Barry Humphries

John Barry Humphries AO (b. 17 February 1934) is an Australian comedian, satirist and character actor best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife, and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to Britain. Humphries is also a film producer and script writer, a star of London's West End musical theatre, an "award-winning" author and an accomplished landscape painter.

One-man shows

Humphries' forté has always been his one-man satirical stage revues, in which he appears as Edna Everage and a host of other character creations, including Les Patterson and Sandy Stone. There can be few (if any) comedians who can boast the career longevity he has enjoyed with Dame Edna, whose popularity shows no signs of flagging after more than forty years. Humphries' success is also a tribute to the tremendous skill, style and insight -- and the sheer hard work -- that he invests in performing two-and-a-half hour shows of entirely original material, laced with ad-libbing, improvisation and the famous audience participation segments.

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Humphries has had many successful stage productions in London, most of which he subsequently toured internationally. Despite his later popularity, he encountered stiff resistance in the early years of his career -- his first London one-man show A Nice Night's Entertainment (1962) received scathing reviews and it was several years before he made a second attempt. He gained considerable notoriety with his next one-man revue Just A Show, staged at London's Fortune Theatre in 1969. It polarized the critics but was a hit with audiences and became the basis of a growing cult following in the UK. He continued to gain popularity with his early '70s shows including A Load Of Olde Stuffe (1971) and At Least You Can Say That You've Seen It (1974-75).

Related Topics:
A Nice Night's Entertainment - Just A Show - Fortune Theatre - A Load Of Olde Stuffe - At Least You Can Say That You've Seen It

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He finally broke through to widespread critical and audience acclaim in Britain with his 1976 London production Housewife, Superstar! at the Apollo Theatre. Its success in Britain and Australia led Humphries to try his luck with the show in New York in 1977, but it proved to be a disastrous repeat of his experience with Just A Show. Humphries later summed up his negative reception by saying: "When the New York Times tells you to close, you close."

Related Topics:
Housewife, Superstar! - Apollo Theatre - New York Times

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His next show was Isn't It Pathetic At His Age (1978). Like many of his shows, the title quotes one of the remarks his mother often made when she took Barry to the theatre to see superannuated overseas actors touring in Australia during his youth.

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His subsequent one-man shows include:

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• A Night With Dame Edna (1979), which won the Society of West End Theatres Award
• An Evening's Intercourse With Dame Edna (1982)
• Three seasons of Back with a Vengeance (1987-1988, 2005)
• Look at Me When I'm Talking to You (1996)
• Edna, The Spectacle (1998) at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, where he holds the record as the only solo act to fill the theatre since it opened in 1663
• Remember You're Out which toured Australia in 1999.

He has made numerous theatrical tours in Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and in the Far and Middle East. In 2003 he toured Australia with his latest show, Getting Back To My Roots (And Other Suckers).

Related Topics:
Germany - Scandinavia - The Netherlands - Getting Back To My Roots (And Other Suckers)

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