Live at the Apollo: Julian Clary

Jack Dee introduces his guest as “Britain’s biggest homosexual,” prompting Julian Clary to make his entrance at London’s Hammersmith Apollo on towering stilts. This 2005 performance captures Clary leaning heavily on his signature persona, deploying a mix of deadpan audience interrogation and double entendres that keep the theater crowd on its toes. Rather than relying entirely on crowd work, Clary anchors the set with a detailed story about accidentally soiling himself in front of the Queen.

Filmed during the second series of the BBC’s stand-up showcase, the episode serves as a time capsule of mid-2000s British television. Before Clary takes the stage, host Jack Dee delivers an opening turn that plays to his familiar, grumpy strengths. Dee spends his time grumbling about the daily nuisances of cold-callers, chemists, and vacuum cleaners.