CityLife

Julian Clary: Lord of the Mince

Julian Clary
The Lowry
February 12, 2010

Hard to believe it’s 26 years since Clary pulled on his PVC vest, brought out his Fanny (the Wonderdog) and declared his undying fandom of Joan Collins.

He may not be the sparkling youth he once was but the 50 year old still cuts a fine figure and is no less outlandish in his style choices; popping out in a shimmering orange number and teetering on roller blades in the first half and adopting a rather appropriate ringmaster style outfit for the second.

The humour hasn’t changed much either, his set is still gloriously stuffed to the rim with innuendo with room remaining for a good-natured bitchy aside and a few groan-worthy gags. We wouldn’t have it any other way; the crowd lapped up the barbed wit, saucy gags and faux sense of self-importance.

After checking on his ratio of heterosexuals to homosexuals in the crowd he launches straight into re-evaluating his life. Turning 50 has led, inevitably, for Clary to look backwards, from his life as schoolboy at St Nancy For The Probably Theatrical to his recent move to rural Kent living with his partner, chickens in the garden and Lily Savage next door.

The second half, though, introduced by Clary with the question: ‘are we ready for some more filth?’, brings with it some psychic shenanigans as Clary stalks in search of some potential fellow psychics with which to flirt.

And for those whose singles collection includes a copy of the Joan Collins Fan Club doing Leader Of The Pack, there are a couple of songs too. May the Lord Of The Mince mince a while longer.