Although the name sounded familiar, I never really knew much about Mr. Crisp. Now that I’ve interviewed him, I feel like I missed out over the years, because he truly is a sweet man and a insightful philosopher. When he showed up at the Jesus interview sitting as a quiet observer on the couch, I had to promise him that he’d get his turn at the mike. One of the best promises I’ve ever made. I hope you agree.

Me: Let’s pick our next celebrity, Erik.

Erik: Who do wanna go with?

Me: Well, we ignored Quentin Crisp when he waltzed in on the Jesus interview so maybe we should call him in.

Jamie: Oh, is that the one with the—

Me: –with the big hat and makeup and stuff, yeah. You think you could get him, Sweetie?

Erik: Absolutely. That’s not a problem!

Me: Yeah, I bet not! He’s such a ham.

Erik disappears for only a few moments and returns with Mr. Crisp. He must have been waiting anxiously in the wings!

Jamie (giggling): Oh, um, hello! Oh, so he’s British, that’s right.

Me Hi Quentin!

Quentin: Hello, my fair lady!

Me: We’re going to ask a few questions of you.

Jamie: He just pointed at you and asked, “Is that all?”

Jamie giggles.

Me: Yes, but it’s an honor to meet you again. How did you enjoy the Jesus interview?

Quentin: Oh, just as lovely as I thought it would be.  It’s always nice to see a man in a dress who doesn’t wear stockings.

Jamie and I laugh.

Me: Quentin you crack me up! Now, the first question I’d like to ask you is this: What was your spiritual mission while you were here on Earth this last lifetime as Quentin Crisp including what you were here to learn and to teach?

Quentin: My spiritual mission obviously had to be the value of love.

Me: Oh! That’s a noble mission!

Quentin: Especially in my day and age. There was a lot of war about me everywhere I went. I tried my best to fit in and be a part of society, but no one would have me for who I was. So, when I felt like no one would have me, I decided it would be the best thing to just remain exactly who I was.

Me (sympathetically): Mmm.

Jamie: He’s so spot on and on target.

Quentin: What was I here to learn? I really believe I was here to learn that there’s pain in people and that people are ugly and that we should not, by any means, measure who they are by their level of pain, because it’s just a mask.

Me (sadly): Yeah.

Quentin: There have been many people in my life who shunned me to begin with, but then after, I’m sure, observing me from afar, could understand that who I was was exactly who I meant to be, and then they could accept me. Then it was my greater spiritual understanding that I was to accept them—

Erik (butting in):–oh, rather than ticking them off, because they were dicks to you begin with?

I chuckle at his typical candor.

Quentin: Precisely. I don’t feel that I was here to teach much though I would have rather loved being the center of attention.

Me (giggling): So I noticed!

Quentin: I never set out to be the shock factor of the century. All I did was set out to be me. So, maybe I was teaching myself not to obey the rules but to obey inner rules—inner spirituality.

Jamie: He likes that. (in a dramatic hushed voice) “inner spirituality!”

Me: Now, did you come to these understandings before you passed?

Jamie: Oh, ho ho! He’s laughing! No!

Jamie giggles hard.

Quentin: Maybe in my older years after I had a chance to put some words on paper.

Jamie (to Quentin): Oh, like write a book?)

Jamie (to me): He wrote a book!