Julian Clary - Having a gay old time

Julian Clary is the biggest name to grace this year's Auckland International Comedy Festival. He's now been a regular presence on British television for nearly 20 years, a period which has seen him go from the camp outrageousness of his early years to being a fixture on BBC panel and celebrity reality shows.

There have also been books, a column in the New Statesman and the occasional theatrical role. But most recently the now 50-year-old has been on the road doing his his stand-up show, Lord of the Mince, which brings him to Auckland via a British and Australian tour. TimeOut caught up with him in Sydney.

You did a lot of live stand-up before you became such a big TV star. How is it returning to it now?
It's lovely, actually. I started out doing a tour in England and I loved that so much I added another 50 dates on. It's just so much more satisfying than television, it's my own show and I can do what I want and be in control of it. It's been a very pleasurable experience.

From my memory of your TV appearances, you seemed to be able to do what you want anyway ...
Only to a certain extent. They edit them and schedule them to a certain time. I really like to do lots of different things in my working life. This is is like the purist form in a way. I do stand-up, I write books, I do radio and do a bit of telly. It's all different means of expression, I suppose.

And column writing - your old New Statesmen columns about life on your farm are entertaining. We've always liked a good farming anecdote in New Zealand ...
I've had the sack since then. They got a new editor. I think he wanted to make it more political. I did them for a couple of years and it was just great. I was able to write whatever I wanted and it was nothing to do with politics. It was whatever happened to me that week I could talk about.

How are the chickens?
I have only got three now. The fox has been and then my favourite chicken Maureen - I talk about all this in my show - they call it covering, the cockerel was covering her a little more often than what she wanted and she was a bit ragged. So I got rid of the cockerel as well. I have just got three hens but they are a great delight to me. I like them very much.

Surrogate children?
Oh yeah, definitely. Them and the dogs.

And dogs have long featured in your performances and in your writing. The two dogs I have got now, they came with me on the British tour and I would bring them on at the end. So I am going to be missing them here.

Your show is called Lord of the Mince. Any particular recipes?
Mincing in my case has a different meaning. But I think it is kind of a different attitude to life - mincing as opposed to getting from A to B. I have nearly always put mincing in the title of my shows, just because it makes me laugh. I did Mincing Machine about 20 years ago and my last tour was called Natural Born Mincer. A theme is emerging

How autobiographical is it?
It's all autobiographical to begin with but what I have discovered is if the facts get in the way of a good laugh then I will alter it slightly. I talk about living in the countryside, I talk about my chickens and I talk about my relationships and I talk about growing up in a school run by Benedictine monks. All that is true. But I will just change the odd thing if I think there is a laugh somewhere else.

Do have to change a lot of references when you take the show overseas?
I have to change loads, mainly about people that they won't know anything about here and when I come to New Zealand there will be a whole different set. The references to programmes and things is a nuisance but I'll do my best.

Well we get Coronation Street here if that's any help ...
I know.

But I did have to go to Wikipedia to find out who Norman Lamont was [Clary's most controversial moment of his career was when at an awards ceremony in 1993 he quipped he had been out the back doing something very rude to the-then Chancellor of the Exchequer].
Oh really? Does it refer to me on that page?

No it's a one-way link from yours.
People still ask me about it. It's funny that things you say off the cuff come back to haunt you 15 years later but never mind. I was always pleased with it as a spontaneous joke. I am glad it stood the test of time.

You are, maybe, the last man to do innuendo in this day and age in comedy. You've cornered the market.
I like the idea that there is only one of me and I am kind of unique. Everybody is unique really, it is a silly thing to say. I did think when I started this tour there is no one else dressing up the way I do and talking about the things I do. So having made my life and myself the product that is on offer, that is probably a good thing. Has your research uncovered when was the last time I was in New Zealand?

It was about 10 years ago.
Yeah, I think it probably was. I'll be amazed that people remember me and will come and see me. But if they do, it must be down to the fact that there is only one of me.

Word association question: Gay stereotype.
What's wrong with that? We've already discussed there is only one of me, so I can't be a stereotype can I? I'm just free to be myself, I think.

Do you play a version of yourself on stage?
I think so. I have to force myself. I do like doing it but I am not naturally an extrovert. There is some part of me that needs the attention. I am an attention-seeking introvert I think. I don't walk down the road wanting attention and I certainly don't get it. There is something about being on stage with a microphone, on your own, with a room full of people. It satisfies a need deep within me. And every few seconds you get a laugh and you get that reassurance that people like you - it's a funny thing.

LOWDOWN

Who: Julian Clary in The Lord of The Mince
Where and when: Auckland Town Hall, Saturday April 24