Interview: At Home With Alan Cumming

Alan Cumming is a real artist. It doesn't matter whether he is working in the medium of entertainment, literature, or hospitality, everything Alan Cumming does is rooted in art. Put him on a stage or in front of a camera (moving or still) and he will make art. Sit him in front of a microphone or at a computer and he will create art. Put him in a kitchen or in his nightclub and the result will be art. That is because, with all of his various pursuits, Alan Cumming has mastered the most important art of all: life. Alan Cumming eats life. Those lucky enough to observe the depth to which Alan Cumming has learned to live life walk away knowing a little bit more about how they themselves can enjoy, more fully, their own lives. Lucky them, That is an art that takes some people years to learn... there are even those who never learn. Not Alan Cumming.

Alan Cumming eats life.

Life loves it.

This interview was conducted digitally and is reproduced here in its original form.

Name: Alan Cumming
First Cabaret Show (Title, Year, Club): Victor and Barry, Hallibees Cafe Cabaret, Glasgow 1984
Most Recent Cabaret Show: Legal Immigrant, US tour including a two week run with two shows nightly at Cafe Carlyle and Joe's Pub. Also recorded for Audible, 2019
Website or Social Media Handles: www.alancumming.com

Instagram: alancummingsnaps Twitter: alancumming

Alan, thanks for visiting with me today. How are things at your house during the quarantine - are all the families safe and staying that way?

Everyone is good here. We are up in the Catskills in our country house. I absolutely love it here and it is the place I think off as my sanctuary, so being here at this time has been amazing. I'm with my husband Grant and we are both well. We are also in touch a lot with friends and family. Zoom is now a very big part of our lives!

Are Jerry and Lala enjoying having you around or are they confused by your continued presence every day?

They just love to be around us whatever we do, but I think sometimes they are a little exhausted by so much us! But we have new rituals. Our nightly walk down the hill to the mailbox is a source of much excitement

Alan, what was the most prominent thought that pushed the idea of Club Cumming into actual existence?

I had had so much fun throwing parties, ever since Club Cumming became the name for my dressing room at Studio 54 after Cabaret in 2014/15. Once the run ended I would do Club Cumming one-offs and also sometimes after my concerts, and I realized I am good at encouraging people to let go! When I did Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2016, there were some Club Cumming parties scheduled after my show at weekends, and my band would play along while I DJ'd, we'd have special guests drop by and perform, I'd get people up from the audience to play games, and we would dance and have fun and crowd surf, it was amazing. The best part was the audience was so mixed, all ages, all genders, all sexualities, and from there the idea of an actual place to allow all of those things to happen was formed

The space, location, and aesthetic of the club seem very authentic to a club that you would own - was it a long process that made that happen, or was it just blind luck?

We definitely took inspiration from the Weimar period, so yes, Cabaret, was obviously an influence. We wanted it to be dark, with mirrors and a lot of red velvet and red lamp shades. Pretty simple, but very evocative of a time that represented decadence and innovation. And then my husband Grant painted the amazing murals and the whole place just bloomed.

You are a famous vegan and also a frequent author of various types of books, and this vegan wonders if there's a vegan cookbook in your future.

You never know. I do feel something stirring! During the lockdown, I have been asked to make a lot of content for various organizations and people so I have done a few of my recipes for social media, so maybe a veganTV show is in the future, but right now I am working on another memoir so I can't really take my focus away from that for a while!

As a club owner, how do you think (when the time is right) we can all go back into the venues?

I think it will be a while. For me one of the reasons we go to a bar is to be in close proximity to people! And Club Cumming is so tiny if are have to socially distance then there could only be a handful of people allowed in. I really don't feel it will be possible for us, and for the theatre, in general, to be back to normal until there is a vaccine, and people will not feel afraid to properly engage with other humans. That's going to be a while, and so I think we are talking about innovative, clever ways to keep the Club Cumming experience alive online - and that is happening I'm glad to say. But as for right now, we are trying to make sure our staff and performers are doing ok and helping them out with our Club Cumming Community Chest. Like every bar, we are hurting financially but we are confident we will be back and even better!

When you put up a new club act, it is always original and very personal, as are your written works - you have never shied away from showing people your truth. To what would you attribute that quality?

I realized that the only way I can get up and sing as me is if I am totally authentic and honest. I have an okay voice, but I don't think people are coming to my shows just to appreciate my instrument. They are coming because they want to hear from me, about my life and my thoughts and my experiences, and the way I interpret songs using all of that. So being open and honest is crucial to how I function as a performer, and especially as a cabaret performer.

Are you and Grant enjoying the constant companionship of quarantine? Because Pat and I are genuinely thrilled to be stuck together for two months.

We are having a great time. And we are both very independent. He draws away, I am in another room doing meetings and writing. It's actually my dream to be stuck up here with him for an indefinite period of time. Shame it took a global pandemic to make it so!

Alan what would you say if I told you I had an unopened bottle of the cologne CUMMING in my bathroom, still in plastic, and someone saw it and offered me $100 for it, so I just gave it to them to make them happy?

I'd say what I know is true, you're a lovely person.

So, did you and the dancers at least have on robes that you tossed aside before shooting the photo for Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs Live At The Carlisle?

No, we were in our shorts and t-shirts. It was a really balmy evening, and we didn't wear robes because we didn't want to draw attention to ourselves because we had zero permission to be doing what we were doing! We just practiced the pose further up the street, then ran down to the front door of the Carlyle, whipped off our clothes, and went for it! It was such a hoot and I adore that image. That's actually why I made the album over there; we had shot it in the early hours of the morning after a show during the initial run at the Carlyle, and I thought the picture was too good to not go back and record a live album, and have it on the cover!!

Alan, I am so grateful to you for chatting with us today, and for everything, and you know I mean it. See you at Club Cumming as soon as we are allowed to go back in.

I cannot wait x

All photos are from a 2006 photoshoot with Stephen Mosher

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