Free For All Friday: Eddie Izzard

Comedians aren't usually my cup of tea. I'm not one who will have videos of Dave Chappelle's tours or seek out the local comedy clubs but Eddie Izzard is definitely my exception to that rule. Way back when I was an undergrad I was taking a British history course and my professor (who was before this moment and will always be one of my favorites) played a clip from Eddie Izzard's Dress to Kill ...  

As a freshman history major how can you not think that was the most hilarious thing ever!? After seeing this clip I went back and talked to my friends on the other dorm wing. My friend Julie then shared that she actually had the Dress to Kill dvd! Of course we all know what happened next ... movie night! It was amazing. 

Eddie is a British comedian, born in Yemen and moved around to a number of places in the British Isles during his childhood. He started to toy with comedy during his time at University of Sheffield. In the 1980's he would perform on the streets of the United States and Europe. After improving his material, earning some props doing stand up in Soho, and breaking into mainstream comedy through his performance on the AIDS benefit Hysteria 3 Eddie's career took off from there. Meeting and becoming friends with Robin Williams on the set of The Secret Agent, he then took Definite Article on the road with Williams. Since then he has appeared in a number of movies and TV shows including the FX drama The Riches, Across the Universe and voiced Reepicheep in the remake of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. 

One of my favorite parts of Eddie's humor is that he talks about topics I enjoy and can relate to, like history and religion.  The way he will start with one story and float into another then bring it all back together is just wonderful story telling. One thing you'll notice about Eddie's older shows is that he's wearing women's clothing. According to him he's an executive transvestite ...

I do realize I've only been sharing clips from Dress to Kill. I can't help it, out of all his shows that have been taped it's always been my favorite. Since Netflix has been awesome and put some of the discs on instant and I've been able to get the rest sent, I have expanded my horizons! Definite Article tour was in 1996, two years before Dress to Kill. For some reason I feel that you can sort of tell that it was earlier in his career and see his style more developed in Dress to Kill. Although who can go wrong with humor about playing the violin? 

Like the creeper I am I have totally been stalking Eddie's social media for years now and back in January he announced that his current tour, Force Majeure, will have an American leg! Needless to say I FREAKED out and I'm super excited to see him this summer. Now for your viewing pleasure a couple more of my favorite segments : )