10:41pm Friday 16th October 2009
By Stephanie Tye
THE master of innuendoes and double entendres wheeled his way on to the Wyvern Theatre stage last night in a flurry of pink leather and glitter.
Lord of the Mince is Julian Clary’s first national tour in five years and he seems to be loving every minute of it.
From the outset he warned the audience there was a joke (most of which had a sexual reference – both obvious and obscure) in every line.
And that was the only point in the evening that the 50-year-old, whose parents live in Swindon, wasn’t kidding.
The camp comedian has described each date of his tour as an intimate evening and a celebration of his 25 years in the camp spotlight.
And something that needs to be done before they throw him in a home for tired old knackers.
Looking around the almost full auditorium he said how nice it was to be back home in Swindon and to “see what it has to offer the homosexual 50-year-old”.
And from there we were off, covering numerous topics (many of which can’t be repeated in decent company) much to the amusement of his public.
Julian first hit the comedy circuit in the early 80s as drag artist Gillian Pie-Face before changing his alias to The Joan Collins Fan Club.
He spoke briefly about his early days in the industry, preferring to regale us with tales of his private life from that period, which were probably much more interesting anyway.
He made himself a household name by shocking his audience and, although times have changed in the last 20 years, he still managed to draw more than one gasp from the auditorium throughout the show.
Before the second act had begun Julian had warned the appreciative audience that the rest of the show was very dangerous and anyone with a pacemaker should make sure it was fully charged.
And he wasn’t kidding - the tone was lowered even further, much to the delight of the filthy minds in the crowd.
Dressed as a ringmaster (insert your own punchlines) Julian covered psychic-ness, made unusual items appear from members of the audience and even pushed a minstrel into the belly button of his newest psychic protege.
His Auntie Tess is going along to see tonight’s performance – I only hope she already has a vague idea of the antics her nephew gets up to.
At the very end of the evening the star brought out his two dogs – Valerie and the one’s whose name can’t be printed in a family newspaper – who received a collective ‘ahhh’ from the mainly female audience.
If you want to find out what the latest addition to the Clary Clan is called you’ll just have to get tickets for tonight’s show – trust me, the story behind it will make you laugh.
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