Dame Edna Lives! In the Past.

I just had the pleasure of seeing the first of what I hope will be at least one other live Dame Edna Everage shows, this one being last night's premiere at the Ahmandson Theater in Downtown Los Angeles. I took the train with my friend Kevin from Highland to Civic Center (also known as my daily commute to a temp job this time last year - *sigh*) and got in the cheap way, in the stand-by line. It's a good thing that neither of us were singled out by Dame Edna, or else our zero-dollar admission fee would have come out and we would have been reamed over the coals by herself and the audience.

With extremely minimal prior exposure to all things Dame Edna, I had only a rough idea of what to expect, so I certainly can't say I was disappointed on any level by the show. Dame Edna, aka Barry Humphries, is incredibly talented, so sharp-witted in his interactions with the audience and so wholly that character that you forget it's a man under that purple bouffant and the pair of winged glasses. The character of Dame Edna goes deeper than drag, deeper than camp, to a place we all know and, I'll say it, identify with. We each know a Dame Edna one way or another, and we each want to be her a little.

One highlight I would like to preserve for forever, occurred early on in the show. Edna had singled out a woman in the audience, and was trying to torture some audience participation out of her, when another (much younger) woman in the exact same seating area got up and tried to sneak out of the audience to use the restroom. Edna stopped and everyone in the audience laughed until the the girl realized she was on the spot and tried to reason her way out without getting heckled by the Dame. After the girl left, Edna suggested that everyone in the audience ask the girl in unison once she got back if she was "Feeling Better?" They did.

Dame Edna's performance was, as I said, a premiere, in this case for a tour called 'My First Last Tour.' I'm hopeful that I'll have more opportunities to see him him on further last tours. Maybe I'll finally get a Gladdy thrown directly at me in such a way that I can actually catch it, not wince as it whistles through the air towards me like the Confederate standard in O Brother Where Art Thou.

This entry is a two parter, Possums. For a while, there is a particular snapshot in my collection that I've been meaning to upload and share with all (both) of you who actually might be reading this. A mixture of (to a much greater extent) laziness and (to a lesser extent) waiting for the right moment-ness has brought us to the unveiling of this fantastic little chestnut from Melrose/Fairfax discard bins.


Voila! Dame Edna's sullen twin.

The back of this photo reads "Aug. 2, 1924" in black fountain pen cursive. Then just below that in scratchy blue ink is written "Mary Sandefer; My Grandmother; Take In N.M." This would normally be a 'bad idea' post but I've really grown fond of this glum woman with her rumpled, complicated and very stylish outfit. She's also making a bit of a Dame Edna face. Mary Sandefer, I'm glad that chance and posterity have brought us together.