Never heard of Eddie Izzard? Neither had I before a friend introduced me to him.  He’s a fantastic comedian who’s also a good actor and pretty well-known. How did he manage to fly below my radar for so long?

Eddie Izzard: Live from Wembley wasn’t the first DVD that exposed me to his wonderful stand-up routine that honor would go to Dressed to Kill), but it’s another great example of his comedic talents.  Izzard brings his cross-dressing brand of comedy to London’s Wembley Stadium.  It hardly seems the venue for a comedy act, but once I saw him, he totally made it work.

On stage, he’s a sight to behold.  In a red bustier, leather mini-skirt, and spiked leather boots it takes a few moments to get past that and listen to what he has to say. By now I’ve seen him enough that his appearance isn’t a distraction, but in the beginning, it was. If you haven’t seen him before, I would recommend actually viewing this twice to grasp everything he says as chances are you’ll be distracted the first time through.  That’s exactly what I did.  Okay, I watched this more than twice because the guy is just that damn funny, plus I watched it with my kids.
 
His appearance is worked into the act and he’s not afraid to make fun of himself.  Izzard jokes about it and getting his “breasts” as well as having “breast envy” in contrast to “penis envy”. If what I stated is offensive to you, then you know that chances are you won’t enjoy Eddie Izzard.

That’s not to say everything in this routine is centered around his cross-dressing or sex. He actually provides fantastic sarcastic commentary on the absurdities of life, such as how after September 11th the knives were removed from planes but not the forks. 

Nothing is safe from his observations. The Greek myths are looked at in an entirely new light. Can you imagine being Medusa’s hairdresser?  He’ll get off on tangents while he’s doing his routine then suddenly refer back to something earlier.  I’d start laughing just on that because he manages to intertwine his bits so well.  The humor is mostly like the British dry humor we Americans seem to eat up, but from time to time he seems to be cultivating other influences in his work. He’s not one of those brash, in-your-face comedians that we Americans seem to produce over and over again.  I completely enjoy his style.

If you’ve never seen Eddie Izzard or his stand-up routine before, I’d recommend Dressed to Kill as your first viewing. Once you’re hooked, though, this is another show of his that is enjoyable to watch. I think the arena might not be the most conducive to having that rapport with the audience comedians often get when playing smaller venues and that is the one drawback I can see to this show.  Other than that it’s a great comedy routine that I thoroughly enjoyed.