Brian Conley & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway", and took over from Michael Ball in the musical "Hairspray" playing the role of Edna Turnblad at London's Shaftesbury Theatre. He also played the same role in the UK Tour of "Hairspray", sharing the role with Michael Ball and actor Michael Starke, at selected UK venues. He has also partaken in his own live show, "The Best of Brian Conley", which showcases 'the best' of Brian's material from his past shows, interspersed with occasional showreels of either Larry the Loafer, Dangerous Brian (depending on who Brian is about to come on stage as) or a
Dame Edna Everage 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", 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