Eddie Izzard: From Yemen to fame

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Edward John Izzard (Eddie Izzard) is one of the famous British comedians. In addition to stand-up performances, he is actively involved in charitable activities, plays in theater and cinema.

Eddie Izzard was born in 1962. This event took place in Yemen, where his father Harold, a representative of British Petroleum, worked at that time. Mother - Dorothy - was a nurse and nurse. She died when Eddie was barely six. He has a brother, Mark, who is two years older.

Almost all of his childhood was spent on the move. He managed to live in Ireland, changing several Scottish and English addresses. He attended many different schools. He considers himself an atheist and an open transvestite. Has been nominated for an Emmy multiple times.

Career start

The dream of becoming an actor first visited Eddie at the age of 7 years. The first serious attempt at stage performance came in his early university years, when he and his classmate Robert Ballard performed at an event. This brought them enough success that they decided to trade their classical education for the world of stand-up.

First success

In the following months theyperformed in London, mainly in the well-known area of Covent Garden, where they also received a standing ovation from passers-by and casual spectators. Their journey together was not very long. Already in the early 80s, Eddie Izzard went into free swimming. He successfully performs as a street comedian in Europe and America.

He begins his journey to fame on the stage of a comedy club in Soho. Then there is a rethinking of all the material of his speeches. The end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s bring him the first significant victories, he is beginning to be recognized, and performances, including in his own club "Raging Bull", begin to attract more and more attention.

Work in theater and television

Eddie Izzard made his theater debut in 1994 at the London Comedy Theatre. It was a West End production of "Cryptogram" directed by David Alan Mamet. In 1995, he stars in the historical play "Edward II", which is a Renaissance classic.

1995 is remembered for his first film role in Luthor Keaton's The Coming Storm. During his career, Edward has played in more than 30 television projects. As one of his last successful roles, one can note the role of Dr. Abel Gideon in the psychological series "Hannibal".

Speech style

The surreal British comedy group "Monty Python" had a great influence on Eddie's work. Heeven repeatedly performed at their live concerts and the TV program "Evening Python", timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of stage activity.

The main techniques that Eddie uses in his performances are pantomime and parody. He often voices his characters in the voices of famous personalities, depicts animals, mechanisms and processes.

Another distinguishing feature of his speeches is "author's observation". As he performs, he occasionally pretends to take notes in his notebook, interrupt his monologues with joke ideas for future performances, and monitor audience reactions.

Eddie can't script. He often interrupts to respond to remarks flying from the audience, he himself asks the audience questions and tries to involve them in active participation during the performance. All this makes Eddie's concerts more vivid and alive.

This approach earned him third place on the list of the 100 Greatest British National Comedians in 2007. In 2010, he lost 2 positions and ended up at number 5.

Charity

In 2009, Eddie took part in a 7-week marathon run by Comic Relief. He had no running experience in the past, and training only took 5 weeks. He ran the route London - Cardiff - Belfast - Edinburgh - London. In each country, he carried the national flag.

The participants had only 1 day off a week - Sunday. The total length of the route was more than 1700 kilometers. The money raised went tovaccinating children, building and equipping schools, and helping people living with dementia and other psychological illnesses.

A year later, Eddie also took part in another charity event to raise money for the Sport Relief Foundation.

Eddie Izzard: personal life

Due to his bright and extraordinary appearance, he always attracted close attention. Being the target of camera flashes is what Eddie Izzard lives for. Photographs in magazines and newspapers, criticisms and praises - he is either loved or hated. The third is not given.

Eddie Izzard is an open transvestite. He first stated this at a 1992 speech. Previously, it seemed that dressing in women's clothing was only part of his stage persona. In later interviews, he himself says that he felt his eccentricity at the age of 4, starting to develop an interest in clothes for girls, and later - in cosmetics, makeup and manicure.

The comedian tries to keep his personal life a secret so as not to make his halves a target for the paparazzi. Eddie dated Sarah Townsen for a long time.

Eddie Izzard: "Killer Clothes"

His most notable performance was a 1998 concert at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco, California, which was also videotaped for distribution. It was one of the most numerous and commercially successful performances in the comedian's career.

A sarcastic and brilliant monologue criticizing the fundamentalism of the Church of England was the birth ofcomic brand "Eddie Izzard". The killer outfit in which he performed added a little more pepper to the concert, and his line "Death or cookies?" became as famous in comic circles as Shakespeare's "To be or not to be?".