sandy's monologues were sometimes inspired by stories recounted to humphries by friends or family, like the tale of dot swift who was handed over to the twilight home which may be the very same home, or perhaps a subsidiary of the one dame edna's mother resides in. barry humphries sometimes used the character to balance pathos with humor or satire: in one monologue having the ghost of sandy stone recall his four-year-old daughter who died in the 1930s and how his wife then suffered a breakdown. the australian columnist peter craven commented that humphries in his sandy stone persona could "reduce an audience of young unbelieving cynics to tears with material that might have been written by james joyce - delivered with wan, uncomprehending wonderment".