Product Description
Dame Edna Everage - housewife, megastar, investigative journalist, social anthropologist, children's book illustrator, chanteuse, swami, monstre sacre, polymath, adviser to British royalty, grief counselor, spin doctor, and gifted woman in the world today.The seeds of stardom were planted in Melbourne, Australia when her career as a performing artiste was strictly a cult following.In the 1960's, she did a series of one-woman shows and occasional stage and TV appearances in England with Barry Humphries.She spends her time visiting world leaders and jet-setting between her homes in Malibu, London, Sydney, and Switzerland.Her hobbies are having afternoon tea with Stephen Hwking and doing compassionate photography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Hilarious!
I read the book many years ago when it first came out in hardcover and found myself laughing hysterically the entire time I was reading it.I loaned it out to a friend but never got it back because they loved it so much and thought it was hilarious as well.Subsequent copies that I have bought over the years were also never returned after being loaned out.Everyone loves the book and it is one of the funniest that I have ever read.

Read this book, possums!
I've been a fan of Dame Edna's for years and I have to say that this faux autobiography is one of the funniest books I have ever read.Starting from her humble beginnings (with mauve hair even then) we see our lovely Edna blossom into womanhood, marriage and motherhood---though she rarely has time to properly look after the kids because of her hectic and famous life.As an advisor to the rich, famous and royal (a spin doctor, in her words, to the Queen), Edna becomes a superstar in her own right---struggling with her troublesome childhood friend, Madge Allsop, who Edna lets us know, is a burden a good deal of the time!Edna deals with many dramas----her eccentric children, her husband with his desperate prostrate problem and the trials of being so easily recognizable to the general public.If you wanna read a book with a great deal of laughs, try to find a copy of this book.You won't be disappointed.

Therapy on a Tape
This is one of my all-time must-haves in the car...so that I can relisten to it any time LIFE gets a little too real, and I need a mini-mental vacation while driving.(It's an ideal gift too.)

It's a joy, and Dame Edna never fails to bring me back to a gentler reality.

I'm sorry to say that it hasn't been rereleased in Audio CD. I'm hoping that it will be available in that format in the future.

Delightful.
Barry Humphries admirably fleshes out the life of his most famous comic creation - Dame Edna Everage from Moonee Ponds housewife to beaming megastar. Like on TV, Edna is an outrageously egotistical tyrant who wefind out has bullied Madge Allsop since High School and even danced withher cultural compatriate Les Patterson at a teenage formal. Here you willsee how Edna saved Barry Humphries stage debut and has had him under hersolicitors thumbs for several years.For sharp Edna/Barry enthusiasts thereare a few questionable moves Humphries has made in the book though - 1) Heis cheeky in that he leaves out a number of years in Edna's life as he didin his own biography. Why? 2) Edna started off as shy and genteel in the50's. Here she is as bold as brass all the way. No real character change.3) Her nephew "Barry McKenzie" is never mentioned. They did go toEngland together and do two movies together after all. Yet, despite thesequibbles, there is Humphries characteristic razor sharp wit throughout andeven a moving epilogue where Edna visits her husbands grave. In this thereis a wonderful pathos which makes Humphries dedication to his character andhis audience first class. Fans should look for other out of print Ednatitles such as "Dame Ednas Coffee Table Book" if they enjoy this.

A Must Read for Dame Edna Fans!
If you love Dame Edna (and who doesn't?) and her rapier-sharp wit and wordly wisdom, this is the book for you.This autobiographical journey follows the housewife megastar from her sometimes painful childhood inMoonee Ponds to her meetingthe man she would marry (and later purchase anew mechanical prostate for) to her meteoric rise to stardom (accompaniedby her ever-present, though not always welcome bridesmaid, Madge).It's alaugh a minute, not unlike the Douglas Adams series, The Hitchhiker's Guideto the Galaxy.it will make you laugh out loud on public transport andguffaw during your tea-break (even though Dame Edna might disapprove ofthese slight breaches of etiquette).Pick it up, possums.It's likely theclosest you'll ever get to this megastar. ... Read more

Product Description
John Lahr is one of the most celebrated critics of the performing arts. Winner of Britain's 1992 Roger Machell Award for the best writing about public performance, Dame Edna Everage and the Rise of Western Civilisation is an insider's account of a great clown and a great act. It takes us backstage at London's Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, with Barry Humphries, and into the weird and wonderful world of his show-stopping creation--Dame Edna Everage.

Humphries is a prodigious comic talent. His copresence in Edna-- a character so real to the public that her autobiography, My Gorgeous Life, appeared on the nonfiction list--actively invites speculation about reality and fantasy, male and female. With her "natural wisteria" hair and her harlequin eyeglasses, Dame Edna was the first solo performer to sell out the most famous theater in England, and she also took the United States by storm, filling theaters from coast to coast. Hilarious and malign, polite and rude, highbrow and very low, the character Barry Humphries inhabits is a bundle of contradictions.

John Lahr, the son of another comic genius, takes us behind the scenes to investigate how a provincial dandy from Melbourne transformed himself into one of the most unlikely megastars of today. In showing the connection between Humphries's comedy and the life it parodies, Dame Edna Everage and the Rise of Western Civilisation goes beyond reportage to an exploration of the nature of comedy, a subject that Lahr has pursued over the years in his acclaimed biographies of Bert Lahr, Nol Coward, and Joe Orton. Richly entertaining and engagingly written, this book is an anecdotal treatise on the nature of comedy and an absorbing inquiry into what makes us laugh. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Great book but still can't do justice to the live show
Barry Humphries is a genius.No book is ever going to do justice to seeing him perform live, but John Lahr has come close.If you're a Dame Edna fan, you don't want to miss this book.

Beyond creating an indelible character, Humphries is a master improv comedian.In November 2003, I saw 'Dame Edna' live at a Dallas, Texas appearance.(S)he balanced five or six active storylines that were conjured up in conversations with various audience members.How the evening went totally depended on what Edna pulled out of those people.The results had the audience rolling in laughter and shocked at how much wonderful material could get mined out of what didn't appear to be much to work with.

If I had 10% of Barry Humphries talent, I would be very happy.

Dame Edna: National icon
Put the words "Barry Humphries: Living National Treasure" before the title above this review and you will have my full intended heading. Thank you.

For anyone who is a fan of Humphries and his characters this book provides a detailed insight into the creative force and intellect that has produced the best comedy theatre in the world.

For any of the new American fans of Dame Edna, this book may go some way towards filling in what you have been missing out on since Edna Everage made her quiet and unassuming debut in Australia nearly 50 years ago.

Humphries' heavy touring schedule in the US is your gain, and our loss. If you haven't seen the show, do whatever it takes to see this man and his characters on stage. I have never seen theatre which could have an entire audience bent over in laughter, tears pouring down their faces, at the mere sight of a character walking across the stage - Sir Les Patterson - and then reduced to total silence, shedding noiseless tears as Sandy Stone quietly mourned the loss of a treasured lemon tree.

This book has opened my eyes to so many other reasons why we find Barry Humphries' characters funny. It is as incisive an examination of the man and the art as one could hope to find.

Nothing worth reading
If you're looking for an intelligent, open-minded book, look elsewhere. This book is an utter failure.

Save your time
Absolutely nothing of merit here.

Save your time
Absolutely nothing of merit here. ... Read more

Product Description
Binding Unknown ... Read more

Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Dame Edna Everage is a character played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries. As Dame Edna, Humphries has written several books and hosted various television shows (on which Humphries has also appeared as himself). In 1979 Dame Edna was the subject of a BBC Arena mockumentary: La Dame aux Gladiolas. While Humphries freely states that Dame Edna is a character he plays, Dame Edna consistently denies being a fictional character or drag performer, and refers to Humphries as her "entrepreneur" or manager. Indeed, Dame Edna has frequently said that the thought of a man dressing up as a woman for entertainment purposes as repulsive. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Music of Australia, Dame Edna Everage, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Canberra Theatre, Julia Zemiro, Tuggeranong Arts Centre, Brent Street Studios, Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, Astra Chamber Music Society, Snuff Puppets, Tivoli Circuit, Hannah Gadsby, Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, Longlowong Regional Eisteddfod. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 83. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: ArchitectureCinemaComic booksCuisineDanceLiteratureMusicTelevisionTheatreVisual arts The music of Australia ranges across a broad spectrum of styles and genres. Some modern trends in Australian music is based on, or concurrent with, similar trends from the United States or United Kingdom and elsewhere, and the music is generally influenced by cross pollination of music from elsewhere; traditional indigenous Australian music, however is unique, as it dates back more than 60,000 years to the prehistory of Australia and continues the ancient songlines through contemporary artists as diverse as: Jimmy Little, Warumpi Band, Yothu Yindi, Tiddas, Wild Water, Christine Anu, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Saltwater Band, Nabarlek, Nokturnl, the Pigram Brothers, Coloured Stone, Blekbala Mujik, Kev Carmody, Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter. A folk club movement developed in Australia under the influence of those in Great Britain. A number of British singers have spent periods in Australia and have included Australian material in their repertoires, e.g. A. L. Lloyd, Martin Wyndham-Read and Eric Bogle. Traditional Aboriginal instrument, the DidgeridooIndigenous Australian music refers to the music of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. Music forms an integral part of the social, cultural and ceremonial observances of these peoples, and has been so for over 60,000 years. Traditional In...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=67530 ... Read more

Product Description
Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Bill L'extraterrestre, Malvira, Oin-Oin, Murmi, Chico, Jean-Christian Ranu, Ali G, Dame Edna Everage, Bibi, Hippolyte, Didier L'embrouille, Sol, Ouin-Ouin, Max Headroom, Danny Miller, Toba. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Bill l'extraterrestre est un personnage de fiction en images de synthèse, co-présentateur de l'émission Le Bigdil sur TF1 (1998-2004) aux côtés de Vincent Lagaf'. Il participa aussi à l'émission Drôle de jeu. Bill accompagnait Vincent Lagaf' dans l'émission Le Bigdil sur TF1 (1998-2004). C'était un personnage virtuel réalisé en images de synthèse, animé dans les conditions du direct. La voix et les mouvements du corps étaient dus à Gilles Vautier. Dans une interview, l'humoriste affirma avoir aussi esquissé et affiné tout le portrait du personnage : . Son visage était projeté tout le long de l'émission sur un mur d'images intégré à un décor de vaisseau extra-terrestre. Sa famille n'apparaissait quant à elle, muette, qu'au moment de la finale du jeu. Elle était composée de la mère, du frère et de la sœur du co-animateur. Arbitre et co-animateur original (les candidats au jeu étaient même invités à lui parler comme à une vraie personne), Bill contribua au succès du Bigdil et vit son image déclinée en multiples produits dérivés : un jeu de société, des peluches, des tee-shirts. Il participa même à une publicité pour de la lessive et chanta avec les gafettes "Le Cric crac hop". Exemple de captation de mouvements Trois personnes sont nécessaires en coulisses pour faire vivre le personnage. Une coordination parfaite et une bonne connaissance de l'équipe est nécessaire, car visage, corps et accessoires sont chacun régis par une personne différente. Une certaine complicité devait leu...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

Product Description
John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE (born 17 February 1934) is anAustralian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist andcharacter actor perhaps best known for his on-stage andtelevision alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbournehousewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson,Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the Court ofSt. James's. He is also a film producer and script writer,a star of London's West End musical theatre, an award- winning writer and an accomplished landscape painter.Humphries' characters, especially Edna Everage, havebrought him international renown, and he has appeared innumerous films, stage productions and television shows. HisBarry McKenzie comic strips about Australians in Londonappeared in Private Eye magazine with drawings by NicholasGarland. The stories about "Bazza" (also Humphries'nickname) gave wide circulation to Australian slang,particularly jokes about drinking and its consequences,much of it invented by Humphries. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1989, the author spent a month in the wings of the Theatre Royal watching Barry Humphries perform as Dame Edna Everage. What emerges in this title is an account of the act and a portrait of the comedian and his art. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

So very average
There's a long British tradition of men dressing up as women on the stage going back to Elizabethan times and more recently in the Panto. Of course, Dame Edna and her creator, Barry Humphries, is Australian, but Australian but many of the traditions are the same and certainly the historical heritage is the same.

John Lahr took on the Herculean task of interviewing Barry Humphries for this book but you'll see that the book sports his most famous character's name: Dame Edna Everage and the Rise of Western Civilisation. Of the 274 pages of text, maybe forty pages are actually about Humphries. The bulk of the book is filler about waiting for a show to start and older gags and of course Dame Edna's "life."

Barry Humphries' instance on staying in character as Dame Edna for all of his public events makes me think of the San Diego Chicken aka Ted Giannoulas. That damn chicken started as a lame radio advertising campaign (thanks KGO!) and went on to be a piece of San Diego culture that could not be escaped. The chicken ended up being the mascot of the Padres for a while (and pretty much any other venue in San Diego). I remember in junior high there was a lot of hubbub over discovering the Chicken's true identity. It was stupid then and it is stupid in this book. ... Read more