It's better the devil you know in Clary's world

Published on Saturday 9 May 2009 11:05

Devil In Disguise by Julian Clary is published by Ebury Press, priced £14.99

Following the success of his candid auto-biography A Young Man's Passage in 2006 and debut novel Murder Most Fab in 2007 comes the flamboyant, camp comic's second work of fiction, Devil In Disguise.

"I don't follow any of the advice you're given when you're writing a book," he says. "I seem to like diving in and writing and trusting to the universe that it will all resolve itself in the end."

Devil In Disguise is a tale of showbusiness with plenty of sex thrown in. "Actually, I took quite a lot of sex scenes out because they felt a bit repetitive, once you got the general drift," he deadpans.

Clary admits there's a part of him in all his characters but the greatest similarities can be drawn with Simon, a gay man who performs in a drag act as Genita L'Warts.

"I think as a performer you have this fear of not being able to make people laugh, of not being very good. I like the idea that once he puts the make-up on and drinks enough vodka, the spirit of Genita possesses him. It's not actually him, it's someone he's channelling."

Currently in a long-term relationship, Clary divides his time between his flat in London and a farm in Kent, but his journey hasn't been an easy one. He lost a boyfriend to Aids and spiralled out of control on a wave of depression and contemplated suicide.

It was during this time, back in 1993, that he also made that infamous joke about Norman Lamont. He appeared to fall off the radar for a few years before making a return in Strictly Come Dancing in 2004.

"I've learnt that things come to you," he says of his unlikely appearance.

"It just sort of presented itself and I thought 'Oh, that might be a challenge'."

He wrote much of Devil In Disguise during the tour that followed. "Writing's actually quite addictive. When you've got that imaginary world in your head and you finish the book, there's a big gap left. I don't think I'll ever stop now, I'll just keep going."

He's now looking forward to a stand-up tour, his first in six years, this autumn.

"I thought, 'What do I want to do in my 50th year that would be really self-contained, that I can control and that I'll enjoy?' So I thought, 'Bring a book out and do a tour and that'll be that year done'."