Julian Clary: Lord of the Mince, Udderbelly Pasture
Tuesday 25 August 2009
Related articles
Now in his fiftieth year, Julian Clary is one of the few big beasts of Fringes past roaming through Edinburgh this August. He brings with him a ragbag of the good, the bad and the ugly of innuendo, a collection that guarantees that, while he's playing to full houses, his entrance and exit will quickly be forgotten.
Dressed in the regalia of a circus ringmaster, Clary is quick to present his first anal sex joke. Using his trademark smut to house a sense of his advancing years he tells us: "Fifty crept up on me like a Catholic priest in a lavatory."
The fantasy world that is subsequently conjured up by Clary's lusty ego envelops a number of recent markers, including his stint on Strictly Come Dancing, where fellow contestant Kenny Logan was "like all Scottish rugby players – completely obsessed with me."
For 20 minutes or so Clary is on his game, but things start to unravel when he talks about his new home in the country. The routine ends with a weak story about keeping chickens and proves that cock jokes can't always raise a smile. An equally poor tale about psychic powers follows, after which Clary flounders with some haphazard improvisation.
These are sticky moments indeed and with a game show climax that would make his TV series of the same name look like Mastermind, he reaches out to two contestants from the audience to save the day. One of his stooges has an amusing back story about how he met his partner and this lifts the mood, but it's still too late to lift this show from the depths it has sunk to. When your sign off is "Oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumper!" you might as well wave a white flag.
To 30 August (08445 545 8242)
Arts & Ents blogs
Owen Howells: From the UK to Australia and back again (and again!)
Owen Howells is a DJ/producer who grew up in Australia but was born in the UK. He came back to the U...
Brighton Fringe 2013 – Is everyone sitting uncomfortably?
Fancy seeing a play about serial killers? How about inviting a funeral director into your home for a...
The Fall ‘Darkness Visible’ – Series 1, episode 2
There are a good many moments in the second episode of this psychological thriller that deserve refl...
Travel Shop
- 1 Man and woman arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder victim of Woolwich machete attack, named as Drummer Lee Rigby
- 2 'Sickening, deluded and unforgivable': Horrific attack brings terror to London’s streets
- 3 Grace Dent: I’m not sure how these people can avoid being called ‘bigots’. And the more ‘civilised’, the worse they are
- 4 Woolwich murder: They killed, then they performed - these men should be starved of our attention
- 5 Woolwich attack: The EDL will seek to exploit this evil crime for their own evil ends
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
Visit York
Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world
Making reading fun for kids
Nook is donating eReaders to volunteers at high-need schools and participating in exclusive events throughout the campaign.
Introducing the 'Get Reading' campaign
Get the latest on The Evening Standard's campaign to get London's children reading.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
The man who's eaten everywhere
A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?
Banned Iranian director to attend Cannes Film Festival
The 10 Best salt and pepper sets
Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed
Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them





Comments