Comedy is cancelled, what does that say about us?

Humour reveals its true nature by disrupting - that was what Humphries was about.

It also cannot love because it cannot truly understand the other if the other can't take the risk of saying what it really thinks.

Humphries had a third major character - the wistful Sandy Stone, "Australia's most boring man."

He was a WWII veteran, and his monologues evoked pathos, powerlessness, and loss.

Maybe Australia's best days are behind it as a new generation turns its back on the ways and attitudes that made the past great.

Sandy's pessimism will certainly be rewarded if the comedy festival set triumphs over the bequests of ANZAC Day and the generations who risked everything for the future.

We'll miss Barry as a bulwark against it, as we will the few remaining veterans who still live.