'First The Ashes, Now This': Dame Edna's Comeback Show Gets A Pasting

'First The Ashes, Now This': Dame Edna's Comeback Show Gets A Pasting

17 September, 2009
by: Spoonfed Team

Dame Edna's first live show in Britain for ten years has been panned by critics after a disastrous musical format led to many of the audience leaving before the end.

Last Night Of The Poms, Barry Humphries' 1982 comedy and classical music show (did this ever sound fun?) has recently been reborn into a 2009 tour; although tellingly, the dates have been cut from 13 to 5. The first gig held on Tuesday evening at the Royal Albert Hall, was a flop; with almost every London critic awarding it two stars.The problem seemed to arise not with Humphries' character creations or stand-up itself (indeed many of his one-liners were applauded), but with his vocal accompaniment to the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.

The London Paper's James Gill said: 'Everage's whining, nasally din is glorious when cracking gags: it's part of the endearing nastiness. But as a singing voice? It's tantamount to torture', while Brian Logan from The Guardian concluded:'The musical format squanders Humphries' trump cards of spontaneity and anarchy'.

Although tickets cost up to £65, many of the audience reportedly left before the end of the show. The Evening Standard's Bruce Dessau indulged in further press aussie-baiting with his comment: 'First the Ashes, now this. It has not been a good summer for visiting Australians.'


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Spoonfed Team