Opposite Ends of the Comedy Spectrum, Pt 2

Sunday, we headed for Los Angeles -- not to take part in the Pride festivities, but to have an audience with Dame Edna Everage at the Ahmanson. Well, more like to sit in the audience at her First Last Tour. At least we managed orchestra seats.

The began with a call from Dame Edna, who was running late thanks to the LA traffic. She didn't want to waste our time so she had a short film for us to watch revealing her humble roots as an Australian housewife until she arrived. The movie told her story alright, dishing all the tawdry details of the people she stepped on to get to the top. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the entire film as Dame Edna arrived just in time, running onto the stage to rousing applause with a destroyed videotape in her hands. And after apologizing she launched into her bit, calling the audience "Possums", commenting on the venue, and finally picking on a few people in the audience. Somehow, she managed to remember each person she chose from the audience -- their names, where they were from, their occupations -- never once mistaking one for another or forgetting a person. Which helped immensely when she called them onto the stage during the last half of the show for a mock television talk show appearance.

Where Lisa Lampanelli used crude humor to get laughs, Dame Edna added a touch of upper-crust style, treating everyone as if she had deigned to perform for us, giving the little people a taste of the rich and famous. And we all loved it. Caesar and I laughed just as long and as hard as we did at the Saturday show. I'm just sad that neither of us was close enough to receive one of her signature gladiolas that she tossed into the audience toward the show's end.

Afterwards, we headed to La Parrilla for some wonderful chicken, carne asada and tripitas before braving the 710 to Long Beach.