I suppose it’s inevitable, because the performers we admire are no more immortal than the rest of us.  But . . . boy oh boy, 2023 has been a terrible year so far with regard to losing famous people.
When Dame Edna Everage’s lifelong friend Barry Humphries died on April the 22nd in Sydney, we lost one of the true giants of comedy.
Yes, I know we lose comedians and comedy actors year after year, but only a small handful of them can be truly described as game-changing, giants in their field.
“The Dame Edna Experience”, Barry’s hugely popular Saturday night chat show which ran for several years, was the perfect vehicle for the performer’s quick-witted comedy mind.
The series attracted some of the world’s biggest stars who willingly (we have to assume) put themselves at the mercy of Dame Edna’s withering stare and even more withering put-downs.
With much anticipation and delight we watched Dame Edna’s red-lipped mouth contort and her eyes twinkle as an ‘A-lister’ answered one of her seemingly innocuous questions, because we just knew that as she listened she was also formulating a razor-sharp response that would have the studio audience and the hapless celebrity roaring with laugher.
Edna had ribald fun with her guests and would never humiliate them – as some chat show hosts have done.
Many of us still shudder at the memory of Clive Anderson’s infamous Bee Gees moment!
I’ve never had the good fortune to see Dame Edna ‘live’ on stage in ‘her’ pomp, but a friend of mine who saw her at Cardiff Millennium Centre around eight or nine years ago, had this to say –
“Within the first few minutes of Barry/Edna appearing, it was obvious we were all in the presence of a genius.
“From Edna’s entrance to Barry’s curtain call, the performance was pure comedy gold.”
Quite an accolade coming from someone who’s worked with many British comedians and seen several legendary American comedy performers ‘live’, including Jerry Lewis. Jackie Mason, Victor Borge and Alan King.
Dame Edna and Barry Humphries – comedy gold, both.
Goodnight Possums!