Interview: Camp Fit with Carl – Carl Harrison
Camp Fit with Carl is the live – and FREE – Instagram gayrobics class that’s sure to rock your world. Gayrobics you ask?! Yes, gayrobics – all your favourite moves, tunes and nipples in one place!
Camp Fit with Carl | Online | Starting on 16th Jan! Mon – 9.15am / Tues – 9.15am / Saturgay – 10.15am | Free
Tell us about Camp Fit with Carl. What should we expect and why should people join online?
Camp Fit is a gayrobics class set to a playlist of disco, pop, one hit wonders and camp classics. Each move is given a name such as The Kate Bush Push, The Liza Spinelli, The LGBTeapot and The Janet Street Dance Porter. Its irreverence is there to help you smile while you sweat. Join me if you need a lift in your life for your mind or your body – come for the laughs, stay for the fitness. It’s a serious workout with a lighthearted touch completely smothered in GAY.
What advice would you give to those struggling to get into an exercise routine, or might be afraid of the gym?
You have to start with love. Believing that you deserve to feel healthy and be happy inside the body you have. Gyms work for some people but can be toxic places to be – often very heteronormative, masculine and people feel like they need to look a certain way before they can enter those spaces – and shame can be a driving force for people to buy their memberships. Online classes can be a great way to start for people – on your own, in your space, not worrying about what you look like. You can even do it naked if you want. Win win.
You are a multi-talented performer with fingers in many pies. Tell us about the other projects you’re working on.
I’m the associate director for the cabaret PEEP, which is of part of Punchdrunk’s new immersive show ‘The Burnt City’. I created this punk, camp cabaret with my wonderful friend Kat McGarr and I’m very proud of what we’ve done. I’m about to start movement directing a queer theatre show called ‘Merboy’ written by Liam Shea and directed by Scott Le Crass. As time goes on, my work becomes queerer and queerer and it feels good to be finding that authentic voice!
Who or what inspires you to work on the arty projects you do?
I’ve been dancing and drawing since I discovered my hands and feet. Dance, particularly, has always been a way of expressing myself or understanding the world where words sometimes have failed me. I made a dance about my parents breaking up and showed it to me entire high school when I was fifteen. Hashtag boundaries!!!
What are your favourite London haunts?
- EAT – Yada’s in Peckham to eat – cheap, delicious Lebanese food and BYOB too. Jolene for coffee.
- SHOW – The Yard, Duckie at The Eagle, Barbican, Omnibus Theatre, Moth Club in Hackney, Southbank in the summer. London is the best place for this!
- RELAX – Castle Cinema on Chatsworth Road, Flower Garden in Brockwell Park, Hampstead ponds and any stationary shop – there is nothing more relaxing than a multicoloured biro.
I am Joint Editor at To Do List. I like free, cheap & offbeat London, especially: cabaret, art, theatre, pop-ups, eating out, quirky films, museums, day trips, social enterprise & much more.
