Exclusive and very Rare | The Barry Humphries Show | Dame Edna Everage | BBC | 1976 | S01E01

[@Jarek_73]

He could give his talent to ten other people and there would still be more for him than any other comedian could ever dreamt of. Thank you for posting this treasure!!!

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@@Jarek_73 you are very welcome... it would be brilliant if the BBC released all of this back catalogue

[@SusanStokvis]

this particular program is a little better than Xmas.

[@Molekuelorbital]

Yes, this is really a treasure! ❤🍀🙏

[@wonderbooooy]

Dame Edna always made me feel like I was welcome in the world and that I had a place in it!

[@JamesSheenOnline]

Barry Humphries taught me the art of wit and showing how it was possible to have a dig and for it to be acceptable :)

[@modfus]

He truly was an original. Nobody else quite like him. A little strange, a little risqué, and hugely talented.

[@davelafave6678]

I've never seen this! What a delight!

[@DavidBensonActor]

This broadcast changed my life when I was 14 - my first sight of Dame Edna and the man behind her, who years later I was lucky to meet and correspond with. He is one my great heroes and this show began it all for me. The Stratford sequence was much quoted by everyone for years. Thank you for making this available to us.

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@DavidBensonActor I was 12 and amazed by the rich ripe and colourful humour from this auntie from Australia. I had previously uploaded snippets from this show, of course I did the section on the bridge, which was picked up by a newspaper in Stratford who found the little kiddie in the push chair. I have had the script in my head for many years. I vividly remember going a bit mad while on holiday one year, with the bit about selling little "excerpts from their shows from door to door to eek out their livelihood etc" this went round in and round in my head and couldn't shake it... haha...and if ANYONE misquotes it, I naturally HAVE to correct them... :)

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@@DavidBensonActor I'm also thinking... "I was over the font getting our Lords stickiness out of my hair, in walked Barry Humphries, well you could have knocked me over with a bottle of Silvikrin. Loxene. That moment change my life it was incredible... etc"

[@DavidBensonActor]

@@JamesSheenOnline That's amazing that they found the kiddie on the bridge. I think these shows, along with the Housewife Superstar album, were hugely influential on UK comedy in the years that followed with the phrases Humphries coined, the double entendres and the satirical attacks on audience members informing 'alternative' comedy. I can think of a couple of performers who became huge stars 'borrowing' directly from Humphries repertoire.

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@@DavidBensonActor Yes I can see what you mean.... Dame Edna, as you know, was once accused of being cruel to the audience, but of course Edna turned this around saying how cruel the audience could be :)

[@iangrant3615]

You're also a bit of a legend, David! Great to see you commenting here :)

[@neilcunninghammedia]

Rare indeed, thank you. It's fascinating watching his act firm up before the jaw dropping perfection of "An Audience With...' in the eighties.

[@harrietbushman8923]

RIP Barry. Utterly uniquely fab.

[@lliamjurdom9505]

And that was the beginning of a STAR !!!! RIP DAME Edna ...

[@JamesSheenOnline]

and Les Patterson and Sandy Stone, ahh yes, and Bazza Humphries

[@PM-oq8dg]

The beginning? He'd been doing the character since the mid-50s... so, what 20 years at this point?

[@BaronMichaelDeBlone1066]

Some very funny moments more than making up for the occasional poor lines/timing. Enjoyed it very much. Excellent quality upload too. Thank you. Huge bonus surprise seeing Joan Bakewell in the guest slot. I had a real crush on her for years when I was younger. I thought the bananas were very appropriate.

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@@BaronMichaelDeBlone1066 banana surprise... :)

[@angelpajarillo]

I remember these shows and was just blown away with his talent ! Truly a genius of comedy

[@JamesSheenOnline]

He surely was truly unique...

[@GeorgeLyall]

Absolutely brilliant!! Great to see anything early from Dame Edna, a big fan here eventually catching Barry live on his farewell tour! Interesting to see the original Madge too! Thanks for this.

[@JamesSheenOnline]

Oh I have a clip from a later performance coming up soon, which has had me in stitches!

[@chrisingle5839]

That was absurd, and highly entertaining!

[@markroemer329]

"The Everage White Band" ... just caught that. I saw the Legend that is Dame Edna Everage live in San Francisco 20 years ago. Wish I had grabbed a Gladiola during the finale. Barry Humphries. Uniquely Brilliant!

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@markroemer329 yep, The Everage White Band.. lol. I was lucky enough to see Barry LIVE on 4 occasions. 1st time in London and all the seats were sprayed before you sat down. This had the effect of making the whole place smell like Nivea. Barry also performed at a works do. It was kept really quiet, but then the voice came over the PA announcing and before he had had a chance to say it, I stood up, and yelled, "It's Dame Edna!!!" Luckily I also got the autograph too

[@elizabethmcpherson-lt9vh]

At last! Dame Edna! Looking forward to it. Merry Christmas James

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@elizabethmcpherson-lt9vh it's within watching distance now :)

[@lisagerman2111]

Nice, one I haven't seen before :)

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@@lisagerman2111 it was last on tv when it was first broadcast... I'm lucky to have this copy

[@Gusfer-ze8lw]

the upscale looks great!

[@JamesSheenOnline]

wait till you see the show... its awesome...

[@zazuzazz5419]

Only one Barry Humpries!! ☝️❤😂 Master performer. How the camera adores Dame Edna - and the feeling is mutual.

[@brianschmidt9919]

this is a real treat -thank you doe sharing

[@sonjapapst5563]

Thank you!

[@lesliegautieri4295]

Looking forward to the show!

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@lesliegautieri4295 thank you... I have been sitting on this one for a few years, and fed out small clips, but now I have been able to upscale it and I am very happy with how it looks. It really is an exclusive as you will find it nowhere else on the net

[@lesliegautieri4295]

@@JamesSheenOnline Can't wait, so excited to see this. I think I saw this show back in the 1970's on PBS. My first encounters as a child with the greatness of Barry Humphries and have been laughing ever since. Miss him so. Thanks for putting this on.

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@lesliegautieri4295 my first encounter too.. thought the name was Dame Edna Beverage lol.. I remember laughing like a drain and thinking how brilliant this bizarre woman was

[@lesliegautieri4295]

@@JamesSheenOnline LMAO, I found and bought a mug that says Dame Edna Beverage.

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@lesliegautieri4295 there was another one at the time and it said Lescafe

[@ianrasmussen9203]

Wow we never see this show style again so creative and artistic so much fun to watch 😂 not like today so woke 😅

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@@ianrasmussen9203 humour as it should be..

[@charlesb7019]

Soooooo……. A guy in drag is your idea of non-woke!?!? 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@snedshill]

"Niceness" AND "True British Spunk," classics

[@frankcarter7146]

❤

[@brohbg]

High camp

[@Tom-pr3yh]

I've always been a fan of Dame Edna, but this is before my time and it felt very awkward how she dominated the conversation. Imagine having a guest like Joan Bakewell and just confining her to giggle and a muted mic! I don't think I'd have liked this version of her if I had seen it first.

[@JamesSheenOnline]

but Dame Edna always dominated the conversation... she ruled the interview and conversations...

[@markroemer329]

"When I go to bed at night guess what I do with a cucumber?" 1976 ... how did that get by the censor?

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@markroemer329 she said something similar on the Russell Harty show She was laying in bed promoting her new Bedside book, Sheena Easton was also there, and the question was why does she keep a parsnip in her bedside cabinet.. at the end of the show she asked the audience what wakes them in the morning... I'm not giving it away, you will have to watch it when I upload it

[@stuartbeacham]

You could just as well ask how was he allowed to keep using the word 'spunk' in the song at the end. A double meaning word yes; but one of the meanings is too rude for a family show.

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@@stuartbeacham and he was ahead of his time, breaking boundaries and out there to shock

[@stuartbeacham]

@@JamesSheenOnline Definitely!

[@RichardGodber-p1s]

Can you please find The Kenneth Williams Show and put up ? I know it wasn’t wiped by the BBC as I’ve seen several clips from it over the years

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@@RichardGodber-p1s that's a tricky one... i will keep an eye out for it

[@RichardGodber-p1s]

@ thank you . There were several clips included in one of those docos on Kenny (one he plays a judge )

[@artproff]

not his best, he sure did improve his timing

[@JamesSheenOnline]

you have to remember that even though he had been doing the character since the 1950s, he had also been struggling with a drink problem. The 1976 series was the first time we saw the Edna that we developed into the latter day Edna... How I wish I could get my hands on the Russell Harty interview from 1974.. Wow, did Edna look very frumpy then! :)

[@BaronMichaelDeBlone1066]

@@JamesSheenOnline I was thinking the same as artproff before I saw the comment. But I had no idea whatsoever that the Dame Edna character went so far back. Really sorry to hear Barry had a drink problem, some of the greatest do though and get over it, very glad he persevered and carried on. I only got to see the programmes on the television occasionally (haven't owned a set for around 15 years as the overall quality plus the woke stuff was already dreadful) but I shall be making up for that now. Thanks for sharing that info and the uploads.

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@BaronMichaelDeBlone1066 much more Dame Edna to come... its good to see how Barry developed the character. I have created a very comprehensive spreadsheet of all his tv and radio appearances back to 1956... its not complete, but it's as near as damm it :)

[@grantc61]

wow. He opens with a bunch of racist jokes - and very offensive ones, at that. Simply wouldn't fly today. Despite his brilliance, there was something very bitter at the heart of his comedy.

[@JamesSheenOnline]

@grantc61 but what you have to remember, this was a time where these sort of jokes were everywhere.. Love Thy Neighbour, Will Death Us Do Part and much worse, The Black and White Minstrel Show... its easy to bemoan these attitudes, but to ignore them is equally as bad as not realising how far we have come

[@WakeUpBeforeTooLate]

I noticed ZERO jokes or anything that I would consider "racist" or "offensive" by even modern common sense standards. Common sense is the key. If I look at it through modern CRT/DEI/etc. standards then EVERYTHING is LITERALLY (liberals love the word "literally") racist.

[@soulfacey14]

People need a pat on the back for not being racist??... Okay.

[@scented-leafpelargonium3366]

​@@JamesSheenOnlineVery true.

[@gallimufry9977]

Agreed. The comedy and bitter heart evolved; the character got funnier as 'Barry' receded as Edna became even more grandiose and clueless betraying her bottomless reservoir of insecurities.