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Le Gateau Chocolat One of Edinburgh’s most flamboyant cabaret performers this year, the delectable Gateau Chocolat tackles our Q&A
First film you saw that really moved you The Beaver. Deals with the dark subject of depression . . . I wept. and appreciate great talent and I like to tell them. I saw Cate Blanchett walking down the street in Brighton and I walked up to her and said ‘thank you’.
Last extravagant purchase you made Shu Uemura lashes at £55.
First crush Actually, I talk about it in my show. I was 14 in Nigeria. Incredibly difficult as it was reciprocal for a short while.
Last lie you told ‘I’m running out of battery! Call you later.’ Was a very boring conversation and I had to cut it short.
First thing you do when you’ve got time off work Go to see a good film at the cinema. Massive hobby and great escape.
Last time you cried Saying bye to my sister as I boarded for Melbourne. Airports are awful! Last book you read The Color Purple. I read it over and over again. Love it!
First great piece of advice you were given Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Wear sunscreen’. Incredible. Last time you were star struck I don’t really get star struck. I admire
First thing you’d do if you ran the country Ratify all laws that propagate equality, from gay marriage to women’s pay in the work place. Bar parts of our anatomy, we are all the same.
Last meal on earth – what would it be A daylong feast, including slow roast belly pork with broccoli, dim sum (and them some), then onto Nigerian cuisine, sticky toffee pudding . . . the list is endless. Last time you exploited your position to get something I was mugged in January. I called T- mobile and asked them to give me another iPhone at the cost of an upgrade (£150) instead of the £600 full charge. They refused. I called the press office and said ‘I was in your recent advertisement. Giving me a new phone will be little or no cost to you. Not giving me a new phone could result me in publicly signing to Orange.’ I got one in two days.
First time you realised you were famous In Adelaide, Australia. Ridiculous. Someone came up to me and said ‘T-
mobile?’ and I said ‘yes’. Also playing with Basement Jaxx at The Barbican and someone shouting ‘Le Gâteau Chocolat’ as I walked on. I thought, it’s so weird that you know who I am. It’s humbling. Last time someone criticised your work Another singer I shared the bill with recently asked me derogatorily: ‘Why lycra? Why the lashes? Why do you feel you have to?’ My response: ‘Why do you feel you don’t?!’
First three words your friends would use to describe you Loving. Asshole. Honest.
Last time you made an impulse buy and regretted it Lola perfume, by Marc Jacobs. Back to the drawing board Marc, this Lola ain’t a showgirl! I’m sticking to Jo Malone.
First thing you think of when you wake up in the morning Here we go. Last thing you think of before you go to sleep DRAG!
■ Le Gateau Chocolat, Assembly George Square, 623 3030, 5–28 Aug (not 8, 15, 22), 9.15pm, £12–14 (£11–13).
WeLike The things making our world just that little bit better
■ Tempted to get an Amy Winehouse tribute tat of a saucy beggar from the 50s posing moodily on your arm, but worried it wil look so late Julycome early August? Think before you ink and opt for a temporary tattoo. Tattly’s tats bring back memories of those bubblegum transfer tattoos from our youth yet, crucially, the designs – by graphic designers and illustrators in Brooklyn – wash off before you realise you’ve made a grave error. Or a spelling mistake. See tatt.ly for their designs, which sell at $5 for 2. Showing no such commitment-phobia in the skin staining department, we salute the member of our List team for getting this permanent reminder of the night Moz signed her arm with a Sharpie. And speaking of List staff’s extra-curricular activity, allow us to point out Mea Culpa – the online comic strip by our own Tamara Le Vasan, about Mea’s on-off affair with a married man and attempts to be ‘more Vonnegut and less SATC’. See cityoflostsouls.co.uk.
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2 THE LIST 4–11 Aug 2011