- COURTESY OF STG
- DAME EDNA
“Hullo? Happy New Year!” said the deep male voice on the other end of the phone, dripping in Australian accent. It was Sir Barry Humphries, who is, technically, Dame Edna. But in the Ednaverse, Barry (Sir Barry) and Edna exist as two distinct individuals, Barry being the Dame’s keeper and confidant. “Yes, yes. You’re calling for Edna? One moment, let me get her.” A tussle and whispering on the other end, as if he was handing the phone over. “Hulloooo!” Dame Edna’s unmistakable voice came on the line. Charming!
I was of course desperately over-prepared for our little intercontinental tête-à-tête (she was in Australia at the mo’, soon on her way to Seattle to kick off the US leg of her “Glorious Goodbye” tour), and I had a lovingly composed litany of tidy and appropriately highbrow-slash-saucy questions with which to ply the lavender-haired, cat-eyed “giga-star.” I’d read her biographies, YouTubed her relentlessly, Wikipediaed into the wee hours…
