LIVE REVIEW: Eddie Izzard

Work in Progress – Arts Theatre London 2/2/2008

Where do you start with Eddie Izzard? It’s a tough question this far into his career. Most people know of him, most people have seen him do stand-up or appear on TV (or maybe heard his voice on the recycling adverts). Reviews of his last stand up show in 2004, Sexie, were mixed to the point of bordering negative, and since then he has gone across the pond to celebrated success in films and the show The Riches.

Of course, it is the stand-up scene which will always be his home and so when he announced he was doing a few unannounced ‘Work in Progress’ shows in London at the Arts Theatre, the tickets vanished quickly, the stalls filled rapidly and the expectations were expectedly high; and with good reason.

Coming out to warm up the crowd while the audience was still flooding in, it was clear that Eddie Izzard loves the art of stand-up. It’s an art which takes years to learn and one that he has clearly mastered, holding the audience for a one and three quarter hour rollercoaster ride through his consciousness. Focusing on creationism, Apple iPphones, intelligent design and communicating giraffes, Eddie blends his trademark style of ‘umming’ and ‘errming’ with constructed surrealism and the occasional sneaky reference to his previous stand-up shows (to the delight of the audience) to form a highly amusing show.

Of course, with this being a work in progress some jokes misfire or are killed midway due to the audience not going along with the gag, but it’s clear that there was enough new material in this for Eddie to get back on the road. If only he would give an indication of when that will be happening…