Contemporary Usage
Since the mid-1990s, with the redistribution of tapes and CDs of Round The Horne starring Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams and Hugh Paddick, and increasing academic interest, Polari has undergone something of a revival. New words are being invented and updated to refer to more recent cultural concepts.
In 1990 Morrissey titled an album Bona Drag -- Polari for "nice outfit." The same year Morrisey released the single "Piccadilly Palare," the title being a Polari description of male prostitution.
Also in 1990, comic book writer Grant Morrison created the Polari-speaking character Danny the Street (based on Danny La Rue), a sentient transvestite street, for the comic Doom Patrol.
The 1998 film Velvet Goldmine, which chronicles a fictional retelling of the rise and fall of glam rock, contains a flashback to 1970 in which a group of characters converse in Polari, while their words are humorously subtitled below.
In 2002, two books on Polari were published, Polari: The Lost Language of Gay Men, and Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang (both by Paul Baker). Also in 2002, hip hop artist Juha released an album called Polari, with the chorus of the title song written entirely in the slang.
Characters in Will Self's story, Foie Humain, the first part of Liver, use Polari.
Comedians Rik Mayall, Paul O'Grady, Julian Clary, David Walliams and Matt Lucas incorporate Polari in their comedy routines.
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