Julian Clary

Julian Clary is a British homosexual comedian (born 1959) who started his career on the alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s as The Joan Collins Fanclub, complete with his sidekick, Fanny The Wonderdog. Clary dressed in outrageous fashions, usually involving leather and hinting at bondage. He wore shocking make-up, although he did not fall into the categories of cross dresser, transvestite or female impersonator.

Clary's comedy relied then, as now, on extremely near-the-knuckle innuendo and often explicit sexual references (compare with Paul O'Grady aka Lily Savage). More recently he has attempted to enter the mainstream, toning down his outfits and wearing sharp suits, but his style of comedy has always proved too much for some parts of the public. Clary was cast into the showbusiness wilderness in the 1990s after making a sexually explicit joke about politician Norman Lamont during a live broadcast of the British Comedy Awards ceremony.