What do you think?
Rate this book
The Humour of Barry Humphries
Paperback
Published December 1, 1984
5 people want to read
About the author
Barry Humphries
47 books19 followersJohn Barry Humphries was an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the Court of St. James's. He was a film producer and script writer, a star of London's West End musical theatre, an award-winning writer and an accomplished landscape painter.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 15, 2016
Compiled as a textbook for senior level school English, this long out of print sample of some of Humphries' work is at times amusing, with a few selections being interesting due to their age or nature. It's only natural that Edna Everage, Sandy Stone and Les Patterson form the core of the material presented. Of those three creations it's Stone who comes out the best, with the monologues recorded in this book being strangely comforting as well as funny. Perhaps it's because Sandy is such an ephemeral character or voice, the lightness of Humphries' tone lends itself well to being in print.
Where the book is very useful, or at least has major curiosity value, is the pieces from minor characters who have had nowhere near the longevity or impact of Barry Humphries' three key creations. Lance Boyle (a union rep who wouldn't too alien for those who recall Craig Ferguson's real life efforts), Phil Philby (the film director who comes across as a modern day chardonnay socialist crossed with John Pilger) and Rex Lear (Kerry Packer meets Lang Hancock) are three of the more effective personas given space in this book. Neil Singleton is another who merits some attention, harking to both the long-lost 60s radical intelligentsia of Australian suburbia, but also reminding one in echoes of inner city pretension of today.
Ignoring the scholarly text nature of this book allows one to enjoy the eclectic but mostly worthy selection made by the editor of Barry Humphries' large oeuvre, and whilst the characters and humour are more likely to need an audience rather than a reader, the monologues and items in this book do raise a smile as well as a thought or tow.
Where the book is very useful, or at least has major curiosity value, is the pieces from minor characters who have had nowhere near the longevity or impact of Barry Humphries' three key creations. Lance Boyle (a union rep who wouldn't too alien for those who recall Craig Ferguson's real life efforts), Phil Philby (the film director who comes across as a modern day chardonnay socialist crossed with John Pilger) and Rex Lear (Kerry Packer meets Lang Hancock) are three of the more effective personas given space in this book. Neil Singleton is another who merits some attention, harking to both the long-lost 60s radical intelligentsia of Australian suburbia, but also reminding one in echoes of inner city pretension of today.
Ignoring the scholarly text nature of this book allows one to enjoy the eclectic but mostly worthy selection made by the editor of Barry Humphries' large oeuvre, and whilst the characters and humour are more likely to need an audience rather than a reader, the monologues and items in this book do raise a smile as well as a thought or tow.
Displaying 1 of 1 review