EDDIE IZZARD
London Arena
Arena comedy is the new TV cookery. Eddie Izzard is the new coffee table transvestite. This is a rock gig but with no music. Oasis could fill this place with their populist hot air but can Eddie find enough shared experiences to make this a worthwhile shared experience? Can he hit enough funny bones enough times to make this a success?
Well, yes he can. He starts a bit shakily but romps it home, pushing the Eddieness up to the Eddiemost and strutting his way through a set of irrepressible gags and bizarre tangents. He comes on and stands looking impressed at the image of his back on the huge screen needed for the people at the back to catch a glimpse of him. He turns round and grins. People laugh. He’s perfectly aware that the only way he can play this is by relying on his bigger-than-life personality and inherent likability, so he does.
The first half has enough decent bits of material to keep the pace going but the lack of atmosphere is making it difficult to really get any energy going. However, he does make the inspired move of announcing Prince Philip’s death and then admitting he made it up before actually saying that he is dead, or that he might have made it up, playing on the crowd’s forced isolation and linking into his ‘Queen’s handbag’ routine.
The second half, though, quickly builds up and contains some of the best material he’s ever done. His flirting through to losing his virginity piece is stunning, both in its honesty and in the way he keeps the crowd bowling along from one gag to another. He starts to stretch the limits of what he does by putting so much of himself into the show that the audience is unified by his story of who he is. There are not really set jokes but just a general hilarity which builds up to some kind of punchline.
When he finishes a lot of crowd race off to get to the cars first for the race out of Docklands but those who wait are treated to a brilliant encore and a grand stage exit. We leave knowing that this was not the best place to see Eddie but that was a pretty damn fine evening anyway. Oh, and the one about the vicar and the actress’ daughter was hilarious.
