Barry Humphries: The Man Behind The Mask

Richmond Theatre On tour until June 12 ★★★★

At the grand old age of 88, Barry Humphries, hitherto known chiefly as the agent of housewife superstar Dame Edna Everage, is touring the one character he has never previously booked – himself.

In ‘a stumbling attempt at an honest self-portrait’, he finally gets his and-this-isme moment. And he does not disappoint, proving every bit as eloquent and acid-tongued as Dame Edna, and just as accomplished a namedropper, if not possessed of quite such a gargantuan ego or penchant for controversy.

A master anecdotist and raconteur supreme, Humphries confessed he was under instructions not to lose his thread, but when he did occasionally falter, his powers of recovery were just as impressive as his sparring with the audience.

A tour of his Melbourne upbringing, accompanied by family snapshots, left us with an image of his mother as ‘a mistress of the vocabulary of discouragement’, while we learned that Edna was forged after encounters with Australia’s provincial mayoresses on a tour of Twelfth Night. Donning a pair of those famous glasses, he treated us to some choice Edna-isms – and blow me, it turns out Humphries does a spot-on impression of the great Dame.

It’s easy to forget how offended Aussies were by his allegedly unpatriotic creations – and none was more offensive than Sir Les Patterson, the rampantly sexist Australian cultural attaché who, in 2022, would have the woke brigade clamouring to have him ‘cancelled’ in a heartbeat.

‘These days,’ he claims, ‘you don’t have to be funny. You just have to identify as funny.’ Well, happily, this near-nonagenarian showbiz legend still has proper funny bones and, judging from his gentle teasing, he may well sign up Edna and Les one last time for a final, final farewell tour.

Now wouldn’t that be a tasty treat, possums?