Barry Humphries’ new show is all about Australia in its un-PC glory

Everyone’s on first-name terms superbly snobby Dame Edna Everage and the appallingly lecherous Sir Les Patterson, but how well do you know the man behind the famous characters?

‘Barry Humphries: The Man Behind the Mask’ is an opportunity to meet the creator of some of Australia’s best-known comedy creations, and according to reviews, it’s a revealing and personal show that’s as entertaining, in a very different way, as anything Humphries comes up with when he’s in character.

Adelaide and Geelong Starts at 60 readers can see Barry Humphries’ upcoming shows at an exclusive discounted rate, with tickets from as little as $52.50!* Follow a link below to claim your discount.
– Adelaide (8pm, Wed 30 & Thu 31 May)
– Geelong (2pm matinee, Sat 2 June)
– Geelong (8pm evening session, Sat 2 June)

The 84-year-old gets four stars from Melbourne’s Herald Sun for the tales of his Aussie childhood – “Don’t look at Barry, he’s drawing attention to himself” his mother repeatedly told visitors and friends of her budding stage-star son – as well as his school days as the victim of bullying (as well as something of a bully himself), his university drop-out days and how he made his way to success via some very low-grade theatrical productions.

Of course, plenty of these anecdotes are very humorous, given that, as he was told by a director as a young man, Humphries is “naturally ridiculous” and that he’s been entertaining audiences for more than 60 years.

“His stories are peppered with acerbic comments, witty repartee, and Australianisms that, sadly, have gone out of fashion, such as ‘You don’t know me from a bar of soap’,” Herald Sun reviewer Kate Herbert says

As The Australian’s review notes, it’s five years since Humphries retired his beloved characters after embarking on a farewell world tour – although he’s now talking about bringing back Dame Edna for a new show – and the “recovering comedian” audiences see at ‘The Man Behind the Mask’ is a different proposition to those outrageous personalities.

As well as his early life, Humphries recounts his meetings with celebrities, including Donald Trump and the US president’s then-wife Ivana. He also opens up about his problems with the “magical chemical” of alcohol. “It was an illness that tells you that you haven’t got one,” he told the audience in Sydney, according to The Australian’s Ashleigh Wilson.

Not that he’s unwell now, in his 80s. He told The Australian Weekend Magazine recently that he’d been for a complete health check-up, expecting the doctors to find something worrying. But no, “you’ve got a few more miles yet,” he recalls he was told. 

“I thought to myself, ‘I better keep going then’,” he told magazine writer Trent Dalton. “But then I thought, ‘What can I give the audience that I haven’t given them already?’ … My own life.”

Despite the show being all about Humphries the man rather than his characters, it’s peppered with video clips from his most entertaining moments as Edna, Les and others and he does hand out gladioli, in true dame style, at the end.

And there’s no need for concern that it may somehow be more politically correct than his often deeply un-PC characters. As he told Dalton, Humphries believes political correctness was “the new puritanism” – the same puritanism that in the 1950s caused him to create Edna and Les in order to make fun of bigotry and hypocrisy in suburban Australia at the time, as Dalton notes.

All of these recognisable Australian moments from Humphries’ life make it a perfect show for Aussies of a certain age who lived those times along with him, according to the reviews.

“Older Australians will recognise people, places, expressions and attitudes as Humphries talks about his past in Melbourne, but this show is a tribute to Humphries’ life and achievements and should appeal to fans of all ages,” the Herald Sun concludes.

Are you a fan of Barry Humphries’ characters? Who’s your favourite?