I caught this particular show a few years back on HBO whilst switchin’ channels, and decided to stay tuned in just to see what this Eddie Izzard guy was all about. Sadly, it wasn’t all about him being funny. Except for his observation that most Star Wars™ villains are British (which in itself wasn’t all that amusing), I found the man’s act a an veritable bomberoo. I endured this pathetically unfunny piece of tripe from beginning to end without uttering so much as a soft chuckle. I found myself slowly slipping into a catatonic state of utter boredom as he doled out his insipid and pointless ramblings about Scooby-Doo™, his lame spiel about coming up with an original sin, his “cake or death” bit that went nowhere fast, and his nodding-and-shaking-his-head dealy that he milked for some REALLY cheap laughs for about two minutes to punctuate some other pitiful bit of his.

In fact, the only laughing I heard was from the audience, and most likely polite laughter at that. You know, the kinda guffaws that come about when the audience doesn’t actually think the man’s jokes were funny, but they don’t wanna bring him down? Yeah, now you know what I mean! I know if I were an audience member watching this coma-inducing roll of wall-to-wall lameness, I’d've stormed the box office threatening to sue if I didn’t get a full refund!

The only time I had even an inkle of emotional reaction to this travesty was when I sighed in relief as the closing credits rolled. A few minutes later, however, I became depressed when I realized I just wasted an hour of my life watching this heapin’ load o’ dreck! I’d've had a better time listening to the recitation of the minutes from the British Parliament’s last session than watching this loser!

Then there’s the whole dressing in drag thing, which is pretty much cliché nowadays. Personally, I think it’s his way of kissing up to the original British comedy drag-sters, Monty Python’s Flying Circus (of course, his claim will be that his cross-dressing is a `tribute’ to the Pythons, but I see right through that ploy!). If you doubt it, take a look at his little walk-on with MPFC’s five surviving members at the beginning of the `Life of Python’ interview special. C’mon, now, Edward; stop licking the boots of those has-beens! Just because the late Graham Chapman is funnier deceased than you will ever be while you’re alive doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to be your own man(?)!

`Late

UPDATE 3/20/2005:

Now I know what some of you are thinking after reading my little rant: you see me as some sorta anti-intellectual rube who just doesn’t “get” most of Mr. Izzard’s material, don’cha? You probably think that most of his references and allegedly humorous takes on significant events in European history (i.e. the Crusades) sailed right over my pointy little pin-head, don’cha? It probably didn’t even remotely occur to you that perhaps I did grok just about every last bit of this man’s so-called “humor”… which I did, BTW… and I just didn’t think it was funny? I know this is a tough revelation to wrap your brain around, but just try it. Don’t be scared, now…

Then there are a few of you who’re saying to yourselves, “Ahh, he’s just some disgruntled Yank who’s biased against British comedy!” Sorry to disappoint you, but I consider Are You Being Served?™ to be one of the funniest sitcoms ever made, and I rather enjoy the weirdness of Monty Python’s Flying Circus™, Fawlty Towers™, and The Black Adder™. The late Benny Hill™ had his moments as well! And to top things off: “Danger Mouse” was one of my all-time fave cartoon shows when I was but a wee ‘Norch!

Others of you are thinking, “Ahhh, the guy’s just jealous of Izzard’s success.” True, I must admit I am rather envious of this no-talent yutz who has managed to break into show biz and has been modestly successful at it… well, if you consider small parts in Mystery Men™ and the cinematic adaptation of The Avengers™ to be a couple of sturdy rungs up the ladder to the big time… while being completely unfunny. Going by that logic, I am also very jealous of Paulie Shore!

Finally, there’re those of you who are saying to yourselves: “Sheesh, this guy’s a real scumbag!”

My reply to this: your point being…?

`Later

i bought this movie after reading all these great reviews. it doesnt take a lot to make me laugh but i found this dvd boring. its not that funny. what did i miss here??? i really regret wasting my money on this dvd…

I had bought this DVD on the strength of other reviews, but they made me buy something I didn’t enjoy — so here’s another point of view besides the glowing 5-star fan reviews. Now, if you’re already a fan of Eddie Izzard, this review isn’t for you and you won’t like it, so skip it — but if you wonder if you will like this DVD and never heard of him before, read on. Eddie Izzard fundamental style is to babble and piss on everything he talks about. Other reviewers would give him the honor of being an “intellectual’s ‘s comedian”, except that his jokes are a sad excuse for thought. They are simplistic, reductionist, off the mark, and insulting; watching the DVD would be a boring experience, except that one of our guests walked out of the room, upset. “If you had a brain”, to borrow a “6-stars” reviewer’s words, you might find that his pseudo-intellectual jokes are dumb (no insult meant to people who enjoy Izzard, this is meant as a reply to a reviewer who implied that people who don’t like Izzard must be stupid). At one point I ended up laughing *at* him because he’s so absurd and pitiful without meaning to be. However, during most of this DVD, we stared at each other in perplexity, asking “this is supposed to be funny?”