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Eddie Izzard

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Eddie Izzard
Izzard performing at the Garrick Theatre,
2 December 2008
Birth nameEdward John Izzard[1]
Born (1962-02-07) 7 February 1962 (age 62)
Colony of Aden, Aden Protectorate (now Aden, Yemen)[2]
MediumStand up, Television, Film
NationalityBritish
Years active1982–present
GenresImprovisational comedy,
Observational comedy
Subject(s)History, Celebrities, Religion, Culture, Sex
Notable works and rolesLive at the Ambassadors

Definite Article
Dress to Kill
Glorious
Circle
Lenny Bruce in Lenny
Wayne Malloy/Doug Rich in The Riches

Roman Nagel in Ocean's Thirteen
Erich Fellgiebel in Valkyrie

Mr. Kite in Across the Universe
Websiteeddieizzard.com
Template:Infobox comedian awards

Edward John "Eddie" Izzard[1] (born 7 February 1962) is an English[7] stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime. He had a starring role in the television series The Riches as Wayne Malloy and has appeared in many motion pictures such as Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, Mystery Men, Shadow of the Vampire, The Cat's Meow, Across the Universe, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Valkyrie. He is also the voice of Nigel in the 2006 animated film The Wild.

He has cited his main comedy role model as Monty Python, and John Cleese once referred to him as the "Lost Python".[3] In 2009, he completed 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief in spite of having no prior history of long distance running.[8] He is also known for his transvestism. His web site won the Yahoo People's Choice Award[9] and earned the Webby Award.[10]

Early life

Izzard was born in Aden, Yemen, then the Colony of Aden in the Aden Protectorate.[2] He was the younger son of British parents Dorothy Ella, a midwife and nurse, and Harold John Izzard, an accountant who was working in Aden with British Petroleum acording.[11][12] A year after his birth, the family moved to Bangor in Northern Ireland and lived there until he was five.[1][2][3][11] The family then moved to Skewen in south west Wales (near Swansea) where his mother died of cancer when Izzard was six and his brother Mark was eight.[1][12][13] Following his mother's death, Izzard attended boarding schools:[1][12] St John's School in Porthcawl,[4] St. Bede's Preparatory School,[citation needed] and Eastbourne College[citation needed].

Career

Early career

Izzard began to toy with comedy at the University of Sheffield with partner and student friend Rob Ballard.[5][14] After leaving his accountancy degree course, he and Ballard took their act to the streets,[5][14] often in Covent Garden.[4][15][16] After his split with Ballard, Izzard spent a great deal of the early 1980s working as a street performer in Europe and the United States. He then moved his act into the stand-up comedy venues of Britain. His first gig was at the Banana Cabaret in Balham, London.[1][17] In 1987, he made his first stage appearance at The Comedy Store, London.[3] In 1989, he met actress Sarah Townsend who was running a Fringe venue at the Edinburgh Festival.[18] He refined his material throughout the 1980s, and in the early 1990s he finally began earning some measure of recognition through his improvisation, in part at his own club "Raging Bull" in Soho.[16]

Success as a comedian

In 1991, Izzard got a spot on the Fry and Laurie produced AIDS benefit Hysteria 3, where he did his "Wolves" sketch, which broke him into the mainstream comedy circuit and television. His resultant stand-up work brought him British Comedy Awards in 1993 (for Live at the Ambassadors), a part in "Filth" which was a stand up presentation by left-wing sympathetic comedians in aid of raising money for the Terence Higgins Trust in 1994, and 1996 (for Definite Article).

In 1996, he got a part in his first United States-produced film, The Secret Agent, where he met and befriended Robin Williams. Williams already knew of Izzard's act, and discussed bringing his act to the United States. As a result, Izzard took Definite Article on a successful stint in New York City in the same year, and as a support act to Williams took Dress to Kill to San Francisco in 1998. His US breakthrough came in 1999, when Dress to Kill was shown on the American television channel HBO, about a year or so after he performed the show on tour in the US, UK and France. Suddenly, America was aware of Izzard, and the show went on to earn him two Emmy Awards in 2000 (for performance and writing).

In 1999, after complaints that his act recycled jokes appearing on his DVDs, the BBC's consumer programme Watchdog investigated Izzard's live act. Izzard explained that like most comedy performers, he used some of his most successful routines in each show. Nonetheless, Izzard was issued a warning by the Department of Trade and Industry. Since then, Izzard has rarely performed his stand-up act on television, saying that 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.[citation needed]

In 2005, Izzard used his rambling style to provide the voice-over for the British government's television advertisements promoting recycling. The tagline of the ads was "Recycle. The possibilities are endless!" Izzard also performed on stage with Scottish musician Midge Ure at Live8 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He played the piano on the song "Vienna".

In January 2006, the US television network FX announced the production of a new drama series called The Riches (formerly Low Life). Izzard and British actress Minnie Driver star as a married couple, Wayne and Dahlia Malloy, who have been part of a caravan of con-artist Irish travellers swindling their way across the US with their children. After finding another family killed in a car accident, the Malloys assume their identities and start a new life as law-abiding suburbanites in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The youngest son has shown a preference for wearing girls' clothing, leading to some speculation that the role was based upon Izzard's experiences. Izzard has stated in several interviews that the character of Sam had been given transvestite tendencies long before he was cast as Wayne Malloy, but he has contributed his perspective to keep the character believable.

Theatrical, TV and film appearances

In 1994, Izzard made his West End drama debut as the lead in the world premiere of David Mamet's The Cryptogram with Lindsay Duncan, in the production at London's Comedy Theatre. The success of that role led to his second starring role in David Beaird's black comedy 900 Oneonta. In 1995, he portrayed the title character in Christopher Marlowe's Edward II.

In 1998 Izzard appeared briefly on stage with the Monty Python team in The American Film Institute's Tribute to Monty Python (also referred to as Monty Python Live at Aspen). He walked on stage with the five surviving Pythons and he was summarily escorted off by Eric Idle and Michael Palin as he attempted to participate in a discussion about how the group got together.

Izzard portrayed comedian Lenny Bruce in the 1999 production of Julian Barry's 1971 play Lenny. In 2001, he replaced Clive Owen in Peter Nichols' 1967 play A Day in the Death of Joe Egg at the Comedy Theatre. Izzard and Victoria Hamilton then repeated their lead roles when the show was brought to Broadway in 2003, with The Roundabout Theatre Company production. The revival received four Tony Award nominations including Best Revival of a Play, Best Leading Actor and Actress for its stars Izzard and Hamilton in their Broadway debuts, and Best Direction for Laurence Boswell. In June 2010, Izzard replaced James Spader in the role of Jack Lawson in David Mamet's play Race on Broadway.[19]

Izzard has appeared in numerous films, starting with 1996's The Secret Agent. He has appeared as several real-life individuals, including Charlie Chaplin in The Cat's Meow, actor Gustav von Wangenheim in Shadow of the Vampire and General Erich Fellgiebel in Valkyrie. Other roles have included Mr. Kite in Across the Universe, Lussurioso in Revengers Tragedy and criminal expert Roman Nagel in Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen. Voice work has included the titular It in Five Children and It, Nigel in The Wild and the mouse warrior Reepicheep in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. He said in 2009 that he would not be reprising his role as Reepicheep and the role was ultimately played by Simon Pegg in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. He also had a brief appearance in James Cameron's oscar winning film, Titanic. He appeared as a cabin boy on the ship.

Izzard appeared in the BBC science fiction miniseries The Day of the Triffids based on the 1951 novel, alongside Jason Priestley, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, Dougray Scott and Brian Cox.[20] He played Dr. Hatteras, a sceptical psychology professor, in the Showtime series United States of Tara.[21]

In December 2011, he appeared in the British drama Lost Christmas as Anthony. The film was written by David Logan and John Hay. In January 2012, he appeared as Long John Silver in Sky1's adaptation of Treasure Island alongside Elijah Wood and Philip Glenister among others.

Comic style

Elliot Gould and Eddie Izzard

Izzard's style is heavily influenced by Monty Python, especially in his use of a stream-of-consciousness delivery that jumps between topics as he free associates on stage. He does not generally work from a script, owing to his dyslexia. Instead, he interrupts himself with new joke ideas, the characters he portrays turn into other characters, and he nonchalantly leaps from topic to topic. This often results in brief pauses in the routine which he fills with 'so, yeah', and other verbal tics that have become his trademarks. Thinking aloud is also part of Izzard's ongoing attempt to make the process of writing the show itself part of the humour. As he put it in a 2004 interview with The Guardian, "It's the oral tradition. Human beings have been doing it for thousands of years".[22] He frequently notes the reaction to a joke midstream by pretending to write on his hand ("Should be funnier"; "Lost them there"; "They didn't believe me"; "They didn't follow, never do that again"; "Never link those two [references] together ever again.") He asks the audience questions and verbally engages with hecklers.

Among Izzard's comic talents are mimicry and mime. He portrays God as an authority figure using the voice of James Mason and casts Sean Connery as Noah; these impersonations appear in many of his performances. Izzard also imitates activities such as sawing wood, vacuum cleaning, and mowing the lawn, anthropomorphising the machines with accents and personalities. Successful impressions, such as his Scottish clarinet teacher, Mrs. Badcrumble, become running gags which recur in different shows. He tackles topics both contemporary and historic, including frequent re-imaginings of historical events which result in scenes like 'Cake or Death: Church of England runs the Inquisition', or 'Jesus Ministers to the Dinosaurs'.

When asked about his comedy style by George Stroumboulopoulos, host of CBC Television's talk show, The Hour, Izzard described his use of history by saying,

"I just talk complete bullshit. The history, the politics, I noticed that no one was using history, so there's a lot of history lying about the place, and it's all free, and it's on Wikipedia! You know, I use Wikipedia like a crazy idiot, now. Then I take all this stuff, and I regurgitate it into a weird angle".[23]

In 2008, in his Stripped tour, Izzard began using Wikipedia itself as part of his stand-up act, reading from a live copy of an article and mocking Wikipedia's self-referential editorial style.

Traditionally, Izzard has focused on the creative possibilities of thinking through absurd situations in real time. He also turns much of the attention on himself and his personality, including his cross-dressing ("It is my manifest destiny to wear a dress on all seven continents"). Contemporary popular culture (Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc.) is also a frequent subject, brought up both to critique its weaknesses and to enhance his anecdotes.

His bent towards the surreal even went so far as to produce a sitcom called Cows in 1997 for Channel 4, a live action comedy with actors dressed in cowsuits.[24]

Transvestism

File:EddieIzzard17Oct2003.jpg
Izzard performing Sexie, 17 October 2003

Izzard started to freely talk about his transvestism in venues like Edinburgh Festival as early as 1992.[25][26] In his show, Dress to Kill, Izzard describes himself as an "executive", "action" and "professional" transvestite, as "a male tomboy" rather than a drag queen or a "weirdo" transvestite (he cites J. Edgar Hoover and Hermann Göring as examples of the latter). He regularly cross-dresses both on and off stage and makes it clear that cross-dressing is, for him, neither a part of his performance nor a sexual fetish.[citation needed] He remarks in his show Unrepeatable, "Women wear what they want and so do I". According to Izzard, "Most transvestites fancy women".[27] He dismisses claims that he is a male homosexual, saying he is "a straight transvestite or a male lesbian".[28] He has also described himself as "a lesbian trapped in a man's body",[29] transgender,[25] and "a complete boy plus half a girl".[28]

Activism

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 EU. In May 2005, he appeared on the BBC's political debate show Question Time, describing himself as a 'British-European', comparing this with 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. This pan-European approach has influenced his work: he regularly performs in French,[16][21] in which he is fluent,[15] and occasionally in German,[16] in addition to English. In July 2003, Izzard received an honorary Doctor of Letters from 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.[30]

He has also campaigned unsuccessfully against the closure of the departments of Drama and Languages, Linguistics and Translation at the University of East Anglia, although the department of Drama was later reprieved. In 1998, Izzard was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the Labour Party.[31] He appeared in a party political broadcast for the Labour Party in the run up to the 2005 general election. He donated nearly £10,000 to the party in 2008,[32] appeared again in a party political broadcast for the 2009 European election and again in a 2010 election video entitled 'Brilliant Britain'. Izzard appeared in literature to support changing the British electoral system from first-past-the-post to alternative vote for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the Alternative Vote referendum in 2011.[33] In 2011, Eddie Izzard revealed that he had political ambitions and wanted to become an MP, Mayor or MEP by 2020.[34]

On 20 July 2006, he received an honorary doctorate in Letters from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Sheffield,[35] where he spent one year on an Accounting and Financial Management course in the early 80s. During his time at the University he established the now-defunct Alternative Productions Society in the Union of Students with the aim of promoting fringe-based arts. On 4 March 2010, he was elected as the Honorary President of the University of Sheffield Students' Union.[36]

On 7 July 2007, Izzard was one of the presenters from the London leg of Live Earth. During an interview for the 2008 Stripped tour, Izzard spoke about becoming more active in European politics as well as running for political office in Europe within the next decade. Izzard added a stop in New Orleans during his 2008 Stripped tour. All proceeds from the performance of 23 June 2008 were donated to Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans.[37]

Marathons

On 27 July 2009, with only 5 weeks' training and no significant prior history of running, Izzard began seven weeks of back-to-back marathon runs (with Sundays off) across the UK to raise money for Sport Relief. He ran from London to Cardiff, to Belfast, to Edinburgh, and back to London carrying flags of England, Scotland or Wales depending on which country he was in, and carried a self-designed green flag bearing a white dove when in Northern Ireland. The blog Eddie Iz Running was a document of his road running marathon, in which he ran 43 marathons in 51 days. He completed the run on 15 September 2009, after having run at least 27 miles each day, 6 days a week for 7 weeks straight, covering more than 1,100 miles across the UK.[38] Izzard received a special award at BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2009 for his achievements.[39]

Izzard ran his final marathon in five hours and 30 seconds, narrowly outside his projected time. However, had he not stopped and waited 20 minutes for his film crew to catch up with him he could have finished well under his target time. In March 2010, Izzard took part in the Sport Relief Mile event.[40]

Following the completion of the marathon runs, Izzard has started training to take part in an Ironman Triathlon, saying he has become fascinated with fitness "because there's no point in throwing away all that training".[41]

Personal life

During his Stripped tour, Izzard said he realised he was an atheist. "I was warming the material up in New York, where one night, literally on stage, I realised I didn’t believe in God at all. I just didn’t think there was anyone upstairs."[42]

He keeps his romantic life private, saying one of the reasons is due to the wishes of his companions not wanting to become content for his show.[42] Izzard dated Sarah Townsend, the director of the documentary Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story,[15] whom he first met while she was running a Fringe venue at the Edinburgh Festival in 1989.[18]

Izzard speaks French and has performed stand up in French during his shows.[15] He also speaks German and used it in the 2001 film All the Queen's Men.

He is a supporter of Crystal Palace FC.[43]

Critical reception

On 18 March 2007, Izzard was listed as number 3 of the 100 Greatest British National Comedians (just behind Peter Kay at number 2 and Billy Connolly at number 1) as part of British television station Channel 4's ongoing 100 Greatest..., series. However in the 2010 updated version of the list he was ranked 5th[44] 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. He was number 75 in Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.

During the 1999 television special It's... the Monty Python Story,[45] which Izzard hosted, John Cleese said Izzard was the "Lost Python"; Izzard furthered that idea via his substitution for Graham Chapman in public performance of Python material with the rest of the original members of the troupe. He also made a cameo appearance in the Python reunion interview Monty Python Live At Aspen.

In 2008, Izzard received the James Joyce Award of the Literary and Historical Society of UCD, Dublin, Ireland. In March 2010, Sheffield Students' Union of the University of Sheffield overwhelmingly elected him their honorary President.

Discography and appearances

Stand-up

Stage

Filmography

TV appearances

Video game

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Ann Low, Lenny (20 January 2009). "Not just a pretty face". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  2. ^ a b c Bono (16 May 2006). "Eddie Izzard: 'We need Europe to be a melting-pot. We need to melt'". The Independent. UK. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d Sweeney, Eamon (27 November 2009). "Living the dream: Eddie Izzard". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d e Brownfield, Paul (11 June 2000). "Where He'll Stop, Nobody Knows". articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  5. ^ a b c d Appleyard, Bryan (18 July 1999). "The King of Comedy". The Sunday Times. Culture 2.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  6. ^ "Hal Sparks » FAQ". halsparks.com. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  7. ^ Marty Flanagan (8 May 2007). "Interview: Eddie Izzard". martyflanagan.com. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  8. ^ Heald, Claire (15 September 2009). "Run, Izzard, run and run again". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  9. ^ "Izzard beats bus shelter website to award". Izzard beats bus shelter website to award. London. 16 January 2004.
  10. ^ "People's Voice Winner". People's Voice Winner.
  11. ^ a b James, Caryn (16 March 2008). "Eddie Izzard's Master Plan". New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  12. ^ a b c Farndale, Nigel (30 July 2006). "I'm all boy". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  13. ^ Neil, Beth (13 August 2009). "Eddie, steady, go". Daily Mirror. UK. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  14. ^ a b Taylor, James C. (24 January 2010). "Eddie Izzard works in 'boy mode'". articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  15. ^ a b c d Burrell, Ian (16 December 2010). "Tears are never far from ruining the make-up of Eddie Izzard". The Independent. UK. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  16. ^ a b c d Dessau, Bruce (19 December 2003). "Going for bust". Evening Standard. UK. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  17. ^ Izzard, Eddie (11 February 2009). "Did You Die On Stage for Years?" (audio). Live from London: Eddie Izzard. Did You Die On Stage for Years?: itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 10 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ a b Hoggard, Liz (24 November 2010). "Interview: Sarah McGuinness, singer and producer". The Scotsman. UK. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  19. ^ Brantley, Ben (30 June 2010). "A New Team Tackles Mamet's Moral Fable of Pride, Prejudice and Susceptibility". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  20. ^ "Vanessa Redgrave to star in BBC's The Day of the Triffids". London: Telegraph. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  21. ^ a b Fienberg, Daniel (2 May 2011). "Eddie Izzard talks 'United States of Tara' and more". hitfix.com. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  22. ^ Bedell, Geraldine (3 October 2004). "'Mentally, I'm all boy – plus extra girl' | | guardian.co.uk Arts". Guardian. UK. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  23. ^ The Hour (TV-Series). Canada: CBC Television. 2007. Event occurs at 7m.
  24. ^ "cake or death: an eddie izzard site :: the biography". Auntiemomo.com. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  25. ^ a b Garfield, Simon (27 May 2001). "Frock tactics". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  26. ^ Lister, David (26 August 1992). "It's never too late in Edinburgh: David Lister stays up well past his bedtime to rub shoulders with the stars and crack jokes with the comics on a tour of festival night-spots". The Independent. UK. Retrieved 6 May 2011. Eddie Izzard, one of the hottest names on the circuit, is chatting freely about his transvestitism. 'People ask me why I wear women's dresses. But I keep telling them, they're not women's dresses. They're my dresses.'
  27. ^ Izzard, Eddie; Jordan, Lawrence (1999). Dress to Kill. WEA Corp. {{cite AV media}}: |format= requires |url= (help)
  28. ^ a b "Eddie Izzard: The tough transvestite who can take care of himself". The Independent. London. 23 May 2004. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
  29. ^ "Comic Izzard promoting life story". news.bbc.co.uk. 17 May 2004. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  30. ^ "University of East Anglia: Events and News: Eddie Izzard". 2007. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
  31. ^ "'Luvvies' for Labour". BBC News. 30 August 1998. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  32. ^ "Feature: Political celebrities". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  33. ^ "Benjamin Zephaniah 'airbrushed from Yes to AV leaflets'". BBC News. 3 April 2011.
  34. ^ Eddie Izzard Tells 'The Green Room' That He Wants to Be a Politician. The Green Room with Paul Provenza. 1 September 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  35. ^ "Latest News". Shef.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  36. ^ "Elections Results 2010". Sheffield Students' Union. Retrieved 5 March 2010. [dead link‍]
  37. ^ "Eddie Izzard Adds New Orleans to Tour; Show to Benefit Housing Services - St. Tammany Art Association - NorthShoreNOLA". Blog.nola.com. 10 June 2008. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  38. ^ "Donate and Sponsor". Comic relief. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  39. ^ "Eddie Izzard given BBC Sports Personality special award". BBC Sport. 13 December 2009. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
  40. ^ Nikkhah, Roya (21 March 2010). "Thousands prepare for mile run as Sport Relief raises record amount". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  41. ^ "Izzard To Tackle Ironman Triathlon". uk.imdb.com. 4 December 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  42. ^ a b Armstrong, Stephen (8 February 2009). "Eddie Izzard: Hollywood to House of Commons?". The Times. UK. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  43. ^ http://www.eddieizzard.com/eddie/biography/view.php?Chapter=3
  44. ^ "100 Greatest Comedy Stand-ups of All Time!". channel4.com. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  45. ^ "It's... the Monty Python Story (1999) (TV)". Imdb.com. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  46. ^ http://tvovermind.zap2it.com/cbs/the-good-wife/good-wife-season-3-episode-2-photos-promo/94418
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