Julian Clary
Tuesday 15 April 2003
The Oxford Apollo |
By Sam Abercromby Julian Clary, the King of Camp long before Graham Norton stole the limelight, came to Oxford for his Natural Born Mincer tour and certainly lived up to the title.  The kitchness and glam continued throughout... with a fantastic jellyfish scene using fluorescent umbrellas  | | Sam Abercromby |
From the outset we were greeted with kitsch camp retro images Seventies knitwear and pictures of Will Young flashed on to a main screen, surrounded by ornate flowers and accompanied by a live pianist. Julian himself arrived in style, draped over a giant glittering ruby high heel and attired in a flamboyant dress matching the flowery theme of the show. The jokes started quickly and a running theme was the lack of a capacity crowd, as there were many empty seats. Clary, however, took this all in his stride and made the show more personal. With almost every sentence laden with innuendo, the puns came thick and fast, with Clary racing through topics such as the history of homosexuality, as well as taking time to come out into the audience. A particular highlight was a rummage through one lady's handbag, revealing contents that could almost have been written for the show. The kitchness and glam of the opening continued throughout, with exploding streamers and glitter raining down as well as a fantastic jellyfish scene using fluorescent umbrellas. However, despite the obvious talent and slick production, I didnt find myself laughing as much as I thought I would. Throughout most of it I was smiling, but there werent many real laugh-out-loud moments. Clary certainly gave it his all, combining song, dance and comedy, aided well by his assistants, but unfortunately I felt that overall this wasnt a classic performance. | 
