Eat, Pray, Laugh!

On the weekend just past I went to see Barry Humphries in his latest and possibly last stage show – "Eat, Pray, Laugh!”.

One of my earliest memories of Humphries dates back to high school days in the mid-1960s. I recall a teacher who, wanting to introduce some cultural relevance to his English class, would play for us recordings of Humphries in his various character roles, including Edna Everage, getting stuck into the prevailing social norms and values of then contemporary Australia.

Humphries possessed razor sharp skills of observation. He held up a mirror to Australian society and what he reflected was often unattractive. Provincialism, pretentiousness, sleaziness and sometimes bigotry were among his targets.

Of course Barry Humphries and his alter ego, Dame Edna, went on to achieve worldwide fame.  Now, some fifty years on, Humphries has decided that it may now be time to stop touring.

Age may have wearied him just a tad, but he can still be side-splittingly funny. As always his characters have you one minute squirming in your seat and the next rolling with laughter in the aisle. 

Appearing with his three regulars - Sir Les Patterson, Sandy Stone and Dame Edna - was one new character appropriate for our times, a paedophile priest.

Over the past 40 years I’ve seen maybe four or five of Barry Humphries’ stage shows – each one as outrageous, politically incorrect, often cruel and always as thoroughly enjoyable as the last.  “Eat, Pray, Laugh!” is no exception.

As usual Humphries peppers his script with references to current people and events. Julia Gillard, Gina Rinehart, Peter Slipper, Craig Thomson and the Catholic Church are all on the receiving end of his verbal barbs.

Of course Humphries has never hidden his Tory bias in his choice of targets – Labor politicians and trade union officials (think Les Patterson and Lance Boyle) have always featured prominently and been mercilessly dealt with in his shows.

He occupies a unique place in the pantheon of Australian entertainers. There is no one who comes near to matching his rapier wit.

But after seeing his latest show I’m left thinking that perhaps the mirror he now holds up to Australian society is reflecting an era past. Australia today is a very different place to the one that gave birth to Edna Everage and Sandy Stone.

I’d like to think that the “provincialism” he railed against no longer prevails. But heaven knows there is much about contemporary Australia that cries out to be exposed and satirised. I just don’t believe Humphries is as attuned now at capturing the mood of the times and taking the mickey out of Australia as he once was.  To put it somewhat pretentiously – I don’t think he’s plugged into the contemporary zeitgeist of his country of birth.

For that reason, “Eat, Pray, Laugh!” is almost a period piece – despite the topical references to current events.  Well worth the price of the ticket, even if only to be able to say you saw the great Barry Humphries giving his farewell show in Melbourne - the city that “created” him.  Unless of course he decides to do a “Nellie Melba”!