Customer Reviews

Best of Dame Edna Everage, Sir Les Patterson, Sandy Stone

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

Make that "5-star filth." This 3-CD Barry Humphries collection features a Dame Edna show much like the one I viewed in the U.S. a few years ago. Lots of laughs here (and 10X more so "LIVE and IN PERSON"). The third CD, featuring Sandy Stone, is much more subtle and reflective. Sandy, "the decent old man of the suburbs," has passed away and muses over his non-life. It's CD #2 that will have you soiling your knickers. Sir Les Patterson's songs are the most vulgar our wee little puritan ears will ever hear. We know (from The Dame Edna Experience) that the Dame frowns upon Sir Les' wicked shenanigans, and I imagine many of the Dame's fans may choke on some of the lyrics here (and so we dedicate "The Chunder Song" to each and every one of them), but it's all in good fun as Humphries roasts the most beastly of his paisanos in his portrait of the Australian "cultural attache'" (and the accompanying photos and artwork are a hoot as well -- Snork!) A glance at some of the song titles here (starting at no. 8) will clue you in to the content. Rest assured that "The Smell of Cheese" is a G-rater that the entire family can enjoy. Barry Humphries has been playing these characters for 50 years now (yes, since 1955) and who doesn't think of Dame Edna as a real person? Sir Les will give you nightmares, so it's too bad that he also seems all too real. I can't recommend "The Best of... " highly enough, unless you're a prig. Consider a purchase as a gift for a friend with cancer (no, I am not kidding) as the laughs will be fast and furious and may very well stun the disease into remission. Buy it, possums!

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.

"You, you, you! This show is all about you!!" Let me tell you how hilarious this CD is - I've had the collection for 20 days and listened to the first CD 25+ times!! I know exactly what's coming and I still laugh. My workday passes much quicker now that I own this!

The first CD is an evening show taped in Australia in August 2003. It's an absolute scream! She uses her audience as her source of material and does it masterfully! From a monologue, to a phone call, to a play...it's great comedy! If you don't laugh yourself silly, you have issues.

The second CD is collection of funny and comical songs. The lead song, Tuna Town, is a jaw-dropping and filthy little song, but funny as hell! The balance of the songs are clever, but the shock value of Tuna Town shadows them.

The third CD is The Saga of Sandy Stone. This is my least favorite CD in the collection. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be funny, but I didn't laugh as I listened.

I know this collection may cost a bit more than usual, but it's worth every penny! Considering "laughter is the best medicene", this is a great office visit!