Eddie Izzard - Stripped

Synopsis

Eddie Izzard has been hailed as one of the foremost stand-ups of his generation. He takes ideas and situations and extrapolates then into bizarre, tangential, absurd and surreal comic narratives. Since his first stage appearance on London's West End in 1993 there have been a succession of sell-outs and critically acclaimed international tours. Eddie's musings have earned him countless awards including two Emmy Awards. Whilst initially renowned as a comic, Eddie is also now equally respected as a film, Theatre and TV actor.

Our Review:

24 November 2008

According to Eddie Izzard, my own personal ‘discovery’ of him is the right way round. Reputation aside, I’m familiar with him as an actor, and a stage actor at that, having seen him in the West End in 900 Oneonta, Lenny (as American comic legend Lenny Bruce) and, most recently, playing the father of a handicapped child in the 2001 revival of Peter Nichols’ drama A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, which subsequently transferred to Broadway where Izzard was nominated for a Best Actor Tony. There’s no doubt, he’s a fabulous actor.

So Izzard’s theory on people like me is that, by now letting me in on his comedy, both mediums will work best. (Those who know him as a comedian, by contrast, “find it harder to swing with both”.) I’m not sure about that, but I was certainly happy to see him back on a West End stage on press night.

Stripped marks more than a West End return for Eddie. More importantly for his comedy fans, it’s his first stand-up shows ...

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Latest User Review

Eric - 2 December 2009:

As a longtime fan of Izzard I had skepticism about his new material. Watching him slide from incredible material in Definite Article through Glorious and to eventual mediocrity in Sexie, I was secretly hoping for a triumphant return to form. In a way, this is it. His well-explored themes of religion and creationism are rampant here, as well as his erratic mimes and tangents. His gifted use of European language and erudition on a wide and weird variety of topics makes for chuckling entertainment. Unfortunately, his side rants and mimes take a little too long to reach the punchline and it seems that unless you're familiar with his previous work, you may get a little lost. It's not quite up to the par of continual belly laughs that he's given me previously, but it's far from the stony-eyed non-comedy of Sexie. On a personal trivial note, it's incredibly weird to see him in jeans and a shirt with a beard. "If there is a God, why didn't he just flick Hitler's head off?" - Handily combining previous themes of God-disbelief and Hitler hatred! ...

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