The Chelsea neighbourhood of Manhattan in New York City

A neighbourhood or neighborhood (see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town or suburb. Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction among members. "Researchers have not agreed on an exact definition. Neighbourhood is generally defined spatially as a specific geographic area and functionally as a set of social networks. Neighbourhoods, then, are the spatial units in which face-to-face social interactions occur – the personal settings and situations where residents seek to realise common values, socialise youth, and maintain effective social control."^[1]

Preindustrial cities[link]

In the words of the urban scholar Lewis Mumford, “Neighbourhoods, in some primitive, inchoate fashion exist wherever human beings congregate, in permanent family dwellings; and many of the functions of the city tend to be distributed naturally—that is, without any theoretical preoccupation or political direction—into neighbourhoods.” ^[2] Most of the earliest cities around the world as excavated by archaeologists have evidence for the presence of social neighbourhoods.^[3] Historical documents shed light on neighbourhood life in numerous historical preindustrial or nonwestern cities.^[4]

Neighbourhoods are typically generated by social interaction among people living near one another. In this sense they are local social units larger than households not directly under the control of city or state officials. In some preindustrial urban traditions, basic municipal functions such as protection, social regulation of births and marriages, cleaning and upkeep are handled informally by neighbourhoods and not by urban governments; this pattern is well documented for historical Islamic cities.^[5]

In addition to social neighbourhoods, most ancient and historical cities also had administrative districts used by officials for taxation, record-keeping, and social control.^[6] Administrative districts are typically larger than neighbourhoods and their boundaries may cut across neighbourhood divisions. In some cases, however, administrative districts coincided with neighbourhoods, leading to a high level of regulation of social life by officials. For example, in the T’ang period Chinese capital city Chang’an, neighbourhoods were districts and there were state officials who carefully controlled life and activity at the neighbourhood level.^[7]

Neighbourhoods in preindustrial cities often had some degree of social specialisation or differentiation. Ethnic neighbourhoods were important in many past cities and remain common in cities today. Economic specialists, including craft producers, merchants, and others, could be concentrated in neighbourhoods, and in societies with religious pluralism neighbourhoods were often specialised by religion. One factor contributing to neighbourhood distinctiveness and social cohesion in past cities was the role of rural to urban migration. This was a continual process in preindustrial cities, and migrants tended to move in with relatives and acquaintances from their rural past.^[8]

Sociology[link]

A neighborhood watch sign in Jefferson County, Colorado

Neighbourhoods have several advantages as areas for policy analysis as well as an arena for social action:

1. Neighbourhoods are common, and perhaps close to universal, since most people in urbanised areas would probably consider themselves to be living in one.
2. Neighbourhoods are convenient, and always accessible, since you are already in your neighbourhood when you walk out your door.
3. Successful neighbourhood action frequently requires little specialised technical skill, and often little or no money. Action may call for an investment of time, but material costs are often low.
4. With neighbourhood action, compared to activity on larger scales, results are more likely to be visible and quickly forthcoming. The streets are cleaner; the crosswalk is painted; the trees are planted; the festival draws a crowd.
5. Visible and swift results are indicators of success; and since success is reinforcing, the probability of subsequent neighbourhood action is increased.
6. Because neighbourhood action usually involves others, such actions create or strengthen connections and relationships with other neighbours, leading in turn to a variety of potentially positive effects, often hard to predict.
7. Over and above these community advantages, neighbourhood activity may simply be enjoyable and fun for those taking part.

But in addition to these benefits, considerable research indicates that strong and cohesive neighbourhoods and communities are linked –quite possibly causally linked – to decreases in crime, better outcomes for children, and improved physical and mental health. The social support that a strong neighbourhood may provide can serve as a buffer against various forms of adversity.

Regions[link]

This section requires expansion.

Asia[link]

China[link]

In the mainland of the People's Republic of China, the term is generally used for the urban administrative division found immediately below the district level, although an intermediate, subdistrict level exists in some cities. They are also called streets (administrative terminology may vary from city to city). Neighbourhoods encompass 2,000 to 10,000 families. Within neighbourhoods, families are grouped into smaller residential units or quarters of 100 to 600 families and supervised by a residents' committee; these are subdivided into residents' small groups of fifteen to forty families. In most urban areas of China, neighbourhood, community, residential community, residential unit, residential quarter have the same meaning: 社区 or 小区 or 居民区 or 居住区, and is the direct sublevel of a subdistrict (街道办事处), which is the direct sublevel of a district (区), which is the direct sublevel of a city (市). (See Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China)

Turkey[link]

Neighbourhood (Turkish: Mahalle) in Turkey is an administrative unit within municipalities. It does have an official status but it is not granted governmental powers. Neighbourhood is administered by the Mukhtar and the Neighbourhood Seniors Council consisting of 4 members. Although elected by the neighbourhood residents, mukhtar merely act as an administrator of the district governor. Mukhtar can voice the neighbourhood issues to the municipal governments together with the Seniors Council. Mukhtar also has a seat at the City Assembly, an umbrella organization for the coordination of the public institutions within the city. The mukhtar and the council members are elected by plurality at the local elections, but are not affiliated with the political parties. Neighbourhood administrators are compensated by the salary received from the Central Government and by the document issuing fees received from the residents.^[9]

Europe[link]

Typical Cypriot neighbourhood in Aglandjia, Nicosia, Cyprus

United Kingdom[link]

The term has no general official or statistical purpose in the United Kingdom, but is often used by local boroughs for self-chosen sub-divisions of their area for the delivery of various services and functions,^[10] or is used as an informal term to refer to a small area within a town or city. The label is commonly used to refer to organisations which relate to such a very local structure, such as neighbourhood policing^[11] or Neighbourhood watch schemes. In addition, government statistics for local areas are often referred to as neighbourhood statistics, although the data themselves are broken down usually into districts and wards for local purposes.

North America[link]

In Canada and the United States, neighbourhoods are often given official or semi-official status through neighbourhood associations, neighbourhood watches, or block watches. These may regulate such matters as lawn care and fence height, and they may provide such services as block parties, neighbourhood parks, and community security. In some other places the equivalent organisation is the parish, though a parish may have several neighbourhoods within it depending on the area.

In localities where neighbourhoods do not have an official status, questions can arise as to where one neighbourhood begins and another ends. Many cities use districts and wards as official divisions of the city, rather than traditional neighbourhood boundaries.

See also[link]

References[link]

Notes

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2010)

External links[link]

• Media related to Neighbourhoods at Wikimedia Commons

Zed Bias (born Dave Jones) is an English electronic musician who operates within the UK garage and broken beat genres, both as a producer and a DJ. Jones has also released material under the pseudonym Maddslinky, and is half of the Phuturistix duo, as well as other side projects.^[1][2]

Zed Bias is best known for his single "Neighbourhood," which reached #25 in the UK charts in July 2000.^[3] He has remixed artists ranging from Gabrielle, Kosheen, Maxim, Pharoahe Monch and the Streets.^[2] He runs the Sidestepper Recordings label.^[1][2] Zed Bias' releases which explore a more experimental or progressive side of the 2-step garage sound have been hailed as a crucial element in the establishment of dubstep as a definable sound or genre.^[4][5]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Make Your Peace (2003), Laws of Motion – As Maddslinky
• Feel It Out (2003), Hospital – As Phuturistix
• Breathe Some Light (2007), Phuture Lounge – As Phuturistix
• Experiments with Biasonics Vol. 1 (2007), Sick Trumpet
• Make A Change (2010), Tru Thoughts – As Maddslinky
• Biasonic Hotsauce: Birth of the Nanocloud (2011), Tru Thoughts

DJ mixes[link]

• Sound of the Pirates (2000), Locked On
• Bingo Beats Vol. 2 (2001), Bingo Beats

Notable singles[link]

• Neighbourhood (2000, UK #25), Locked On

• M-Flo - Been So Long (Zed Bias Remix) - 2000

See also[link]

• Phuturistix

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website,
• Biasphere Music^{[dead link]}, Zed Bias digital download store
• Experiments with Biasonics, Zed Bias podcast
• Zed Bias on Myspace
• Zed Bias discography at Discogs

This article on a British electronic musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article may contain wording that merely promotes the subject without imparting verifiable information. Please remove or replace such wording, unless you can cite independent sources that support the characterization. (June 2011)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2011)

Manu Katché
Background information
Born	(1958-10-27) 27 October 1958 (age 53)
Origin	Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France
Genres	Jazz
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, television host
Instruments	Drums, percussionist
Associated acts	Peter Gabriel, Sting
Website	www.manu-katche.com

Manu Katché (27 October 1958, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés) is a French musician of Ivorian origin. He is a drummer and songwriter.

Career[link]

Session musician

He became known by some in the music world in the mid-1980s mostly thanks to the huge success of Peter Gabriel's 1986 album So and his subsequent work with Sting on the albums …Nothing Like the Sun and The Soul Cages. Since then he has been prominently featured in the pop, rock and world music scenes playing with numerous bands and artists, including Afro Celt Sound System, Jeff Beck, Al Di Meola, Tears For Fears, Eurythmics, Simple Minds, Dire Straits, Jan Garbarek, Manu Chao, Loreena McKennitt, Youssou N'Dour, Robbie Robertson, Joan Armatrading, Joe Satriani, Tori Amos, Richard Wright, Kyle Eastwood, Ryuichi Sakamoto and the aforementioned Peter Gabriel and Sting, with whom he has also toured extensively. Manu has also worked with Zlatan Stipišić Gibonni, a popular Croatian singer, on his albums "Mirakul" (2001) and "Unca Fibre" (2006), he has also toured with Gibonni supporting the two albums. He also played drums on all tracks except one on Tracy Chapman's 1992 release "Matters of the Heart".

Band Preface

From 1985 to 1988 Manu Katche formed the band Preface, with guitar player Kamil Rustam.

Solo career

In 1992, Katche released his first solo Album, It's About Time, largely in the Rock genre. His subsequent solo releases have all been jazz. He released his second solo album on September 12, 2005 entitled Neighbourhood, which has contribution from such talents as the aforementioned Jan Garbarek on saxophone, Tomasz Stanko on trumpet, Marcin Wasilewski on piano and Slawomir Kurkiewicz on double bass. His second ECM release, Playground was released in September 2007 (see below). In March 2010, Katche released Third Round, on ECM.

From 2003 to 2007, along with producer Dove Attia, composer André Manoukian and singer Marianne James, he was one of the four judges in the TV-show "Nouvelle Star", the French version of American Idol. He was the most feared of them for his wit and his severe judgement about the groove and the rhythm of the singing contestants.

Since January 2008, Katché hosts the monthly program One Shot Not on Arte.

In August 2011 the album "Rocka the TablA" was released, featuring Manu Katché, Billy Cobham, A.R. Rahman, Hossam Ramzy & Omar Faruk Tekbilek.^[1]

Discography[link]

This section requires expansion.

[edit] As leader^[2]

• It's About Time (1992)
• Neighbourhood (2005)
• Playground (September 2007)
• Third Round (March 2010)

As sideman[link]

With Jan Garbarek

• Ragas and Sagas (ECM, 1990)
• Twelve Moons (ECM, 1992)
• Visible World (ECM, 1995)
• In Praise of Dreams (ECM, 2003)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• An information page
• Manu Katché on ECM Records

Dame Edna
at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, April 2011.
First appearance	December 1956, Victoria, Australia
Last appearance	Present
Created by	Barry Humphries
Portrayed by	Barry Humphries
Information
Nickname(s)	"Dame Edna" and "Mrs Norm Everage"
Title	Dame
Spouse(s)	Norm Everage
Children	Kenny Bruce Valmai Lois
Religion	Protestant

Dame Edna is a character created and played by Australian dadaist performer and comedian, Barry Humphries, famous for her lilac-coloured or "wisteria hue" hair and cat eye glasses or "face furniture," her favourite flower, the gladiola ("gladdies") and her boisterous greeting: "Hello Possums!" As Dame Edna, Humphries has written several books including an autobiography, My Gorgeous Life, appeared in several films and hosted several television shows (on which Humphries has also appeared as himself and other alter-egos).

Humphries has regularly updated Edna, originally a drab Melbourne, Australia housewife satirising Australian suburbia. The character adopted an increasingly outlandish wardrobe after being performed in London in the 1960s, and grew in stature and popularity. Following film appearances and an elevation to damehood in the 1970s, the character evolved to "Housewife and Superstar", then "Megastar" and finally "Gigastar". Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Dame Edna became increasingly known and popular in the U.S. after multiple stage and television appearances.

Edna describes her chat-shows as "an intimate conversation between two friends, one of whom is a lot more interesting than the other" (by which she means herself). The character has been used to satirise the cult of celebrity, class snobbery, and prudishness and is often used by Humphries to poke fun at the political leaders and fashions of the times. Her larger-than-life persona and scathing but dead-on commentary on society and celebrity, as well as her habit of treating celebrities like ordinary people (on her TV shows) and ordinary people like celebrities (in her stage shows) have become signatures.^[1]

Although Humphries freely states that Edna is a character he plays, Edna refers to Humphries as her "entrepreneur" or manager. Humphries and his staff of assistants and writers only refer to Edna as "she," and "her," never mixing the character with Humphries himself. It is this precision and richness of identity which gives Dame Edna her unique force as a character.^[2]

In March 2012, Humphries announced that the character would be retired at the end of the current stage tour.^[3]

Character Story[link]

While Dame Edna is a fictitious character whose life story has been entirely created by Barry Humphries, so complete is her identity as an individual that Macmillan published My Gorgeous Life, Edna's "autobiography" (written by Humphries but credited to Edna herself) on its non-fiction list.^[4] Humphries has also written an "Unauthorised Biography" of his life as Edna's manager: Handling Edna, published in 2010.

According to My Gorgeous Life, and statements Edna has made over the years, she was born Edna May Beazley in the city of Wagga Wagga, with a sibling who would give birth to Barry McKenzie. Everage started her stage career on 19 December 1955 as Mrs. Norm Everage, an "average Australian housewife" from Moonee Ponds, a Melbourne suburb. She spends her time visiting world leaders and jet-setting between her homes in Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Switzerland and Martha's Vineyard. She is a friend and confidante of the Queen, and has advised prime ministers and presidents. Edna once took an on-air phone call from President Ronald Reagan to assure him that he was, indeed, still the president and at recent stageshows the character has claimed to be giving Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, elocution lessons.

The character has three adult children, Bruce, Kenny, and Valmai. Her first daughter, Lois, when still an infant, went missing and was believed to have been abducted by a "rogue koala" during a family camp-out in the outback, à la Azaria Chamberlain. In Handling Edna, the Unauthorised Biography, Humphries absolves the koala of any role in the affair and reveals the true fate of Lois, who in fact survived abduction to become a Catholic nun. Edna's surviving daughter, Valmai, has assisted Dame Edna on her recent programme for ITV1, including The Dame Edna Treatment and has assisted on her live tour shows. Edna takes great pride in her two sons: Bruce, who is married to Joylene, and her youngest, Kenneth (or Kenny), who designs all of her frocks. Dame Edna refers often to him and his partner, Clifford Smale, both of whom Edna believes are searching for "Miss Right," although she admits they are looking "in some very strange places". Kenny appeared in Sir Les Patterson's documentary Les Patterson and the Great Chinese Takeaway as a boutique owner in Hong Kong. Dame Edna's mother is incarcerated in a "maximum-security twilight home for the bewildered". Valmai and Kenny are the only family members (so far) who have appeared on stage or screen with their mother. Her husband, Sir Norman Everage, died in 1988 after many years in hospital suffering from prostate problems and a "testicular murmur"; Edna founded the non-profit "Friends of the Prostate" in his honour. Dame Edna was not with Norm when he died and due to his insistence that all his organs be donated, by the time she reached his bedside Norm had been "globally recycled" and all that remained was "a dent in the pillow". As a result, Dame Edna almost believed that Norm's cremation was a "waste of money".

In recent years, Edna has demonstrated her social conscience and sensitivity, telling audiences of her intention to adopt an African child from "that country where Madonna does her shopping" for loved ones.^[5]

Dame Edna spent many years accompanied by her bridesmaid and constant companion Madge Allsop (played by Emily Perry), a New Zealander from Palmerston North who assisted Dame Edna with her appearances and television shows. (Perry died at the age of 100 in 2008 and now Dame Edna's daughter Valmai has replaced her on stage). Madge never spoke a public word (although she sang on Comic Relief), and while she was often the butt of Dame Edna's jokes, the two were devoted.^[6] In Handling Edna, the Unauthorised Biography, Humphries gives Madge a voice and explains the sad loss of her own husband in New Zealand's boiling mud, whilst the couple were on their honeymoon.

Dame Edna is praised for her insights into her homeland. When asked why Australians are so good at sport she commented "Good food and diet; open air life; juicy steaks; sunshine — and the total absence of any kind of intellectual distraction."

Dame Edna launched a campaign to be appointed as a BBC newscaster in 2009 after the corporation announced it wished to seek a female newsreader over 50 years old.^[7]

Honours[link]

Dame Edna Place at night, marked by lit signs on each wall.

On 7 March 2007 her home town, Melbourne, renamed a city street in her honour: Dame Edna Place,^[8] formerly Brown Alley off Little Collins Street, was officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, John So. Dame Edna Place is opposite Royal Arcade and The Causeway, between the major roads, Elizabeth Street and Swanston Street; it was, until its renaming, a service alley for adjoining buildings. Dame Edna was not at the renaming ceremony but was represented by ten look-alike Dames. Everage Street in suburban Moonee Ponds has also been named in her honour.

In 1982, Dame Edna's alter-ego Barry Humphries was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for "services to the theatre"^[9] and on 16 June 2007 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to entertainment.^[10]

In MAC Cosmetics 2008 Winter Line-Up, a Dame Edna collection of cosmetics were released including eye shadow, lipstick, powder, and nail polish.

A bronze statue was unveiled at Melbourne Docklands in January 2009.^[11]

Invention of the character[link]

Barry Humphries was invited to join the fledgling Union Theatre Repertory Company early in 1955 and toured Victorian country towns performing Twelfth Night, directed by Ray Lawler. On tour, Humphries invented Edna gradually as part of the entertainment for the actors during commutes between country towns. Humphries gradually developed a falsetto impersonation of a Melbourne housewife, imitating the Country Women's Association representatives who welcomed the troup in each town. At Lawler's suggestion, Mrs Everage (later named Edna after Humphries' nanny) made her first appearance in a Melbourne University's UTRC revue at the end of 1955, as the city prepared for the 1956 Olympic Games. The sketch involved a houseproud "average housewife" offering her Moonee Ponds home as an Olympic billet, spruiking her home as possessing "burgundy wall-to-wall carpets, lamington cakes and reindeers frosted on glass dining-room doors".^[12]

At this time the character was billed as "Mrs Norm Everage" (Humphries describing this name as "Everage as in 'average', husband Norm as in 'normal'")^[13] and had none of the characteristic flamboyant wardrobe of later years.

According to one author, Edna came into her own during the 1980s when the policies of Thatcherism -- and what he described as the "vindictive style of the times"-- allowed Dame Edna to sharpen her observations accordingly.^[14] Lahr wrote that Edna took Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's "seemingly hypocritical motto" of "caring and compassion" for others and turned it on its head, Edna became the voice of Humphries' outrage. ^{[14][dubious – discuss][vague]}

Stage and screen performances[link]

1950s–1999[link]

Humphries played the character at comedy clubs, satirising the atmosphere of 1950s Melbourne suburbia. An interview with "Mrs Everage" was one of the programmes screened on HSV-7's first day of programming in 1956. Another revue called Rock'n'Reel followed in 1958 at the New Theatre in Melbourne.

The character's overseas debut, now as Edna Everage, was in the early 1960s at comedian Peter Cook's nightclub, The Establishment, in London's West End, where she received a poor review from Bamber Gascoigne, then the drama critic for The Spectator. Barry Humphries cites Peter Cook as being instrumental in launching Edna's UK career.

In 1972, the character appeared as Barry McKenzie's "Aunt Edna" in the film, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie. In the sequel Barry McKenzie Holds His Own, the Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam cameos at the close of the film to confer upon Edna the title of Dame, henceforth to be known as "Dame Edna".

Following the lukewarm reception to Edna's early appearances in Humphries' 1969 stageshow "Just a Show" and the BBC television series "The Barry Humphries Scandals",^[15] a growing awareness and appreciation among British audiences for Edna emerged and Humphries devised a stage show titled Edna Everage Housewife Superstar which was successfully presented in London's West End in the mid 1970s. The show featured monologues, songs and what was becoming an Edna trademark – interaction with the theatre audience.

In April 1976, Edna made an appearance in A Poke in the Eye (with a Sharp Stick) – the first of what became Amnesty International's Secret Policeman's Ball series of benefit shows. Edna performed a song for the show and was featured in the film of the show. She also appeared in the 1981 Amnesty show The Secret Policeman's Other Ball. Edna made a cameo appearance in the 1978 film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In 1979 she was the subject of a BBC Arena mockumentary: La Dame aux Gladiolas.

Humphries debuted the character off-Broadway in New York in the late 1970s, but the show received such a poor review from the New York Times that Humphries later joked that he thought "Well, I'll go back to Broadway but I'll wait till the critic's dead – and I had to wait 25 years. I had to wait a quarter of a century for that critic to die."^[16]

Edna's success grew in the UK throughout the 1980s and early 1990s however with semi-regular television shows. Her first specials were in 1978/1979 on the BBC. Although she became popular with broadcaster ITV after her performance on An Audience With Dame Edna in 1980. She would go on to perform two more "An Audience With..." specials (in 1984 and 1988).

In 1987, Edna starred alongside Humphries's vulgar alter-ego Les Patterson in the comedy feature Les Patterson Saves the World. In the same year The Dame Edna Experience, ostensibly a talk show which she described as "really a monologue interrupted by total strangers" aired, featuring high-profile "celebrity guests" such as Sean Connery, Mel Gibson, Joan Rivers, and Germaine Greer (an old friend of Humphries'), as well as Madge, her silent, sour-faced "bridesmaid and travelling companion." In 1989, the show was back for a second season, this time taking place in her "luxury penthouse suite" where her guests stayed and, in the case of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, did her grocery shopping. Subsequently these shows were aired in the U.S. on PBS, broadening her audience and enlarging her fame. Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch a reality/game show hybrid, aired in 1992, and saw her and Madge having a look at her "by invitation only, ladies audience" member's houses, and evaluating their housekeeping skills. U.S. television specials followed, as did an unsuccessful series which aired only one episode. She appeared as a guest of Phil Donahue on his talk show on 17 February 1993.

In 1997, she appeared in another television talk show Dr Dame Edna Kisses It Better. Edna continued her Australian stage and television appearances including a record five appearances as guest presenter at the TV Week Logie Awards^[17] and a notable role as a co-narrator (along with Humphries and Les Patterson) of the ABC's Australian social history series: Barry Humphries Flashbacks in 1999.

2000–2009[link]

In 2000 and 2004, Dame Edna appeared on Broadway, and toured America with both shows. These were ostensibly not "performances", but rather "appearances", with Dame Edna giving monologues and interacting with audience members. Her 2000 show, The Royal Tour, won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show, and a Tony Award.

During 2001 and 2002, Dame Edna appeared in the fifth season of the television show Ally McBeal playing the guest role of Claire Otoms, a client of the show's law firm who later became a secretary at the same firm. The character shared Dame Edna's voice and style and was explicitly listed in the opening credits as being played by Dame Edna Everage (although Barry Humphries received a credit in the closing credits). Claire Otoms is an anagram of "A Sitcom Role".

In the 2002 motion picture Nicholas Nickleby Dame Edna plays the role of Mrs. Crummles, an actress and wife of the manager of a provincial theatre company. Barry Humphries also appears in the film as Mr. Leadville.

Dame Edna appeared at the Queen's Golden Jubilee Concert, the "Party at the Palace" in London in 2002, where she referred to the Queen as the "jubilee girl".

The nostalgic "Barry Humphries Back to my Roots" tour featured, Humphries, Edna, Sir Les and Sandy Stone around Australia in 2003.^[18]

In 2003, she had an interview punctuated with NPR Weekend Edition's host Scott Simon's table-pounding laughter.^[19]

Dame Edna featured on a billboard at the Myer department store in Melbourne

The character celebrated her 50th "birthday" in 2005. To mark the occasion, in 2006, Australia Post featured Edna on a stamp^[20] and the Lord Mayor of Melbourne presented Edna with the key to the city.^[21] She toured Australia with the stageshow "Barry Humphries Back With a Vengeance" and appeared on camera "together" with Humphries for the first time in an interview by Ray Martin for Australia's 60 Minutes.^[22] She also appeared on screen at the Closing Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games 2006 in Melbourne while 1000 "Commonwealth Dames" danced around the arena, in purple wigs, garish costumes and gladioli, singing along to her song, "We've Made The Most Of Melbourne" : "It's not as small as Adelaide, Compared to Canberra, it's bliss, And if you've been to Melbourne, You can give Sydney a miss."^[23]

On 20 May 2006 she appeared on ITV's coverage of The Prince's Trust annual fundraiser. She took part in a Blind Date themed skit, picking Chico Slimani over Roger Moore and Richard E Grant.

In the summer of 2006, Dame Edna appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno alongside Billy Crystal. On 23 September 2006, during an interview on Parkinson, she revealed that she would be returning to ITV in 2007 with a new chat show, The Dame Edna Treatment. The show began on Saturday 17 March 2007, with the set-up being that Edna runs a health spa where various famous guests come for treatment.

On Wednesday 17 December 2006, Dame Edna appeared as a guest panellist on the ABC TV Show Spicks and Specks where she sang with presenter Adam Hills. On 16 December 2007 she appeared as the final guest on the final episode of the Parkinson UK talk show. On 29 May 2008 she appeared on The Graham Norton Show alongside Ray Mears and Alanis Morissette. On 8 August 2008 she appeared on Loose Women on their final show of the series. On 12 September 2008, Monday 15 December 2008, and Wednesday 27 May 2009, she appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Accompanied by her daughter Valmai in America and Sir Les Patterson in the UK, Dame Edna again toured with what was declared My First Last Tour. On television in early 2009, she appeared in adverts to publicise the insurance company Norwich Union's change of name to Aviva, quoting her change of name from Mrs Everage. On 9 June 2009, she appeared as a guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. On 17 July 2009, she appeared as a guest on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. On an episode of The One Show in September 2009 a piece of graffiti on Sunderland's Penshaw Monument read "Edna Woz Ere 09" and a pair of Everage's signature glasses were drawn next to it. Edna performed the "Last Night of the Poms" at the Royal Albert Hall accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra on 15 September and on 21 September 2009 she appeared on the C4, Paul O'Grady Show, where she complained of a burst appendix in Australia, but said of course she was happy to be back in the UK.

2010–present[link]

Bronze statue of Dame Edna at Waterfront City, Docklands, Melbourne

In early 2010, Dame Edna collaborated with cabaret pianist and singer, Michael Feinstein for a two-person revue entitled "All About Me", based on the concept that the pair were rivals who were forced to work together for the show's sake. The show opened as the second production for the newly refurbished Henry Miller's Theatre and was planned to run from 18 March through 18 July 2010 (with previews beginning on 22 February). However, lukewarm reviews and low ticket sales led to the limited engagement being cut short and closing on 4 April 2010, after 27 previews and 20 regular performances.^[24] On 25 March 2010, she appeared on the television talk show The View as a guest host to promote the production.^[25]

On 29 April 2011, she appeared on the BBC broadcast "William and Kate: The Royal Wedding," with Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson, covering the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton at Buckingham Palace, along with Tracey Grimshaw and Kathy Lette at Westminster Abbey.

On 18 March 2012, Humphries announced he would "retire" the Dame Edna character because he was "beginning to feel a bit senior".^[3]

Discography[link]

• The Dame Edna Party Experience (Epic Records, 1988)^[26]

1. Bad / When Will I Be Famous / Layla (Alias Edna) / I Should Be So Lucky / The Locomotion / Bad 'Nice' (Reprise)
2. Waltzing Matilda (Instrumental Intro) / The Twist
3. Venus / Like A Virgin / Girls Just Want To Have Fun / Venus (Reprise)
4. Shout (Part 1)
5. Shout (Part II)
6. I Got You Babe (Who Needs You Babe) [with Sir Les Patterson]
7. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) / Stop! In The Name Of Love / Dancing In The Street / I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) (Reprise)
8. Neighbours
9. Leader Of The Pack / It's My Party

• Theme From Neighbours (Epic Records, 1988) [Produced by David Mackay]

1. Theme From Neighbours (Caring And Sharing Mix) / Spooky Christmas
2. Shout (Parts One And Two)

In 1997 Naxos released a CD in the Children's Classics series, catalogue number 8.554170.^[27]

1. S. Prokofiev: "Peter and the Wolf", Op. 67, narrated by Dame Edna Everage
2. F. Poulenc: "The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant", narrated by Barry Humphries
3. B. Britten: "The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra", Op. 34, narrated by Dame Edna Everage

Controversy[link]

In 2003 Vanity Fair magazine invited Dame Edna to write a satirical advice column. She created a storm of controversy with a piece published in the February 2003 issue. Replying to a reader who asked if she should learn Spanish, she wrote:

"Forget Spanish. There's nothing in that language worth reading except Don Quixote, and a quick listen to the CD of Man of La Mancha will take care of that ... Who speaks it that you are really desperate to talk to? The help? Your leaf blower?"

Some members of the Hispanic community read this reply as a racist remark and complaints flooded in to the magazine. Actress Salma Hayek responded angrily, penning a furious letter in which she denounced Dame Edna. After Vanity Fair received death threats, the magazine published a full-page apology to the Hispanic community.

Humphries commented later: "If you have to explain satire to someone, you might as well give up." When Dame Edna was questioned about the controversy on the eve of her 2003 Australian tour, she retorted that Hayek's denunciation was due to "professional jealousy", and that Hayek was envious because the role of painter Frida Kahlo (for which Hayek received an Oscar nomination) had originally been offered to Edna:

When I was offered the part of Frida I turned it down, and she was the second choice. I said 'I'm not playing the role of a woman with a moustache and a monobrow, and I'm not having same-sex relations on the screen' ... I'm not racist. I love all races, particularly white people. You know, I even like Roman Catholics.

References in other media[link]

Dame Edna has been mentioned on The Simpsons: in "The Regina Monologues", "Homer's Barbershop Quartet", and "HOMR."

She was also mentioned in a song, "This One's Just For You", by Australian songwriter and comedian, Kevin Bloody Wilson and impersonated by Simon Amstell on Good Morning with Anne and Nick. In an episode of The Goodies, Bill remarks upon Tim's unwise choice of love interest with "Tell you something, I'd rather have Edna Everage. At least she's a real woman!".

TV credits[link]

• Parkinson Various
• An Audience with... (1980–88)
• The Dame Edna Experience (1987–1989)
• Dame Edna's Hollywood (1991–1993)
• Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch (1992)
• WITHOUT WALLS: J'Accuse: Dame Edna Everage (1993)^[28]
• Dr Dame Edna Kisses It Better (1997)
• Ally McBeal (2001–2002)
• Nicholas Nickleby (2002)
• Dame Edna Live at the Palace (2003)
• The Dame Edna Treatment (2007)

See also[link]

• Theatre of Australia

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Lahr, John (1992). Dame Edna Everage and the Rise of Western Civilization; Backstage with Barry Humphries. United States: Farrar, Strauss, Giroux. ISBN 0-374-13456-1. 
• Everage, Dame Edna (1989). My Gorgeous Life. Australia: The Macmillan Company. ISBN 0-7329-0140-5. 

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dame Edna Everage

• Dame Edna Official Website
• The Dame Edna Treatment at itv.com
• Virtually Edna (Online Documentary & More)
• Dame Edna Street
• Dame Edna/Barry Humphries at the Internet Broadway Database