History's a Drag

I distinctly remember watching Eddie Izzard on television a few years ago, fascinated by a transvestite Brit making jokes about history, at times oblivious to the fact that he's in a dress with lipstick. It was a hilarious, manic performance and I thought it was ab-fab.

I watched Eddie Izzard's Dress To Kill, which was filmed in 1998 in front of a San Francisco audience, and while he's still funny, it wasn't nearly as funny as I recall. That's the problem with comedy, in particular, stand-up comedy. The freshness of the routine is important, and it often doesn't hold up to repeated viewings.

American humor often talks about the differences between men and women, or between black and white. British humor often veers to the absurd. Izzard discusses European history, the origins of the name Englebert Humperdinck (which isn't his real name), whether Englebert is still alive (yeah, he is, no he isn't). Izzard provides comedy as much with his face and body language as he does with the anecdotes he tells.

His routine is nearly two hours long, and at that length, you can make references to earlier parts of your routine. Izzard refers to the Turks and the Ottoman Empire, as well as "Ciao" by Italian men on scooters. He does a routine where he sneaks in odd phrases he learned in French in French, before summarizing the plot of Speed in French. His mind flits here and there trying to think, what insanity should I talk about now?

If you like history and have never seen Eddie Izzard, he's a complete riot. I wish this were only true upon repeated viewings.