Vale Barry Humphries
Barry Humphries was a pioneer, an original and endlessly inventive. Australian comedy would be nothing without... Read More »
Tag: Barry Humphries
In attack of the defence of Barry Humphries
Last week came the news that the annual best-in-festival award dished out by the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the Barry, named after Barry Humphries, would be renamed in light of Humphries’ comments on transgender people last year. As ABC News reported: Humphries is a household name for his iconic characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir... Read More »
Should Barry Humphries shut up and retire?
Barry Humphries has been in the news a lot recently, because of outrage at some comments he made about trans people in an interview with Lloyd Evans for right-wing UK-based magazine The Spectator: I ask if his biggest crowd-pleaser, Dame Edna Everage, has attracted the attention of trans activists, who are swift to take offence... Read More »
Australian Tumbleweeds on Howard on Menzies
It’s easy to be cynical about the term “event television”, largely because the event in question is usually a rose ceremony or some sport, but it’s hard to deny that Howard on Menzies has been an event. Love them or loathe them, Robert Menzies and his gushing admirer John Howard strode large across the Australian... Read More »
Dame Edna went on The Project and the media and Twitter totally lost their shit
You know how when you’re on a news website, and you realise that an article only exists because a few people reacted to a thing on Twitter in a similar way? From news.com.au: It’s not unusual for Dame Edna to make things a little awkward, but the Aussie icon’s Thursday night appearance on The Project... Read More »
For f***’s sake!
Yesterday came the news that the Adelaide Cabaret Festival’s new Director Barry Humphries wants to ban performers from saying “fuck” next... Read More »
When comedy reigned over us
The DVD Neighbours – The Iconic Episodes: Volume 1 isn’t the first place you’d look for Australian comedy, even if you’re the sort of person who finds late 80s fashions and mildly crap acting a cack. It’s more a DVD you’d buy if you have an interest in either Neighbours (obviously) or Australian social... Read More »
Isn’t It Unsurprising At His Age
Last weekend's Sunday Telegraph contained the news that Barry Humphries' upcoming show Eat Pray Laugh will be his final ever live stage... Read More »
At least you can say you’ve seen it
So, episode 1 of the much-hyped Angry Boys has finally made it to air. For a show so keen to get laughs through realism it's sure done a great job of proving that the exact opposite technique might have been the way to go. The more absurd moments in the show are the closest it gets to funny, and with so few of them on offer Angry Boys is just scene after boring, unfunny... Read More »
Making Up For Teenage Crime
When we haven’t been having a chuckle at Hey Hey it’s Saturday being nominated for a “Most Popular Light Entertainment Program” Logie (what, they’re handing out Logies just for turning up now?), we’ve been having a semi-serious discussion here at Tumbleweed Central: why doesn’t Australian television make more comedy for teenagers? Put another way, when... Read More »