Amy Lamé (born January 1971) is an American-born, British performer, writer, television and radio presenter and producer.
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Lamé was born Amy Caddle and raised in Keyport, New Jersey. She attended Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland and moved to London in 1992. Working at London's first out and proud lesbian & gay cafe-bar[1] Lamé quickly became prominent on London’s alternative scene. She has a distinctive look, a chubby glamour-puss with trademark fly-away black-rimmed spectacles and an ironic take on the 1950s American housewife style.
She became a British citizen in early 2007, and in March 2009 Lamé had a civil partnership with her British partner Jenny. She is currently Mayoress of London Borough of Camden alongside Mayor Johnathan Simpson.
In 1994 Lamé made her stage debut in her first one-woman show Gay Man Trapped in a Lesbian's Body[2] as part of ICA London's Spring Exhibitions programme. There she was spotted by TV producer Neil Crombie and began her career in television.
In 1996 she wrote and performed 'Cum Manifesto', a one woman show about HIV and gay men's sexual and emotional health. The show successfully toured the UK and Denmark including seminal performances for hundreds of men on Hampstead Heath and Rochdale Canal cruising grounds at midnight.
In 2006 Lamé created her third one-woman show, Amy Lamé’s Mama Cass Family Singers. The show debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival[3] and was produced by the Soho Theatre London in association with Gilded Balloon. Lamé then enjoyed a successful run at the Soho Theatre,[4] toured the UK and performed at The Powerhouse, Brisbane, Australia.[5] After receiving a pink knitted breast on the opening night of her show from 'I Knit London', she found her passion for knitting and crochet. She can be regularly seen crocheting during stage performances. In November 2007 Lamé launched her project project 'Pom-Pom International' at the national UK Stitch ‘N Bitch Day. She has subsequently held pom-pom making parties at Duckie, London's Lesbian and Gay Festival 2008 and in Northern Ireland where she held the 'Pom-pom's for Peace Project'.[6] She was previously a photographic model, twice a contestant in the international Alternative Miss World and was the face of brands such as Hula Hoops. She has also appeared in music videos for Oasis, Holly Johnson and Culture Club.
In 1995 Lamé co-founded the Olivier award winning performance club-night and collective Duckie with Simon Strange which she hosts every Saturday night at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern. She plays a pivotal role in programming, devising and hosting Duckie events. Working with the Duckie collective in 1997, Lamé devised, produced and hosted "The World's First Lesbian Beauty Contest"[7] which was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records. The event caused quite a commotion challenging beauty myths, gender and sexual identities and body fascism. In 1996 she curated, produced and hosted Keep The Faith[8] at Tate Britain which explored the links between the gallery's permanent collection and faith. She commissioned new work to be shown in the gallery for one night only including an interactive performance installation tea party with 30 Anglican priests; Joshua Sofaer's tale of meeting his Jews for Jesus missionary namesake, Joshua Sofaer, in Namesake: The Story of a Name; Johnathan Allen/Tommy Angel's performance exploring evangelism and belief using magic and illusion; and a Buddhist tour of the gallery. The event had the highest ever recorded number of participants - over 5,000 for Late at Tate.[9] The Duckie brand also includes large-scale club night projects such as Vauxhall Pleasure Promenade (1999);[10] Explosion! The Ghosts of Rock & Roll Soho (2000);[11] C'est Vauxhall (2002); Liverpool is Burning (2008);[12] Performance and Cocktails (2010)[13] and the annual alternative Pride event Gay Shame which started in 1996. In 2010 Duckie also made its festival debut at Latitude Festival. The Duckie brand continues to produce award winning theatre events with many great things planned for 2011 and beyond.
Lamé has a varied radio career. She started on GLR where she co-presented Lavender Lounge. Lamé's voice has been heard on Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. She co-presented the BBC London 94.9 Breakfast Show with her friend and colleague Danny Baker for over 3 years, winning a Sony Radio Academy Award for Best Entertainment along the way. She continues to present alongside Baker on the BBC London's afternoon show between 3-5pm Monday to Friday.[14] Lamé is the co-founder and co-presenter of HomoLAB,[15] a weekly queer cultural and current affairs podcast and voiceover. She voiced in-flight entertainment for Continental Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Virgin Trains and also starred in radio advertisements for Warner Jazz Records.
Alongside her live performance career Lamé has also enjoyed success in TV. She was a presenter on the BBC2 show Gaytime TV for three series[16] and went on to create and host her own panel game-show, The Staying In Show[17] for C4. The list of shows Lamé has appeared on also includes: Market Kitchen for the last three years as features presenter;[18] hosting many segments on The Richard and Judy Show - including a seven part series on regional Italian food and regular book reviews; Loose Women; and Charity Chic. She has also appeared on two prime time ITV reality shows, Celebrity Fit Club.[19] and CelebAir.[20] She was the mentor for LGBTQ teenagers on Channel 4’s My Big Gay Prom,[21] and regularly appears as a culture and current affairs commentator on programs including BBC Breakfast News, Daily Politics and Sky News.
Lamé has contributed short stories to the anthology Typical Girls[22] published by Hodder and Stoughton. She also writes regular features on culture, travel and food for The Times,[23] Woman’s Own, DIVA, The Independent, The Observer and others. Lamé is currently working on her first book.
She is an active member of the Labour party helping raise funds and hosting regular events. During the 2010 elections Lamé could be seen working closely with Angela Eagle and Gordon Brown in Wallasey. Lamé is mentioned in Sarah Brown's memoirs Behind the Black Door,[24] where she details Lamé's hen night celebrations in Downing Street.
Lamé is a supporter of Stonewall and hosts the Stonewall Equality Dinner[25] at the Dorchester Hotel.
She is the spokeswoman for Cancer Research UK. She also took part in the Race for Life in 2009 and 2010.
Other charities she supports include Diabetes UK, London's LGBT Switchboard, Amnesty International, Foodchain (providing hot meals for people with HIV), Roundhouse and Christian Aid.