Eddie Izzard

Eddie Izzard: Believe Me review

A fine way to touch the soul.

Review: Eddie Izzard: Believe Me - The Lowry, Salford

Believe Me was a mesmerising show full of pathos, authenticity and entertainment and I would urge anyone who wasn't lucky enough to share this special evening with the man himself, to buy the book and find out more about what drives one of the leading stand-up comedians of our generation.

Eddie Izzard interview

The comedian says running a marathon a week is a challenge, but nothing compared to coming out as a transvestite 32 years ago.

Review: Pointless Whisky Galore remake lacks in spirit

A great cast alone does not a good film make as this all-too-gentle and rather pointless retread of Alexander Mackendrick's 1949 Ealing classic showcases.

Almost a year after closing last year's dreary Edinburgh International Film Festival, the remake of Whisky Galore! arrives in Scottish cinemas with relatively little fanfare. That's hardly surprising. It's a pretty pointless retread, gentle to the point of being soporific, and a waste of a wonderful cast. Revolving around the efforts of a group of wily Scottish islanders to liberate crates of whisky from a shipwrecked trawler during a wartime drought, the 1949 original - directed by Alexander Mackendrick and based on the novel by Compton Mackenzie - has become a fascinating snapshot of the period, something that elevates its appeal beyond simple nostalgia. Thats something that could have liberated this Eddie Izzard-starring remake; but instead it feels like a parody of its inspiration. Director Gillies MacKinnon may have resisted the urge to turn it into a straight-up caper film, but whatever merits veteran Scottish screenwriter Peter McDougall's script might have had on the page it has become wearisome and whimsical on screen, dulled by characters grappling with low-stakes personal dilemmas that seem hopelessly old-fashioned when viewed from a contemporary perspective.

Izzard currently feels more like a fundraiser-activist than an actual, working standup. In fact, this hypnotic ramble was his last complete work before charity marathon running and pro-EU campaigning took over. Filmed in 2013, it finds the man John Cleese once called "the Lost Python" in masterful form. It prompts the thought that as admirable as his extracurricular activities are, Izzard should consider going back to the day job for a bit.

Why don't the Olivier Awards have a stand-up category?

I was very honoured to be nominated for The Oliviers, and I'm absolutely sure The Red Shoes is a worthy winner of that category. But the reason I think my show was crowbarred into that category is: The Olivier Awards don't have a category for comedy. Well. They do. But it's comedy plays. There is no category for stand-up. Or, if you want to make that broader, one man/woman shows. So that means, for example, no category for Dawn French's beautiful Thirty Million Minutes, which played at The Vaudeville Theatre for ages.

Eddie Izzard pulls out of Palestine marathon

Comedian Eddie Izzard has pulled out of the Palestine marathon following calls to ban from the event after he performed at a show in Tel Aviv.

Eddie Izzard: Force Majeure review

A masterclass in surrealist hilarity and lesson in poignant humanity.

Rufus Hound was mistaken for Eddie Izzard by Denzil

Rufus Hound has revealed that he was once mistaken for Eddie Izzard by a comedy idol of his, Paul Barber, Only Fools And Horses' Denzil.