Search for a fabulous husband
In 1990, Australian television viewers were introduced to Julian Clary - Britain's self-described "Lord of the Mince" - through his high-camp game show Sticky Moments with Julian Clary.
For many viewers, it was their first experience of a gay man on television and a shock to the system. No one was as glamorously gay as Clary, with his outrageous outfits, coiffed hair and pretty-boy make-up. He was Boy George meets Ziggy Stardust, with a quick wit matched by a dirty mind and pointed opinions.
"Sticky Moments was fabulous," Clary recalls of the groundbreaking but short-lived show (it lasted just two years on air). "It really made me a household name but I've been hard at it for 30 years now and done lots of different things. One hones one's craft along the way, so hopefully I've evolved and gotten better, don't you think?"
If the reviews and accolades for his new show, Position Vacant: Apply Within, are anything to go by, the colourful Clary is in career-best form. But on the phone from his rural home in Kent, which he shares with his partner of 10 years, Rolf, Clary still sports his posh, effeminate, softly spoken English accent and is tickled pink to kick off his eighth Australian tour in Perth.
"I'm very fond of Perth," says Clary, now 55, sounding so regal he could be English royalty (as he is to his legion of fans). "It's very beautiful and I very much like Cottesloe beach and the restaurant there, where I've spent many a happy day drinking sauvignon blanc. In fact, the last time I was there the big ash cloud was happening over Europe and I remember fantasising that I may have to stay in Australia for the next 10 years or so and Perth was the place I'd chosen to live."
As you may expect, only the most open-minded should apply for Position Vacant: Apply Within, one of the first acts for the upcoming Perth International Comedy Festival. It features "the full and essential Clary with make-up, sequins, costume changes and a few musical numbers".
"It basically involves me looking for a husband every night," Clary says in his most playfully innocent voice. "And I promise to leave no straight unturned.
"I go into the audience with a cattle prod and herd the men that I select on to the stage and put them in a sheep pen. Then each one gets a little interview and a practical challenge, which can be anything from singing to dropping their trousers to gargling with white wine and things like that.
"I whittle it down to find my husband for the night and the show finishes with a beautiful gay wedding with confetti and a bishop."
With Britain recently passing a law allowing gay marriage, Clary says the show "is very current" and "can make many a young man's dreams come true - legally now too!" In fact, many of his stage suitors have kept in touch.
Clary's sold-out stand-up shows are just one of many endeavours that have made him one of Britain's most successful and loved comedians for three decades and counting.
"The thing is, if you want to keep going, as I do, you have to diversify and do different things. You can't stand still," he says.
"So I do my stage shows, I do Just a Minute on the radio, I write novels (his titles include Briefs Encountered and A Young Man's Passage) and I do other things that come along as an interesting challenge."
As modest as he is self-effacing, Clary won Britain's Celebrity Big Brother in 2012 and came third in Strictly Come Dancing in 2004. He's also appeared on everything from QI and Who Do You Think You Are? to an episode of Neighbours.
"Big Brother has a much younger demographic, so going on it and winning has given me a whole load of new fans who didn't know me in this country. And Strictly Come Dancing brought in the silver-hair crowd. It keeps everything fresh."
Away from comedy, Clary splits his time between London and Kent. "I enjoy a rustic experience that is very different from my life on tour. It's how I recharge my batteries and it keeps me centred.
"Mostly, I just sort of breeze my way through life. I'll do my show in Perth and then one of my lesbian minders will say 'OK, it's time to go to Brisbane or wherever and that's what I'll do. I'm always moving forward and not taking anything too seriously."
'I go into the audience with a cattle prod and herd the men that I select on to the stage and put them in a sheep pen.'
