Saturday 17 December 2011

"I’ll never picnic in Mongolia."

This is post #100. You can file it under 'Tuckshop'. The Financial Times ran an interview with Barry Humphries on 9 December. Bazza, of course, is a famous ex-Melburnian who never fully acquired a taste for Aussie Rules football, though he did manage to do one or two other things, such as star in Finding Nemo, Mary & Max, and Les Patterson Saves the World.

Barry Humphries is currently rehearsing Edna’s new stage show, Dick Whittington, at the New Wimbledon Theatre. It's the Dame’s first excursion into pantomime. 

There's a fair bit about food in the interview. For instance:
He talks about an interview he did many years ago with a newspaper at the Savoy Hotel. “I could order whatever I wanted. So I ordered Oysters Tsarina. Oysters that you dip in sour cream, chopped onions and caviar. You slurp those down. And the chef came out, quite an elderly man, and he said, “I just wanted to say you’re the first person to have ordered Oysters Tsarina since von Ribbentrop.” He beams at this outrageous association with the Nazi foreign minister. Humphries is a connoisseur of provocation.
In Australia, we'd just say he was 'a bit of a stirrer'. For the benefit of those not familiar with stirrers, here's a gentle example. Dame Edna with Sean Connery, Mary Whitehouse, Cliff Richard and Madge Allsop. (As a bonus, you'll discover when Sean Connery was born... )


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