David Hoyle

Published in Flux magazine (2006)

Click above to view a scanned image of this article as printed in Flux magazine (2006)

"Shirley Bassey knows that the show must go on. Sometimes the sky is black with the bodies of her offspring, hurling themselves from rooftops - maybe she isn't an easy mother to have - yet even in the face of her squashed progeny lining the streets, she will still find it in herself to give that performance and accept that cash payment at the end of the night."

So began the "live two-way Desert Island Discs type scenario" that was 'When David met Justin', and with it the return to the stage of David Hoyle, whose alter-ego, The Divine David, was the singing, ranting, avant-garde-performance-dancing thorn in the side of 90s-Britain's homogenised pink-pound gay 'culture'. From the Royal Vauxhall Tavern to his own Channel 4 series, the Divine David presented a steadfast rebuke to the idea that gay people are, "not socialist, not political, not left-field, just as pathetic and ridiculous as anybody else, that we couldn't give a fuck about anything as long as we can listen to Kylie and go shopping." Then in 2000 he killed off the character, observing that, "the world needs another gurning celebrity like it needs a hole in the head."

Now, after six years of, "self-imposed artistic excile," Hoyle is back, under his own name. "I'm calmer. I don't have the energy I had, and that's natural as you get older. Also, you realise that you're part of a continuum, there's only so much you can do within your own lifetime, so you're keeping hope alive really. I'm very into the idea of humanity."

But don't expect too much of a mellowing.Hoyle's contribution to 'When David...' abounded with echoes of his previous eviscerating incarnation, such as the conclusion to his description of diamond mine workers, forced to tape their mouths shut to prevent them from stealing by mouth: "I suppose the moral to this story is that if you wear a diamond - you're a fascist cunt." Hecklers who disagreed were hushed with a polite "fuck off." But then, as David says, "What are they getting angry at? We should celebrate the fact that we have free speech, and if that makes you feel uncomfortable, don't go. There's plenty of places where people will encourage you in your miasma. Just go to a gym or a licenced brothel, and sort of hang out with each other, and become proper prostitutes within the capitalist system. Sell yourself and buy it all. It might make you very happy, perhaps that's your thing." If not, David's show may be the place for you.

David Hoyle's SOS ran at London's Soho Theatre, 11 to 15 July.

For a complete transcript of the interview that this article is based on, click here.

More about the Divine David at http://members.tripod.com/human_trash/