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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Sir Les Patterson Has a Stand-Up: Live and Rampant

Barry Humphries

EMI · 1996 · 72 min

Australia's cultural attaché hosts a crude seminar for dysfunctional drinkers.

Barry Humphries slips into the stained teeth, loud tie, and prosthetic gut of Sir Les Patterson to host what he bills as a “sex education video for troubled adults and dysfunctional drinkers”. Backed by a troupe of dancers known as the Lesettes, Australia’s lecherous cultural attaché holds court on topics entirely unsuited for diplomacy. He doles out advice on Bangkok massage parlors, explains the proper way to inspect the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and details a trip to “Tuna Town”.

Filmed at London’s Whitehall Theatre and released on VHS in 1996, the performance arrived just as character comedy was seeing a resurgence at the Edinburgh Fringe. Humphries leans fully into Patterson’s physicality and unearned confidence. He claims personal credit for securing the Sydney 2000 Olympics and performs musical numbers about his fitness regime and getting colonic irrigation with Princess Diana. Critics at the time directed younger comedians to the Whitehall to see how high-level character work was actually executed, noting the sheer scale of the grotesque persona.

The set list

3 bits

  1. Visiting a Bangkok 'Rub & Tug' shop, inspecting ceilings in the Sistine Chapel, and touring 'Tuna Town'

    Presented as part of his hard-core live sex education guide for troubled adults.

  2. Securing the 2000 Olympic Games for Sydney, dealing with the French, and cheering up Little Di

    Diplomatic boasts executed through Patterson's crude, politically incorrect lens.

  3. Teaching audiences how to make a woman happy with assistance from the Lesettes

    Song-and-dance prancing accompanied by his research assistants ('a smörgasbord of hornbags').

How it plays

Tone
Lyrically obscene, scatological, bawdy, and satirical.
On stage
Dr Sir Leslie Colin Patterson: a lecherous, obese, loud-mouthed, uncultured Australian diplomat with food stains, grotesque teeth, padded pants, and continuous drooling.
Pace
High-intensity gag delivery paired with exaggerated, grotesque physical mannerisms including tackle rearrangements, anal scratching, and slopping drinks.
About
Sex education, Diplomatic exploits, Excessive drinking, Sexuality and romance

What the critics said

Hailed by The Independent as a character comedy masterclass, highlighting Humphries' attention to detail, high joke density, and inventive lyrical obscenity that transcended gratuitous filth.

In the room: Delighted by the lyrical obscenity and grotesque energy despite front-row attendees facing frequent showers of saliva and spittle.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: sirlespatterson.com, letterboxd.com, en.wikipedia.org, castalbums.org, independent.co.uk, themoviebrowser.com, variety.com, en.m.wikipedia.org, australiantimes.co.uk.

Backstory

Staged in London in June–July 1996 to specifically satisfy fans of Les Patterson's earthy humour, presented in character as a live sex education video for troubled adults and dysfunctional drinkers.

Details

Released
Taped
Whitehall Theatre, London
Runtime
72 min
Where
EMI
Director
Brian Klein
Topics

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