Dame Edna on DVD

[David]

More & more Dame Edna concert & TV show footage is being released on DVD & video. That should please anyone with a sense of humor.

Some of the DVDs are not all-region, so that's unfortunate for many consumers (although everyone should have an all-region DVD player by now). The big secret is that weird-region DVDs frequently play on our U.S. DVD drives in our PCs.


Here's a list I started to try to keep track of Dame Edna concert experiences:

1. The Dame Edna Experience, Volumes 1-3: These were released on Warner/BBC Video in the past year or two. Lots of rare goodies on these, including "An Audience with Dame Edna Everage" from 1980 & its two followup programs, "Another Audience with Dame Edna Everage" & "One More Audience with Dame Edna Everage," as well as TV interviews from Britain & Dame Edna's Christmas Address to the Commonwealth.

2. Dame Edna Live in Adelaide 1984: Shot at Her Majesty's Theatre in Australia, this hard-to-find DVD is a historic show from the Everage Archives of decent, watchable quality. Worth searching for.

3. Dame Edna Live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, 1989: This VHS video (PAL) runs about 88 minutes & features both Sir Les Patterson & Dame Edna in complete, uncut performances. Originally released on Virgin Video in England & Australia. I found an affordable NTSC VHS copy on eBay.



4. Dame Edna -- Back to My Roots: The cream of the crop of Dame Edna concert footage. A full 181 minutes of full, uncut performances by Dame Edna, Sir Les Patterson, Owen Steele & Sandy Stone at the State Theatre Victorian Arts Center in Melbourne on August 15, 2003. The PAL DVD is all-region, & also includes an Australian TV interview with Richard Wilkins (the guy who always interviewed Fleetwood Mac on TV) & some other TV material. The quality is outstanding & professional. Highly recommended.

5. Dame Edna -- My Gorgeous Life: Not a DVD but a CD made especially by Barry Humphries. Features Dame Edna reading her autobiography, "My Gorgeous Life." On two CDs, & available through Footlight Records in New York.

6. Dame Edna's Neighborhood Watch: Out of print, but still out there on NTSC Region 1 DVD.