Clarence

Clarence, also known as 'Honky Tonks', had actually been in Dick Emery's act for many years in one guise or another although he admitted that it was the one character that had undergone the biggest change. When Clarence began life homosexuality was only hinted in terms of comedy rather than bought straight out into the open. In the main these characters were more familiar to cabaret than TV. Emery stated that adopting a camp attitude was a useful ploy when faced with an unresponsive audience staring across their plate of steak and chips blankly at a performer. "Why the suggestion of homosexuality should be funny is imponderable - perhaps our laughter is defence, a reaction against hidden fears about our innermost tendencies", he contemplated. By the 1970s gay characters appeared more openly although they were portrayed as farcical and camp and created purely for comic relief. At the same time as Clarence became a staple of Emery's repertoire, John Inman was starring on television as Grace Brothers decidedly effeminate (but undeclared homosexual) menswear salesman Mr Humphrey’s in 'Are You Being Served?', and Larry Grayson was making a name for himself camping it up as the comedian with a decidedly gay persona which actually formed the mainstay of his act. Prior to the 1970s Clarence had appeared with heavy make-up; he also wore a wig of short, blond, swept-back hair. However, in the early part of the decade men began to wear brighter and more adventurous clothes and Clarence soon found that he was being outdone. So out went the old props and in came a more fashion conscious character complete with outrageous outfits, accessories and a far more effeminate manner. Clarence was probably the template for ‘Little Britain’s’ Daffyd and one imagines that Matt Lucas has taken the character and shown us his modern day version. In the early 1970s, Clarence was the only gay in the village.

Interviewer: Excuse me, sir.
Clarence: Oh, hello Honky Tonks, how are you?
Interviewer: I'm asking questions about class distinction.
Clarence: Oh, yes?
Interviewer: Do you believe there's an 'us' and a 'them'?
Clarence: Well, it doesn't bother me really - I'm one of those!