I came to him late in life. I'm from America. This man is an absolute comic genius. Honestly. It takes a great deal of talent to be able to carry even an interview like this in the manner that he did. I just heard he passed and this is obviously a great loss to many people. I just get this feeling this man was beloved both personally, and in all his comedic incarnations. This is such a great loss. I think. To the comic world especially.
And mostly Barry does his shows without swearing. That, in itself, is comic genius, and a novelty nowadays. He picks up on an interviewer's question, and brilliantly makes a meal of it, his sharp wit was endless. That is a trait of all great comedians. I grew up with various stages of Barry's creations..Dame Edna, Sir Les Patterson, Sandy Stone, and others. If you get a chance, check out some of his old vids of the various evolutions of his characters. Sadly, Barry, and his creations are no more. He will be missed by Australians, and those who enjoyed Barry's talents, around the world. I think the state of Victoria is giving him a state funeral. And so it should. We have lost a lot of great Australian artists this last year and a bit: Judith Durham, Olivia Newton-John, and now Barry Humphries. It's all a bit too much really. Being a proud Aussie, I have to be deliberately biased in my comments...lol. I'm glad you, as an American, enjoyed him too.
Early in his career there was a severe cringe from him in Australia. His characters played on negative Australian stereotypes and we weren't ready to laugh at his reflections of us, much less enjoy others laughing. But he won us over and made us a bit more sophisticated in the process, more at ease with who we were in the world. For all his sociopolitical comic genius, I think his greatest legacy is how he changed Australian culture in its relationship to the rest of the world and thus at home. We've lost one of our great souls.
@@hisheroship yes, when it was in cinemas in 87. They used the term Diplomat there simply because Americans understood it but he was always referring to himself as Cultural Attaché to the Court of St James and Chairperson of the Australian Chapter of the International Cheese Board ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-w8N_cufjGrU.html
Gloriously funny, inventive, and offensive. A perfect example of take no prisoners comedy. R.I.P. Barry. It was truly a pleasure knowing Sir Les and the Dame herself.
Every single time, he managed to ramp up his appearances with the jokes gradually building. Yet somehow stayed on the right side of things. A true comedy great.
I was on a Swiss Air flight some twenty years ago reading Sir Les Patterson's book on global travel. I was crying with laughter at the jokes, innuendo and some good old fashioned Aussie blue slang when one of the cabin stewardesses asked me what was so funny. I explained, she borrowed the book for about ten minutes and then returned with a male colleague. They asked me amid their laughter where could they buy a copy. I told them and can only imagine WH Smith's at Heathrow had an absolute bumper sales day! Crude maybe but incredibly funny. RIP Barry.
At 5:49 even sir Les get's out of his scheme! And laughs his heart out! What a wonderful comedian! What a performer! I just love sir Les! And I'm a norwegian; just found this gorgeous man a couple of years ago! Just one word: Splendid!
my mother an i saw sir les live at a theatre in sydney australia a long time ago... we were in row 4 or 5 and my mother noticed what he had in his pants... she kept looking at it... soooo sir les walked to the edge of the stage and spoke to her as he was scratching himself thru his trousers.... it was all she spoke about for months... it was a great stage show live... these clips do not show just how funny and rude he was
I saw him at the Town Hall in Sydney in the early 1980s. It was called An Evening's Intercourse with Barry Humphries, I still have the program book. I remember Sir Les scratching his hand around in his pocket and slobbering and spitting when he spoke! So funny
Not really. A right-wing media initially planted this idea and now there's a general obsession with thinking that people are offended - they really aren't.
Stands paramount above the chasing pack! Always brilliant intelligent humour. Soon to be gone no doubt from youtube, facebook and others as the world thought police, the self elected neighbourhood conscience spokespeople, along with the Zuckerberg community standards brigade, and the mambie-pambies cry foul! A curse on them all should this happen!
