BARRY HUMPHRIES AND DAME EDNA, R.I.P.

Dame Edna is the absolute funniest person in the world. Period. So her death, through the passing of her brilliant “creator” Barry Humphries, is quite the loss for the world. They’ve always been one and the same to me.

I was crushed when I read the very sad news over the weekend that Barry Humphries, a.k.a. Dame Edna, had died. I first read that he was ailing from hip surgery complications a couple of days before, but then, just the day after that, there was another news story saying his condition wasn’t that bad. So when I looked at a news site very early Saturday morning, I literally gasped when I saw that he had passed away.

Dame Edna was literally the funniest person in the world. She even surpassed Mr. X and my mother to become the #1 many years ago. (In case you’re curious, the next people after my mother are Chris Rock and Jackie Mason.)

First, I’m going to tell you all about Dame Edna, and then I have a little story about Barry Humphries, who is the genius who created, and had been, Dame Edna for almost seventy years.

I’ve been lucky enough to see Dame Edna perform in person a half dozen times, after first noticing her on talk shows in the ’90s; I could not get enough. [Note: I just found a review I did on Beverly Hills People of one of her Los Angeles shows in 2009. That site is no more, so I can’t link to it. But it encapsulates Dame Edna and Barry Humphries so exactly that I’m including it in full at the end of this tribute, if you’d like to read it. As a bonus, you’ll see how incredibly short my reviews were back in the day!]

I find myself quoting Dame Edna all the time ever since one of the early times I saw her. For example, (but, of course, you have to hear her say all this,) in her shows, she chats with a few audience members, and one time, she asked a woman what color her living room carpet was. When the woman answered, “Beige,” Edna paused, made a slight face to the audience, and replied, “Beige???” Another pause. Then, “I had forgotten all about beige!” We all guffawed. And I haven’t been able to look at that tepid color ever since.

If you do not know who Dame Edna Everage is, please find videos of her online. Just a couple of weeks ago, Mr. X and I watched a bunch of them out of the blue. Speaking of blue, if you are ever feeling that way, I suggest watching her, and you’ll cheer right up. She’s just absolutely brilliant. (Here’s a glowing review I wrote of her “Farewell Tour” in 2015: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/theatre-dame-ednas-glorious-goodbye-the-farewell-tour.)

So, after one of her opening nights here in Los Angeles, Mr. X and I met Barry Humphries at the after-party. As everyone knows, Dame Edna is one of the most flamboyant, outrageous people in show business. So we were shocked to discover that Mr. Humphries was just a sweet, reserved, super low-key man. We had a lovely conversation at the fete, during which he asked us where we live. When I told him which neighborhood it is, he told me that he loves it, once lived there himself, and that he wants to move here again. (I would have been happy for him to move into our house. But only if he did so as his hilarious alter ego.) It was just such an intimate, quiet, almost whispered conversation, with none of the hilarious quips for which Dame Edna is known. Barry may not have even realized that we knew that he was the Dame herself!

That convo has always stayed with me. I’m actually crying writing this because his death is so sad. I hate for someone who has brought so much joy to so many leave us.

I’m just grateful that I got to see Dame Edna perform so many times, and very often from great seats. But I even bought a “standing room only” seat to see her show on Broadway, and I’m far from a stand-er! That’s how much I loved her.

One time, Mr. X and I were seated in the mezzanine, and I was actually happy about it because we got to be one of her “little paups,” which is what she calls people not in the orchestra, (because that means that we’re “paupers” if we have to sit up there.)

But she always refers to all of her audience members as her “possums.” I was thrilled to be one so many times. And I cherish that I caught one of the gladiolas that she throws into the audience at the end of her shows. I kept it around for weeks; I couldn’t bear to get rid of it.

I think I’ll go out and buy myself a bunch of those flowers this week, as my own tiny tribute to Edna. And Barry. (I know there was sooooo much more to Barry Humphries, but he’ll always be only Dame Edna to me.)

When I saw their last show here in Los Angeles at the beginning of 2015, I wrote, “I’m just really praying that this is not really Dame Edna’s ‘Glorious Goodbye,’ and that we’ll see her here in LA many more times. But if it truly is her farewell, she definitely went out with a big bang!!!” And that applies now to both Barry and Edna.

R.I.P. Barry Humphries and Dame Edna. You’re one and the same to me. And thank you forever for all the laughs.

Now, as promised, here’s my review of DAME EDNA’S FIRST LAST TOUR from June, 2009 on Beverly Hills People:

If you are ever going to take my advice on one thing in life, please trust me on this one: wear a Depends when you see Dame Edna’s show at the Ahmanson Theatre!!! I can’t tell you how serious I am about this. For the entirety, I really thought that for the first time since I was a little little girl, I was going to pee in my pants! I could not stop laughing. Mr. X was afraid I was going to have an asthma attack.

And this was the fifth time I’ve seen Dame Edna in person. I’ve seen a lot of the set material before and I still got hysterical. But, as I told Mr. X, even if it were the same show as other years, it’s really different every night because of her repartee with several audience members. Her reaction to their answers to her questions are priceless. I’ve NEVER seen anyone as quick and clever, EVER!!!

This show is non-stop joy for about an hour and forty-five minutes. It’s absolutely guaranteed that you’ll forget your troubles during it. It’s like the climactic scene in Sullivan’s Travels. (For those of you who don’t know the reference, it’s a famous Preston Sturges film starring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake, and is the absolute best case for the power of comedy.)

I’d been looking forward to the opening night of Dame Edna’s First Last Tour since it was announced a few months ago, and the show is one of the few things in life that lived up to my expectations.

I can’t imagine that anyone doesn’t know that Dame Edna is really a man, but you most likely don’t know his name. It’s Barry Humphries. I met him once and he was so quiet and unassuming. We had a positively un-Dame Edna conversation about the beauty of Bel-Air. Lovely fellow.

I actually have no more to say on this show because you just have to experience it for yourself. Thank goodness it’s only her FIRST last tour and not her LAST last tour. I hope that day never comes.

And don’t forget the Depends!!!