Reader's Digest UK April 2022

Before the golden reign of Ru Paul’s Drag Race brought the art of drag to mainstream audiences, there was the magic of Dame Edna Everage. As a child I would watch, spellbound, any time Dame Edna appeared on my television screen, unable to fathom how a cisgender man could step so wholly into the shoes of a character a million miles away from his own identity. Later I would discover Lily Savage, the films of John Waters and the ground-breaking queens of 1990s New York in Paris is Burning, but Barry Humphries, in his hornrimmed glasses and lilac wig was my first drag love. That’s why I’m thrilled that on p28 the man behind the mask shares with us the highlights of his magnificent career and life, from his famous…

We pay £50 for Letter of the Month and £30 for all others LETTER OF THE MONTH What a relief it was to read “A World Of Worry”. Recent events have been incredibly challenging for everyone and I have noticed the impact on my own mental wellbeing. Like Meredith Arthur, I too have never considered myself a worrier. But several of the tell-tale signs mentioned now sound familiar to me—feelings of uncertainty and fear, over thinking and an inability to relax have all recently manifested in my life. Immediately after my first COVID vaccination, while waiting for the obligatory ten minutes, I found my hands shaking uncontrollably as I convinced myself I was likely to have a massive allergic reaction to the dose. Lifestyle adjustments like exercise are a great help, and I’ll certainly…

ALL THROUGH THE long winter, one date in my diary promised the coming of spring more than any other. No, not March 27—when the clocks go forward. Nor March 20—the dawning of astrological spring. It was, of course, February 12—the annual re-opening of Bekonscot Model Village, Buckinghamshire. Have you never been? I would certainly recommend it; and not just because, as its website explains, it offers the thrill of "England as it used to be" (this promise, I would argue, could be extended to large swathes of Beaconsfield). In my view, the world’s first model village is more relevant than ever: in our Instagram age, it serves up selfie opportunities by the ton ("Look! I’m as tall as a windmill!"); it’s an implicitly socially distant, entirely outdoor experience; and its 1992…

“NOW, DON’T GET me excited here!’ Denzel Washington says with a laugh, as our conversation veers onto God and Macbeth. He’s a big fan of both. “So, I don’t know if Macbeth followed God at the start…” He pauses. “Shoot. Hang on.” He disappears to root around his home. “You’ve got me breaking out my script!” he says, beaming. “I don’t think I’ve ever done this before.” What follows is remarkable—and something I’ve not experienced in almost two decades of interviewing. For nearly ten minutes I’m treated to a personal performance from a man acclaimed as the greatest actor of his generation, and a master class in how he played one of Shakespeare’s greatest roles. Washington leafs through his script, muttering lines. “Weird sisters… Where was it? Scorched earth… ‘Oh full of…

FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, I’VE LOVED DRESSING UP… This is me in a sailor hat (above), aged five, in the garden of our home in Melbourne. I was a very happy small child, the eldest of four—I have a younger sister and two brothers—content to play on my own. My parents often referred to me as “Sunny Sam”. I was always cheerful and always indulged by a large number of aunties. On Sunday afternoons, I had to perform a little cabaret. There was a camphor box—I still have it—in which I kept a diverse range of costumes. I’d appear and they’d all laugh and clap and then my mother would urge me to sing “Nymphs and Shepherds”. But I was too shy and had to go behind the…

ANNISSA JOBB first limped into the office of Dr Riam Shammaa, a sports medicine and pain specialist in Toronto, Canada, in 2017. The personal support worker in long-term care homes was desperate for help after a decade of back pain due to an undiagnosed herniated disc. “It’s my calling in life, taking care of people,” says Jobb, now 54. But working with frail seniors involves a lot of lifting, bending, and pulling. It wasn’t an option to rest. So she gritted her teeth through the pain. “I had a drawer full of pain medication. None of it was working. I’d snap. My husband and I came close to getting divorced.” By November 2016, Jobb could scarcely walk 200 metres. “My family doctor finally said, ‘You will end up in a wheelchair…