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Eddie Izzard

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Eddie Izzard (born February 7, 1962) is a British cross-dressing stand-up comedian and actor. As a comedian, he has a style of rambling, surreal monologue. He has turned his attention to acting as well as maintaining his demanding touring schedule.

Contents

Career

Early Years

Izzard was born Edward John Izzard in Aden, Yemen, and is the youngest son of Harold John and Ella Izzard. In 1963, shortly before Britain abandoned the capital of Aden, the Izzards moved to Northern Ireland. He lived in Bangor, County Down until 1967, when troubles started brewing there as well, and the family moved to Skewen, Wales, and Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, England, where he studied at Eastbourne College. His mother died in March, 1968, of cancer.

Izzard found some degree of solace in comedy after the death of his mother. He drew particular comfort from the works of Monty Python, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, and the early Benny Hill. He began to toy with stand-up at college and, after being ingloriously kicked out of school, he took his act to the streets. Having spent a great deal of the 1980s working as a street performer in Europe and the United States, Izzard moved his act into the standup comedy venues in Britain, first appearing at The Comedy Store in London in 1987. He refined his material throughout the '80s, and in the early '90s, he finally began earning some measure of recognition, though originally he did not perform in women's clothing.

He has often expressed his strong admiration for the late comedian and social critic, Bill Hicks.

He has also expressed interest in fatherhood, though marriage is "a definite maybe".

Stardom

His stand-up work brought him British Comedy Awards in 1993 (for Live at the Ambassadors) and 1996 (for Definite Article). After the British leg of the tour, he took Definite Article to major cities outside the UK including a successful stint in New York City. However, his US breakthrough did not really come until 1999, when Dress to Kill was shown on American television channel HBO, about a year or so after performing the show in America, England, and France. Suddenly, America was aware of Izzard, and the show went on to earn Izzard two Emmy Awards in 2000 (for performance and writing). He only rarely appears on television, as he says it uses up material at too high a rate, whereas stage material can be continually re-used in front of different audiences for several months.

In January 2006, the U.S. television network F/X announced the production of a new drama series (co-written by Izzard) called Low Life. Izzard and British actress Minnie Driver star as a married couple, Wayne and Dahlia Malone, who have been part of a caravan of con-artist Irish travellers swindling their way across the States. As the series begins, Dahlia has just been released from jail, and the Malones decide to start a new life with their children as law-abiding suburbanites in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

He also performed with Scottish musician Midge Ure at Live8 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He played the piano accompaniment for the song, "Vienna".

Comedic style

Izzard states that he does not write any of his material down, stating in a 2004 interview with The Guardian; "It's the oral tradition. Human beings have been doing it for thousands of years" [link]). Because he is often thinking on his feet he tends to use protracted pauses which he fills by saying "So... yeah...", "and... uh" or "Ummm... ahhh... yeah" so as to allow him the time to remember what he will say next. These mannerisms have now become something of a trademark of Izzard. This also allows the audience to catch up with his train of thought or to picture his bizarre imagery.

Izzard's style is heavily influenced by Monty Python, from the characters used to the stream of consciousness structure of the material. Occasionally, this stream of consciousness loses the audience. He often replies to this by holding up an imaginary pad and pen and writing "Lost them there", "Never link these two together again" or something to that effect. However, occasionally Izzard simply jumps from one subject to another using comedic non sequiturs, allowing the audience to laugh at the way he has connected two completely unrelated topics.

Izzard is a skilled mime artist and uses mimes frequently in his act. Occasionally he will make fun of his own mimes, for example he once compared his mime of sawing wood (complete with sound effects) to punching a baboon in the face.

Izzard also uses various characters in his act. Often these characters interact, with Izzard playing both parts. He will also allow the characters to be removed from the sketch and comment on the joke ("no, that's the wrong punchline, you can't use that") or the audience reaction ("they groaned at that joke, do you realise that?"). Certain characters have gained infamy amongst fans and are reworked into material the audience initially found funny in his acts, such as his Scottish clarinet teacher Mrs. Badcrumble, and badgers with guns. Also, there is the famous line, "Hod-de-de-de!" which is used to describe the sound unmotorised vacuum cleaners make and Izzard uses it to describe what the Greeks where doing inside the Trojan Horse (cleaning) when they were found. Another famous character is God, representing a hapless and dithering or authority figure, but who is always voiced by Izzard's impression of James Mason. An impression of Sean Connery is also used, whose character — which has ranged from Noah (of Noah's Ark fame) to Henry VIII — sometimes interacts with the Mason character.

Cross-Dressing

Izzard in female clothing on the cover of the Circle DVD (2002)
Enlarge
Izzard in female clothing on the cover of the Circle DVD (2002)

Izzard describes himself as an 'executive' or 'action' transvestite and as 'a male tomboy', rather than a "weirdo" transvestite (Izzard uses J. Edgar Hoover as an example of the latter). He regularly cross-dresses both on and off stage and makes it clear that cross-dressing is, for him, not a sexual thing – he simply enjoys wearing make-up and clothing which is traditionally perceived in the West as female-only. He dismisses claims that he is homosexual, saying he is either a straight transvestite or a "male lesbian". He has also described himself as "a lesbian trapped in a man's body", but this is not generally taken to mean that he actually identifies as a transgender lesbian.

Campaigning

Izzard has engaged in campaigning work. He is especially well-known as a pro-European Union campaigner supporting the further integration of the UK into the Union. In May 2005 he appeared on the BBC's political debate show Question Time, describing himself as a 'British-European', comparing it to other cultural identities such as 'African-American'. As part of his integration campaigning, he was one of the first people to spend a Euro in London. His pan-European approach has influenced his work: he regularly performs in French, an acquired language, and occasionally in German, in addition to English.

In July 2003, Izzard was made an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England for 'pro-Europe campaigning', 'his contribution to promoting modern languages and tolerance of other cultures and lifestyles' and for having 'transcended national barriers' with his humour.

He has also campaigned to oppose the closure of the departments of Drama and of Languages, Linguistics and Translation at the University of East Anglia.

On July 19, 2006 he will be receiving an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Sheffield[link].

Critical reception

In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, Izzard was voted amongst the top 20 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

In Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time, he was number 75.

During the 1999 television special [It's... the Monty Python Story] which Izzard hosted, John Cleese said Izzard was the "Lost Python".

Discography & Appearances

Stand-up

Filmography

TV appearances

See also

External links

Interviews and articles

 

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