Gareth's Culture and Travel Blog

I wasn’t planning on going to this. The revival of The Last Night of the Poms had been a huge disappointment and Dame Edna was seriously off form in the Wimbledon panto. Then the reviews of this were published…..

In the first half we got Les Patterson, cruder than ever, and for the first time his brother – somewhat topically, a kiddie fiddling gay priest! Finally, the return of the ghost of Sandy Stone, less poignant than before but a nice contrast.

Her Dameness took the whole of the second half and even though it was the same old stuff (though even more politically incorrect in 2013), with a handful of audience members involved and a telephone call to a participant’s mother (with the added twist of announcing her son’s onstage marriage – but she was in Brisbane and not at home and we had to leave a message!), it was good fun and great to see one last time. In a lovely, surprisingly moving, touch Barry Humphries took a curtain call himself and made a short speech.

He’s right to bow out now. There were a few forgetful moments, perfectly forgivable, but people might be less forgiving should he continue and they multiply. He’s going out on a high and I will remember his creations with great fondness and a wry smile – in a spooky sort of way, possums. Go say goodbye yourself to Dame Edna Everage, one of the great comic creations of all time.