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As Richard Rhodes in his make-up he uses is his alter ego, Cookie Monstar, a strong woman with a mind of their own. Richard - and cookies - to talk about her double life

I'm sitting in a crowded cafe in Soho as Richard Rhodes serenades me with Katy Perry's hit California Girls - except the lyrics aren't how I remember them. "I know a place where it's cool to have an Asbo, cold grey and wet with a 24-hour Tesco," he sings in a charmingly theatrical voice while City folk on the nearby tables drink expensive coffee. Later, I'll see him act out a typical post office scenario and we'll chat about how he has to shave his body almost every day - suffice to say, Rhodes is not a City banker.

The full-time drag queen is talking about his life as an alter ego, Cookie Monstar, a quick-witted improvisation with a beautiful voice and an impressive line in gentle wit.

Cookie has been around for 15 years, but its origins are not in the neon-soaked streets of London - it is a product of Rhodes 's time across the pond in the Big Apple.

"I was going to be invited to New York in the mid-90s when a friend 's aunt, a film director, offered me some work. I had visions of working on a film set or starring in films and famous always happen overnight -. Of course, that didn 't, and I worked in bars and restaurants "

He fell into the world of drag artists after hanging out in the Crow Bar in the east village, famous for its drag shows. "I thought it looked really exciting," he explains. "I asked the manager if I could perform and he offered me a Sunday night, so I went shopping, got a look together and mimed to Shirley Bassey's Goldfinger. I didn't get paid."

Rhodes 's first outfit from a costume designer and stylist Patricia Field, who had used a commercial about a hair salon, where all the Big Apple could get their wigs drag queens. "I had a very dubious outfit - green velvet with white gloves, black shoes and a pearl necklace.

Rhodes was a resident in a famous restaurant draw offered - Lucky Cheng 's - after he performed a guest spot when the host failed to show up one night because of illness.

But it meant Rhodes had a repertoire of songs to build quickly. He went to a karaoke shop in Times Square, bought a load of tapes and began learning paths - cleverly switched the original texts for more caustic, hilarious lines.

"I saw three or four songs that enjoyed people, the style of comedy. I became more confident when I I saw didn 't have to dance and could, instead, to sing and play comedy about people laugh to make \. "

By the time he left New York, Cookie Monstar was a success, with two cable television shows, a published album and sell-out gigs. But when he returned to London, he knew no one. "The time was ripe to get back home, but I did not know 't like the scene and eventually working a job in a bar I had the local gay press to read to find out where the clubs were and I started everything over again. "

After using an agent to set up his contacts, he was again a success. Regular appearances in the London venues with unique services to complement the likes of the RAF and Army, along with TV and radio.

"I know a lot of stuff for the army," he explains. "The first song that you do, you can see is people making a funny face. But when you laugh, they are fine. Some of them have seen horrible things in their work, a man in a dress isn 't going to be offensive to them.

"I wouldn 't say they' \ re a simple set ... you 've got to know what you' re doing, and you 've got to have balls."

Getting ready (usually in a toilet at the box office, but sometimes at home) Rhodes takes an hour and a half, although he is in a cookie can convert in less than 30 minutes.

First he has showers and shaving ("everywhere - and I haven \ t 'a hairy chest for 15 years \ had") and introduces a little yoga center even before the make-up.

Foundation, lipstick, false eyelashes and wig are all his care in expert mode to mode before it 's time to put on an outfit. I ask him how he chooses what to wear. "I 'm not really a big queen sequin - a lot of my stuff comes out of Camden, at a place called Ooh La La I like them because they are elegant, long, not too much bling.

"I 'm pretty small and sometimes find that the tip fits a dress, but the bottom doesn' t, because we obviously don 't have hips. I' m also a genius at wearing the same outfit number of times by various accessories with it and hope nobody notices. "

In the make-up phase, he says, "'m finished cookies from that point to the show. Then' I \ s wiped and flushed down the toilet.

"I used to think, how to wear them, but now I 've reached a more comfortable relationship with her where I can address them as a different person.

"I 've a lot of calm and centered while before I wasn' t so happy to Richard. Cookie is a very strong personality, if you 're not take care they can. You be beaten a damper or two and put in its place. "

Cookie is an expert at improvisation, cannily capture the mood of their audience and adapting to the atmosphere. It purports a table is a post office and performs a routine where she sits down and calls "Cashier number six".

A bystander approached the table and asks for a stamp to it cookie is (an imaginary stamp, of course - this is improvisation), before a second punter sits down and asks for a passport application, which also presented with a flourish. Then a third viewer approaches and draws an imaginary cookie down blindly and say, "Sorry love, closed \ 's for lunch." Cue the laughter.

Rhodes realized improv was definitely for him after he once went on stage and got him in the heel stuck in a hole. "Everything I had planned went out the window, my pianist Sarah and I were improvising. The people liked it more than the normal songs we sang, so we worked on it.

"It 's all about changing the energy of the room - you' re the conductor, is in this mess - it could be a pool table, gaming machines, a TV in the corner - and fine-tuning it into what you want. "

Unlike many comedians, Rhodes is fair. He does not come from the uncomfortable person in the room for special treatment of individuals, but rather banter with those who for a laugh.

"You don 't on people, take the cautious view. I was always picked up the last person in the school and I know what it' s like. Someone once told me that they are going to drag shows liked, but didn 't sit near the front because they were terrified of being picked on and I thought that was really sad because I don' t want the people are afraid. "

Despite his experience, still encounters the strange cookie tough gig. He used to do a show in Newcastle, which bombed.

"I called my dad and said I couldn 't do it anymore, and he reminded me that some viewers are hard, and if I continued. The next night I performed at a different location a few doors down, has the same show and they loved it. "

Rhodes says his family is "fantastic". His brother was to see him live a few times, and his parents have him at his regular place, the Cellar Door seen in Aldwych. Everyone is proud of his success.

"It's great because my job is my lifestyle. I don't have to work during the week. My Monday is Saturday. A lot of my friends are self-employed, so I see them a lot too."

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