There are few people who have left me speechless. Desiré Dubounet, formerly known as Dr. William Nelson, was one of them.
William Nelson ceased to be eight years ago, when the doctor, singer, film director and producer, writer and nightclub owner Desiré Dubounet became full-time. She introduced herself to me as a hermaphrodite. 15 years ago, as William Nelson, Desiré moved to Budapest from the US amidst scandal surrounding the invention of an electronic device she describes as capable of curing a myriad of diseases – from AIDS to cancer. Desiré also claims to have played a crucial part in bringing the ill-fated Apollo 13 space mission safely back to earth, to have been a gymnast in the 1968 US Olympics team, to hold eight doctorate degrees, is saving up to build a new home (a Transylvanian castle) and believes she’s an angel predicted by the Maitreya in Buddhist legend. I was told all of this (and more) after being welcomed into Desiré’s home – an entire apartment block in Budapest’s eighth district.
I’ll be honest, I don’t really know where to start. I think the first exchange we had concerned the fact that the pink and burnt red rug in the living room emblazoned with a ginormous image of Desiré’s Romanian wife was the only way she’s allowed to sit on her face… you get the idea of where things went from there. A tour of the building involved her bedroom, walk-in wardrobe and German boyfriend, as well as the basement nightclub she’s recently opened – The Angel’s Alibi – which includes a Jacuzzi (flanked by fake grass, a palm tree and a Chinese dragon), a sauna, a spaceship cock-pit and a sex room complete with hand-cuffs, mirrors and wipe clean furniture. There’s also a large bunker-like room fronted by a stage, where Desiré and her band, The Hunz, perform every Friday night. A “rock and roll band”, as she terms them, they take to the stage with covers and their own material – some of you may remember her performances from Ferenc körút’s former Bohemian Alibi Club. The rest of the rooms, Desiré says, will play whatever tunes you fancy… you just need to make your selection from the in-house CD collection – kept somewhere near the spaceship, perhaps. Upcoming theme nights include a lingerie night and a Boxing Day party where everyone dressed in boxing attire drinks for free. Oh, and just by paying your entry fee you’ll be “helping poor, disadvantaged children”, Desiré explained, as well as entering a lottery to win a huge chunk of the takings.
We’re not suggesting a trip to The Angel’s Alibi will be one of your more mainstream nights. It won’t. Desiré aims, however, to attract an open-minded expat crowd up for a no-holds-barred good time. And anyway, if you’re just after a quiet night, you can head in to pick up a copy of her soon-to-be released book, The Angel of God, which delineates exactly how she plans to save the world.
Do it, because perhaps normal’s overrated!