@ King’s Theatre
If an established comedian made a sexual reference about the Chancellor of the Exchequer on live TV these days, we would hail them a legend and use it as the next trendy catchphrase, right? Rewind to 1993 and the turning point in comedian Julian Clary’s career when he made the infamous remark involving then Chancellor Norman Lamont resulting in Clary waving goodbye to his popularity. We’ve redefined our boundaries since then and perhaps that’s why Clary’s extended version of his 2009 fringe show Lord of the Mince oozes predictability and lacks inspiration.
Entering stage-left on a pair of roller skates, Clary declares his show a ‘tribute to myself, by myself’ focusing on how his life has changed since hitting the big five-o (he had cake and not cocaine at the interval). He’s moved to the country, bought Noel Coward’s old gaff and has Paul O’Grady as a neighbour (cue cockerel joke and mock-Liverpudlian accent). Packed with the expected sexual innuendo, suitably crude comments, a strange attempt at a psychic game show and heaps of camp, Clary’s cabaret-style entertains but lacks potency and pace. The comedy scene has dramatically evolved over the past decade, giving us an expectation for seething commentary at every turn meaning that Clary’s no longer alternative, just Julian.