When I first met Darcy Michael, he was a raunchy, weed-smoking, dick-driven, scruffy gay father living in Ladner and making people laugh. Today, he’s all those things, minus the scruffy.

Having shed 120 pounds and shaved off most of his hair in the last year, Michael may seem unrecognizable at first glance but he’s still the irreverent bitch who used to play the Majestic and host Xtra’s community achievement awards. Only now he’s embarking on a cross-Canada tour, releasing a new special on DVD and developing his own talk show.

I sat down with Darcy Michael on May 30 to talk about change, success and never toning down.