Barry Humpries Presents - Live in Melbourne [Australian Import] [Box set]

This is a great collection of classic Humphries comedy. Disc 1 is the easiest for American audiences to grasp, because it's a wonderful Dame Edna stage show (Also available on Video on the DVD "Back To My Roots") recorded before a live audience in Australia. It's screamingly hilarious from start to finish.

Disc 2 presents Barry's character Sir Les Patterson who, while nearly unknown in America, is almost as popular worldwide as Dame Edna. Sir Les is a sexist Australian diplomat with an incredibly filthy mouth (Hence his obscurity in America, He's too dirty for Puritan, uptight American TV) who happens also to be side-splittingly funny. This CD presents Sir Les singing a collection of jaw-droppingly dirty songs, all of which are extremely funny. It's similar to Humphries' earlier record album "12 Inches of Les", but contains a different collection of songs. If you enjoy good-naturedly bawdy songs, like the ones Elsa Lanchester used to sing in clubs, you'll love this.

The disc least accessable to American ears is Disc 3, which presents Barry's third major character, Sandy Stone, whom he has been performing almost as long as Edna. (Nearly 50 years) Rather than a broad cartoon like Edna and Les, Sandy is a quiet character, a parody of a sad, simple, decent but hopelessly dull suburban man who has never examined his life or existence. (The character isn't dull. He's a portrait of dullness of mind.) Some years back Barry took the bold step of having Sandy die (Onstage), and ever since, the character has been a ghost, haunting the easy chair in which he lived his empty experience, describing, as opposed to commenting on, the changing suburban Melbourne world around him from beyond the grave. Sandy is Barry's personal favorite of his characters, and the most heartfelt. The humor here is quiet and subtle (Apparently too subtle for the other customer reviewer, who couldn't tell if it was supposed to be funny at all.), but, if you listen closely, Sandy is actually quite funny, and very real. This disc contains three Sandy monologues. The text of two of them can be found in Barry's book "The Life and Death of Sandy Stone" so you can read along, which helps you catch the more obscure Australian references, of which there are many. These monologues will make you laugh, but will touch your heart as well. This is comedy elevated to high art.

In short, this is an extraordinary collection that runs a gamut of superlative 21st Century comedy. My highest recomendation!

Dame Edna's show last summer (2003) in Australia is the first CD and is just wonderful - very similar to her current Broadway show 'Back with a Vengeance'. Lots of similar material but the different audiences make each show unique. I loved it and played it again after seeing her on Broadway recently.

Then there's Les Patterson whom I was just dying to hear/see/get to know. Was I ever in for a surprise with this CD! The songs are, to echo the other two male reviewers, jaw-droppingly filthy. I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing with "Tuna Town" or even "A Hard Act to Follow". But they have endeared me to Les for some reason I can't explain - his cluelessness, maybe? He's a sort of ignorant but innocent buffoon. Anyway, the lyrics go through my head over and over and I'm just glad no one knows! I play those 13 songs all the time and they're a real pick-me-upper.

Sandy Stone is still a character I'm getting to know, so I'm working on that. He's more subtle and maybe needs to be seen to be appreciated. I guess neither Les nor Sandy will ever been seen by American audiences. Too bad for us.

If you've never been to a live Dame Edna show on Broadway or San Fran, this CD is for you. It is from her hometown of Australia, so some of the jokes are tied to that country. But all in all, it is a fun experience.. great laughs, especially when picking on some poor people in the audience, and calling the mother-in-law at home.

Sandy Stone is a good CD - very funny, dry humor.

Sir Les? Well he is Sir Les. Dirty. Disgusting. Cheap. Rotten teeth. And not PC in anyway.