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Spike | 15 YEARS OF BOOKS, MUSIC, ART, IDEAS | www.spikemagazine.com
to England to promote the book. I have not refused, because
I never say no, but I have said I will be extremely
reluctant. I am too old for aeroplane travel. Whenever I
arrive, they say, ‘Oh, you must be so tired.’ But I sleep
the whole way on the plane. They seem to expect the
excitement of flying to last the entire journey. What am
I supposed to do for five hours, sit there saying, ‘Oh
hooray! I’m in the air!” However, when I mention my
home town of Brighton, Quentin fondly remarks of his
time there at the Pavilion Theatre, shortly before moving
to the States. “Brighton is very nice, but I’m not
sure about the sea. I think the sea is a mistake. I mean,
what does it want, banging and crashing away on the
shore like that all day?”
The last time Quentin returned to the UK was a
couple of years ago to play Queen Elizabeth the First
in the film Orlando. “It’s the sort of film I wouldn’t
watch myself in a hundred years.” Movies are much
more to Quentin’s taste than books: “Books are for
writing, not reading. But I am most definitely a fan of
Mr Tarantino. Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction are
absolutely wonderful. The previous day he had seen
Spike Lee’s new comedy flick, Girl 6. “It was a miserable
film because of its subject matter. Who could find
phone sex remotely interesting?” Quentin’s fascination
with the silver screen recently led him to take part in a
Calvin Klein advert. “I knew it was important because
this enormous limousine purred up outside the house
BUY Quentin Crisp books online from and
to collect me. It was so big inside that the first time it
turned a corner I fell off the seat. We drove to a huge
warehouse and I thought, ‘How fabulous! We’re going
to remake The Charge Of The Light Brigade!’ But then
we were told to stand on a piece of paper about twice
the size of this table while a half-naked man writhed
between our legs. I looked at Mr Klein and I said, ‘But
what does it all mean?’ And that was what they used in
the advertisement…”
Quentin has often asked himself the same question
about gay militancy, a position which has caused him
problems in the past. During a performance of his show
An Evening With Quentin Crisp in California, Quentin
relates how “several young men were very angry with
me. When I asked why, they said, ‘You haven’t once
directly asserted that you’re gay this evening.’” Quentin
arches a neatly pencilled eyebrow. “You’d think to
look at me would be enough. Obviously not. And that is
why I do not march. I have realised I represent nothing
grander than my own puny self. I am first and last an
individual, not a spokesman for any group. I have lived
my life with my sexuality clearly apparent. I cannot do
any more.” The provocation of Quentin’s attire should
not be underestimated, even in these supposed liberal
times. With a mixture of incredulity and relish, Quentin
relates a story from the Edinburgh festival several years
ago: “A young man was performing a show where he
impersonated me on stage, complete with clothes,
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