Circle
Perhaps it’s a delayed reaction to the innovations of combative visionaries like Lenny Bruce and Andy Kaufman, but current stand-up comics have begun to resemble prizefighters. Some, like Chris Rock, conquer through brute force, battering their opponents into submission. Others, like Robert Schimmel, favor finesse and structure, dancing around their subjects before moving in for the kill. But the best comics, like the best boxers, succeed with a balanced attack. Maybe that’s why England’s Eddie Izzard–who combines the cunning and instincts of Muhammad Ali with the tenacity and intellect of Sugar Ray Leonard–is comedy’s hot new favorite.
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Especially in America, where he’s a relatively new commodity, Izzard’s popularity is also tied to his outrageous, larger-than-life stage persona. Unlike Milton Berle and Flip Wilson, who used drag in some of their most memorable comedy sketches, Izzard declares himself a bona fide heterosexual transvestite: it’s part of his sexual identity and of his routine. In his last show, Dress to Kill (broadcast as an HBO special), he described himself as both an “executive transvestite” and a “male lesbian.” And it’s worth noting that his career didn’t really take off until he came out as a transvestite in one-man shows in the early 90s. Like Jackie Mason, Whoopi Goldberg, Denis Leary, and a few others, Izzard pulled himself out of the stand-up ghetto by tweaking his comedy routine into a “theatrical performance.”
At least Izzard continues to employ surprise as a potent weapon: he performed for the first time in years without his trademark lipstick and mascara. In fact, his wardrobe–platform heels, a western-style shirt, and loose, nondescript slacks–may have been the evening’s biggest shock. “These aren’t women’s pants and shoes–they’re my pants and shoes,” he quipped in the show’s opening, explaining his decision not to wear makeup as the logical extension of his desire not to be judged on his appearance alone. After 20 minutes, he completely shelved the subject of his sexual identity and transvestism. And even when he touched upon his favorite past subject, it was with a melancholic air: “I am a transvestite,” he reminded the bewildered opening-night audience.
