'I'm not dressing up as a princess I'm being Beautiful''.
At the dawn of the millenium confused gay children,art kids and everything in between didn't feel so lost or strange anymore when they began tuning into late night television...The Channel? Channel 4 and the show? 'The Divine David Presents' and 'The Divine David Heals'. Finally the world of the avant garde was bombarding its way onto television.
Before The Mighty Boosh and other such acid trip like shows,there was the Divine David and his utterly brilliant,bizzare and strange shows filled with advice,trips to the seaside and of course,masterclasses....and no show has since come close to capturing the pure madness of it all.
In 2005 David returned to the public eye under his given name,'David Hoyle',a move he said was 'scary and brave'.A statement anyone with a stagename can understand as without a character or name to hind behind,who do you blame your antics on? After appearing in 'Nathan Barley', Hoyle began to grace the stage once again in a successfull run of various shows (more recently in his Winter Warmer series) and in 2010 he directed and starred in the critically acclaimed 'Uncle David'.
On Feburary 23rd David Hoyle will be appearing to masses of starry eyed queens and inbetweens at The Sugar Club,Dublin. Ahead of this I planned on interviewing David and instead the two of us had an intimate conversation about,well,everything.
On bullying ...
Almost every member of the LGBT community has been bullied at one time or another. Although bulling and harresment is still a huge problem today, there are usually people there help and stop it.Back in the 70's things were quite different,and very scary. ''I remember being bullied on a daily basis,and it was like the teachers didn't see anything wrong with it.I was gay and it was like I should of expected to be bullied,they laughed it off'.
A day or two before speaking to David,another drag performer and I were attacked outside a club in Dublin,an experience that not only left me physically hurt but also quite fearful. This experience also hit close to home for David who was attacked on different occasions. 'I had finished a show in Sydney Opera House and myself and a friend were attacked,then fled and hid in a park.Terrifying'.
Just before the world celebrated the millienium David was attacked back home in the UK.'I had my head kicked in by a gang of guys and nobody stopped to help. I left and went to New York with a group of friends just to escape it. Everyone was celebrating new year and I had this. This is was eventually led to me leaving the public eye for six years'.
''I still find it hard everyday. Sometimes I don't leave the house for days. I love doing shows,meeting new people but at home I can find it quite hard to do daily things like cleaning or motivating myself. This is why I surround myself by positive people who have helped me, like Dawn Harvey, who has put many of my shows together''
''I have a very private life, I never wanted to be famous,it was never a goal,that doesn't interest me'.
On the goverment ...
The topic of bullying and attacks led both of us to question what exactly is going on and why such things even happen,'I promote love and peace and yet I'm attacked'. 'Were living in uncertain times and society lives in fear...and the goverment wants this'. 'Violence and war are being promoted constantly, at the Royal Wedding Prince William wore a red (colour of human blood) miliatry uniform with badges,promoting war. Kate didn't exactly wear a dress made out of the gay flag now did she?'.
From speaking to Hoyle I could tell he was extremley interested in politics and the idea of him giving a speech outside parliment would'nt be so out of the question,'I see myself as a spiritual communist.I've always been interested in politics and the goverment.I have always watched Tony Ben and found him fascinating'.
On Men & Relationships ...
'I remember my first gay experience was when I was five years old. There was a rocking horse in my classroom and another boy was riding it. I sat behind him rocking back and forth and was screamed at by the teacher to get off'.
Something that we both agreed on was the idea of a one night stand is very uneapealling,'Each to their own,people can do what they like.I just need to trust and love the person,and this can take quite a while. Boys can be very cruel,once they know what you want they can do what they like'.
On the LGBT scene ...
''Its so important to have somewhere to feel like you belong. Were like a family''.
''What I don't get is the gay men who are 'straight acting' and are almost embaressed with the gay scene. They can be quite aggressive about being associated with it. You know like 'I don't care if you walked in gay pride or gave a speech,how was that for me?''. A sad but true fact. We both noted the fact that more and more people forget about Why we have events like Gay Pride and rallies and speeches. 'We have them because they are needed.Needed to remind people what we have gone through,fought for and are still fighting for'.
On Gender ...
''Growing up I never identified as male or female.I felt strange and different. I remember we had a dress up box in our classroom and I was putting on a princess outfit and all the children were shouting about me putting it on...and I shouted out 'I'm not dressing up as a princess I'm being Beautiful''.
'Society is so focused on Male and Female and its like your almost rewarded for being uber macsculine and feminine.'
As we continued to speak about topics such as trash drag and how the alternative really needs to return to the drag scene (Hoyle presented the Alternative Miss Liverpool last November and Alternative Miss Ireland comes to a close this year).We left the conversation with well wishes and an excitment about Hoyles show in The Sugar Club,Dublin (support from VEDA and PANTI). For anyone really wondering what the avante gard is ,you need to be in attendance for what will be a fantastic show.
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