Intelligent Design

From Live at Madison Square Garden DVD

More Eddie Izzard videos

Born in Yemen, Eddie Izzard moved to Northern Ireland when he was about two, then to south Wales in 1967. His mother died of cancer in March 1968, when he was six, and he has frequently cited her early death as a reason for going into stand-up.

He began as a street performer in the Eighties, having been being kicked off his accountancy course at Sheffield University, and then moved into the stand-up circuit. His first appearance at The Comedy Store was in 1987.

He was nominated for the Perrier in 1991, the same year he won a Time Out Comedy Award, and in 1993, he was named top stand-up at the British Comedy Award for Live At The Ambassadors – which was also nominated for an Oliver theatre award. He scooped the same British Comedy Award three years later for his second show, Definite Article.

He followed that up with the shows Glorious and Dress To Kill, which was to prove his breakthrough in America. First performed in 1997, it aired on HBO two years later, winning him two Emmy Awards for performance and writing. In 2000, he cemented his reputation in the US by touring the country with the show Circle.

In 2001, he hosted the Amnesy Benefit We Know Where You Live! at Wembley Arena, and in 2003 embarked on a world tour of a new show, Sexie. His latest show, Stripped, began with a 34-city American tour in 2008, before transferring to the West End for a five-week run, ahead of its tour of the UK in late 2009.

Early in his career, Izzard took a famously offhand approach to television, turning down most appearances. Although in 1997, he wrote the sitcom Cows for Channel 4, about a family of bovines, played by humans in prostethics. But the surreal show was critically panned.

Alongside his comedy, Izzard has developed a straight acting career, that has spanned TV, film and stage.

In 1994, Izzard made his West End drama debut as the lead in David Mamet's The Cryptogram, which was followed by starring roles in David Beaird's black comedy 900 Oneonta and Christopher Marlowe's Edward II. Izzard portrayed Lenny Bruce in the 1999 revival of Julian Barry's biographical play Lenny, and two years later he starred in another West End revival, A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg – a role he reprised on Broadway in 2003, earning him a Tony Award nomination.

He made his film debut in 1996, when he appeared in both the Damien Hirst short film Hanging Around and a movie adaptation of Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent. Other early notable movie appearances include Velvet Goldmine, The Avengers, Mystery Men, All The Queen's Men, and The Cat's Meow, n which he played Charlie Chaplin. In 2003 he starred on TV as testosterone-fuelled Ralph in the three-part Channel 4 drama 40.

His stock as an actor rose further with an appearance in the blockbuster squel Ocean's Twelve in 2004; and in 2006, he landed his biggest American break, co-starring with Minnie Driver in the FX drama series the Riches, about a family of con artists trying to go straight after assuming the identity of a suburban couple, which ran until 2008.

Further major roles include Ocean's Thirteen in 2007, and his starring role opposite Tom Cruise in the 2008 wartime action film Valkyrie.

Izzard is also passionate about issues including history, European integration and the environment. In 2003 he fronted the Discovery Channel documentary series Mongrel Nation. aboutEnglish identity, has long spoken about becoming more active in European politics, and appeared in a 2005 party political broadcast for the Labour Party, to which he has donated more than £10,000.

Laughs In The Park
Live Review
St Albans Verulamium Park

It was a brave idea… which everyone knows is usually a euphemism for ‘stupid’. Bring 66 trucks worth of kit to a park in the Home Counties and set up Britain’s first outdoor comedy festival, with not even a tent for cover. Oh, and hold it in late September, when nights aren’t exactly known for being balmy.

But in the end, the experiment worked, albeit on the whim of the elements. With temperatures at shiver-inducing 9C or so, these wasn’t the most comfortable conditions – but the rain held off, as that could so easily have rendered Laughs In The Park a distinctly miserable experience for the 5,000 or so people the site holds each night.

Producer Mick Perrin did everything in his power to ensure the experience worked. The staging was bold but effective, a triptych of pin-sharp giant screens framing the miniscule figure centre stage in a set-up Citizen Kane would envy, especially the vertical ones either side. And the sound was as precise as the images, with a clarity even purpose-built arenas often fail to deliver.

Enough about the technology; as the line-up was quite some draw: Eddie Izzard, Dylan Moran and Reginald D Hunter sharing the same bill over three nights. Under a bright full moon and menacing clouds, Izzard introduced each section and, naturally, headlined. The council-imposed curfew meant he had to limit his material; and in the end had to confine himself to the entirety of history, from dinosaurs to Dickens… even if he’s a little sketchy on some of the finer details.

As usual, he tackled big ideas through wonderfully daft comedy – a winning mix of steely rationalism with flighty surrealism. His assertion that God must be a human invention since he post-dates language is made by demonstrating how the Ten Commandments would be communicated by charade, for instance. On a similarly biblical theme, his demolition of the Noah’s Ark myth is masterful, knocking Ricky Gervais’s version of same into a cocked hat.

Izzard famously once performed a gig in French, and tonight he attempted another language – Latin, although he hasn’t really done his homework and takes diabolical liberties with the vocabulary. It’s a sublimely funny segment, standing out even among the high standard of Izzard’s recent return to form, ably continued tonight.

Dylan Moran opened the evening. It seems to have been too long since we’ve seen him on stage, though he toured just a couple of years ago. That’s probably because the opinionated grumbler always has something to say, so it’s unlikely to imagine anyone could have too much Moran.

His insights tonight covered the haphazard way we pair off into couples, the lack of respect he gets from his listless children, and the reality of a mature relationship – described with such perfect frustrated aggression to match his emotions.

The way he expresses such thoughts are so distinctively precise, even though they are delivered with his apparently languid style. He frequently appears to fluster around in a struggle for the metaphor, before barking out something apparently random, but that actually succinctly describes the ridiculousness of the human condition. Or at least his condition, as a sour grouch who wants to be left alone in quiet respect that he’s never going to get. He’s not exactly a rock-and-roll comic, but he had the audience – of maybe three-quarters capacity – hanging on his every word.

On this peculiarly illustrious bill, Reginald D Hunter may have been the least high-profile, but he brought his A-game to the park, and also held the audience rapt by his provocative philosophising. His shtick of couching contentious opinions in the bubble-wrap of Deep South charm, his arguments justified with a calmly logical insight, makes for fascinating listening.

His rich voice evokes late nights by the campfire – and boy, could we have done with one of those on the edge of St Albans tonight – as he puts forth his witty opinions on the world, by which I largely mean ‘women’, in a form of verbal essay. The process throws up some pithily quotable aphorisms, backed up by plenty of thought-provoking supporting evidence, making Hunter another fine choice for this unique bill.

Could Laughs In The Park indicate the next stage in the comedy boom, as it encroaches ever further into territories traditionally occupied by music? Quite possibly; if you could ensure future festival-style shows have a line-up as strong as this. And, of course, if you can get good, or at least not dismal, weather.

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Laughs in the Park 2011... Went Sunday this year and though as well organised as last year's event We and many many many others thought that Eddie should have come up with some NEW material. We find it hard to believe that if Eddie wants to bring comedy to the masses he feels that churning out the same ole same ole for the last two years is going to keep his fans enthused. We have seen Mr Izzard at the 02, also at LITP 2010 and now at LITP 2011 and unless he has a bit more respect for his fans by adding at least a modicum of new material we will be giving Laughs In The Park 3 a miss.

Tom & The Wife 2011, July 2011

Saw this event on Sat, well organised and impressed, Eddies warm up and interval slots far outweighed his main session as it seemed 90% of Stripped, which we had already seen at the O2, so more fresh material, rather than roaring dinosaurs and the ark/lion (though still top class stuff) would have been prefered. Dylan Moran (who I have only ever seen in Black Books)performed a hard done by grumpy middle aged man routine which went down well(we too, do not want to be shown around other peoples houses looking at their crap!) but I have to say on this occassion Reg D hunter stole the show for out and out belly laughs. I would watch them all again in a heartbeat and I only hope more of these events go on.

Tom & The wife, September 2010

Saw the show in St Albans, Eddie recycled his "history of the world" act, Dylan Moran was brilliant and Reg D Hunter was clever, but a bit too political for my taste

Dylan Moran fan, September 2010

Saw Eddie tonight in Liverpool. Good, but not worth the £30. Most of the set was mumbled ramblings and the same callbacks over and over again - I know that's pretty much his shtick, but the difference is, it used to be funny, and wasn't the basis of the WHOLE show. Disappointment.

Chris, November 2009

Saw Eddie live at the Secret Policeman's Ball. Magnificent! Had loads of people around me cracking up. I felt that, on a tour I saw him on a couple of years back, he was improvising too much. This routine was back to a more structured feel. He's now back in the no. 1 slot of my favourite comedians. Looking forward to seeing him again!

Steve, October 2008

I've been a fan of Eddie for years and was lucky enough to see him live a few years back. He is truly one of the funniest men out there and is amazing at what he does. Legend!

Stephanie Plowman, February 2008

You can't do justice to Eddie by talking about him, you have to see him live. Just be careful you don't die laughing. The funniest thing alive.

Michael Monkhouse, September 2007

Went to see Eddie Izzard perform a teaser show at the Arts Club in London, and I have to say that I thought he might have lost it ever since Circle and Sexie, but this was an incredible return to form. I've never laughed so hard or long at a live comedy gig, and I was crying for a large amount of time. Finest stand-up alive.

Steve, July 2007

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