DAVE LYNN. PHOTO BY TOM SELMON WWW.TEMSELMON.COM
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became my party piece. I would go behind the door and my brother would give me light with a torch, and often take the piss. When I finished the family would sit there and applaud. I never dressed up at that point though. It never crossed my mind. Then one day my friend from school encouraged me to go and do the talent contest at The Black Cap,” Dave recalls. The gay scene was very different in the 1970s and 80s, clandestine and often underground ensuring safety was paramount, and putting aside the obvious dangers from society more broadly, Dave remembers the fear of being a young and naive gay person and having to be constantly cautious: “I was scared. There were all types of perverts around. It was all new to me. When you’re young, you’re very impressionable. Looking back now it’s horrifying to think of some of the situations I was in. Thankfully I am able to look back.”
“Everyone wanted to play the Vauxhall. I was hoping I didn’t because I was scared of falling off the bar”
DAVE LYNN - A LIVING LEGEND Jason Reid catches up with the iconic Dave Lynn, who has just celebrated 45 years of treading the boards ) Born and raised in Hackney, London, Dave
Lynn is a living drag legend. Pure and simple. An artist that has stood the test of time, and then some. Ordinarily when people talk of legends in a particular field of artistry they talk of those who have been pivotal players and have passed away. There are very few living drag artists who are held up in such high esteem by fans and peers alike. Now in his fifth decade of performing, there’s no sign of Dave slowing down. And why should he when gigs are still coming in? I spoke to him recently during lockdown and, as always, he was charming and witty, full of showbiz stories, punctuating sentences with a cheeky laugh. “It really doesn’t feel that long. Obviously it’s
been my whole life but everything changes so quickly on the scene, and the last decade was quicker than ever. Where did it go? I’m hoping to have a proper celebration in-person when we’re out of all this [pandemic].” Dave Lynn first set foot on a stage in November 1975 at the young age of 17 when he entered a talent competition at the greatly idolised London cabaret venue that is no more, The Black Cap in Camden. “It all started with me falling in love with Liza Minnelli, the film Cabaret, and the song Liza with a ‘Z’, and also watching Shirley Bassey perform. When I was very young I would DJ at family parties at home, and it was then that I realised I had a knack for lip syncing, so it
“I never knew what I was when I was very young, I just knew there was something different about me because I wasn’t like the rest of my friends. When I went to The Black Cap that night I was chatted up, admired, and something clicked. It was a huge learning experience. Those days were about chatting up and foreplay. It was a lovely underground thing, not many people knew about it. Sunday nights at The Black Cap featured the crème de la crème of drag: Hinge & Bracket, The Harlequins, Disappointer Sisters to name but a few; you always had to queue to get in there. The Harlequins were mentors to me in the early days, they taught me a lot about make-up and glamour. Alistair and I were very close; we were kind of in a relationship for a bit.” Seeing Dave perform it’s apparent that he has a natural flair, something very special; it’s almost as though he was made to be a drag queen, yet it was something that he never in his wildest dreams imagined doing when he was that young boy performing to just his family.
DAVE LYNN. PHOTO BY TOM SELMON WWW.TEMSELMON.COM
Soon after that first performance at The Black Cap, Dave found himself in the presence of the drag greats of the time. “I was starstruck many times. Especially by Mark Fleming; he was quite something to a young guy like me. Mark was an act that would go among the audience, you know the type, he really frightened people, and he also said he was best friends with the Queen Mum – that story got me at such a young age “Mrs Shufflewick was barely audible most of the time, but I was totally in awe of her; I remember one time she was lying on the floor flat-out backstage and the compère called her name; when she got up I said, ‘Do you want me to do the back of your hair?’ to which she curtly replied, ‘Oh no, no-one touches that, dear’. She then went on and did her whole set and when she came off she lay back down on the floor and fell straight back to sleep again.” Dave’s love for drag is apparent when you talk
