Eddie Izzard: Stripped

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 since Sexie five years ago, and it comes to London – for an already sold-out 23 nights only – after critical success in the States, where Izzard now spends most of his time.

The title of the new show refers, on a personal level, to the fact that this famous transvestite has removed makeup (well, most of it) and other accessories and reverted to “boy mode” for this tour. On a bigger, thematic level, it’s about “stripping back the layers of religion” to debunk myths and prove “if there is a god, then his plans are crap”.

“Let’s talk about everything that’s ever happened,” Izzard suggests at the top of the show, before taking us through a very potted history of the (largely ancient) world from dinosaurs through the Stone Age, the Romans and Biblical times (aside from the impossibility of gathering pairs of every animal, Noah’s Ark would never have worked because – think about it – the lions and tigers would have eaten all the others after 40 days and nights). The modern world gets a look-in through Izzard’s odes to Wikipedia, itunes and light sabre antics on his iphone.

Izzard’s trademark rambling through a bunch of “weird, surreal shit” may sometimes stray too far off the mark here, but you’re happy to stray with him with his anthropomorphic role play (giraffe charades anyone?), miming and general silliness providing steady chuckles and constant distraction. Never mind how the punchlines fall, Izzard is the joke, and it’s a good one.

Still – and I’m not sure this is the point – seeing this naturally gifted performer live and in full flow, did make me yearn more than ever to see him back in the West End properly. After David Tennant and Jude Law, perhaps Eddie Izzard’s Hamlet? Now there’s a thought.

– by Terri Paddock