More Please: An Autobiography

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Barry Humphries in the character of Mrs Everage (1969) by John Brack Archived 16 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine, artgallery. As the character evolved, Edna's unseen family became an integral part of the satire, particularly the travails of her disabled husband Norm, who had an almost lifelong onslaught of an unspecified prostate ailment.

In 1997 Humphries reprised the role of Fagin in Cameron Mackintosh's award-winning revival at the London Palladium. When Humphries was a guest on the BBC's Desert Island Discs radio programme in 2009, he made the following choices: " Mir ist die Ehre widerfahren" from Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier; Gershwin's "Things are Looking Up" sung by Fred Astaire; "Love Song" composed by Josef Suk; "On Mother Kelly's Doorstep" sung by Randolph Sutton; " Der Leiermann" from Schubert's Winterreise song cycle; the 2nd movement of Poulenc's Flute Sonata; Mischa Spoliansky's " Auf Wiedersehen"; and "They are not long the weeping and the laughter" from Delius' Songs of Sunset.Another artistic production undertaken at this time was a 1972 collaboration between Humphries and the Australian composer Nigel Butterley. His early home life set the pattern for his eventual stage career; his father in particular spent little time with him and Humphries spent hours playing at dressing-up in the back garden.

Dan Ilic of Time Out Sydney stated that Humphries delivered "a show that almost feels like a blue print for the foundations for the last fifty years of Australian comedy". The wrapper on this copy is bright, unclipped and complete with inconsequential rubbing to the spine ends.Her outlandish spectacles were inspired by the glasses worn by the Melbourne eccentric, actor and dancer Stephanie Deste, as were many other aspects of Dame Edna's personality.