Eddie Izzard (born Edward John Izzard)
is a British stand-up comedian and actor. He has a
very individual style of rambling, surreal monologue.
He has turned his attention to acting as well as maintaining
his demanding touring schedule.
Izzard describes himself as an 'executive' or 'action'
transvestite and as 'a male tomboy'. He regularly cross-dresses
both on and off stage and makes it clear that cross-dressing
is, for him, not a sexual thing – he simply enjoys
wearing make-up and clothing which is traditionally
perceived in the West as female-only. He dismisses
claims that he is homosexual, saying he is either a
straight transvestite or a male lesbian.
He was born in Aden, Yemen, as the youngest son of
John and Ella Izzard. In 1963, shortly before Britain
abandoned the capital of Aden the Izzards moved to
Northern Ireland. He lived up in Belfast until 1967,
when troubles started brewing there as well, and the
family moved to Skewen (Wales), and Bexhill-on-Sea
(East Sussex, England). His mother died in March, 1968,
of cancer.
Eddie Izzard briefly attended the University of Sheffield.
He has engaged in campaigning work, including opposing
the closure of the departments of Drama and Languages,
Linguistics and Translation at the University of East
Anglia and supporting the further integration of the
UK into the European Union. In May 2005 he appeared
on the BBC's political debate show 'Question Time',
describing himself as a 'British European', comparing
it to 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 aspect has influenced his work as well;
he regularly performs in French, an acquired language,
in addition to English. In July 2003, he was made an
honorary Doctor of Letters by 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.
After the death of his mother, Eddie found some degree
of solace in comedy, particularly the works of Monty
Python, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, and the early
Benny Hill. He began to toy with stand-up at college
and, after being ingloriously kicked out of school,
he took his act to the streets. Having spent a great
deal of the 1980's working as a street performer in
Europe and the United States, Izzard moved his act
into the standup comedy venues in Britain, first appearing
at The Comedy Store in London in 1987. He refined his
material throughout the '80's, and in the early '90s,
he finally began earning some measure of recognition,
though originally he did not perform in women's clothing.
His stand-up work brought him British Comedy Awards
in 1993 (for Live at the Ambassadors) and 1996 (for "Definite
Article"). After the British leg of the tour,
he took "Definite Article" to major cities
outside the UK including a successful stint in New
York City. However, his US breakthrough did not really
come until 1998, when "Dress to Kill", which
was shown on American television channel HBO, went
on to earn Izzard two Emmy Awards in 2000.
Running themes in his comedy are an impression of
James Mason which represents a hapless, dithering God,
an impression of Sean Connery whose character, which
has ranged from Noah to Henry VIII, usually interacts
with Mason's God. There is also a Scottish woman called
Mrs Badcrumble. He usually manages to mention jam in
various bizarre contexts, the name 'Jeff' (as in "Jeff
Jeffty-Jeff", whose computer password is 'JEFF'),
and he also has a mannerism of saying "so... yeah",
when thinking what to say next - a fact noted subtly
on the back of the 'Glorious' video box. So 'So...
yeah' could perhaps be said to be his catchphrase.
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. |
