he’s thrilled to be spreading amusement, as well as filth, across the country until the end of the tour.
‘It’s a grim time in the world and this show gives people an opportunity to be silly for a couple of hours.’
Julian Clary is touring the UK with Born To Mince until May 1. Get on Julian’s .
