Through the skilled combination of chicken clucks, myriad accents and hobbit imitations, Eddie Izzard examined world history, religion and his own transvestitism in front of a packed Atwood Auditorium on Tuesday evening.
And the crowd loved every minute.
Though the audience was facing the right direction, Izzard's appearance managed to turn heads. Tight jeans, heavy makeup and a flopsy middle-school haircut took a school-bus-far-away back seat to Izzard's black, leather five-inch-heel boots.
Izzard opened with, and often returned to, an examination of his gender identity, acknowledging that it's easier today for a man to dress like a woman. "America is at the forefront of transgender politics," noted Izzard, "but without planning to be." Izzard's ensuing use of an American accent earned raucous laughter.
But though Izzard often returned to the well of his transgender identity, Izzard spent larger amounts of time on other topics, including world history. From the rule of British King Charles I ("he was what historians called a dickhead") to the death of Julius Caesar ("do you think Caesar knew he'd be a salad someday?"), Izzard performed reenactments to teach what audience members likely learned and forgot in high school. One audience member noted at intermission "I wish he had been my history teacher; I would have remembered so much more."
Izzard also focused much of his time on religion, typically mocking the "floaty Gods" by imitating them. "It's always cloudy up here," pondered Izzard while imitating God. "Why did I build heaven in a cloud?" He also took turns imitating Roman and Greek gods and gave the audience a replay of Buddha getting fat by eating too much Indian food.
Izzard's tour has taken him to 28 countries and 37 states in the U.S. Early in the show during a rare solemn moment, Izzard noted that his last stop included 15 shows in France. He then offered a "salute to France" in light of the recent tragedies in Paris, one which the audience appreciated and joined.
But most of the time, Izzard's audience was laughing or, at worst, listening hard in an attempt to keep up with his frenetic pace and charming, if distracting, tendency to tell jokes in other languages. Even Izzard lost track a few times: "I, what was I going on about, oh, umm, oh, spoons! Yes, spoons!"
It is usually bad form to give away a comedian's jokes in a review before the final show, but Izzard's rambling style produces a joke density far above average, and his act runs more than two hours, plus an intermission. Izzard's humor ranges from the esoteric to the simple. While certain jokes will be funnier to historians, linguists and other specialists, Izzard's act remains funny throughout to all comers, as his commitment to various manic, one-person, multiple-character scenes never ceases to entertain. Something of a controlled schizophrenic, Izzard is easy to admire, and usually funny to boot.
Eddie Izzard's "Force Majeure" will be presented again tonight, Wednesday Nov. 18, at 7:30 at the Atwood Auditorium in the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are available atcentertix.net.