'So, yeah!' (Eddie Izzard - Glorious (DVD))

Member Name: jeffjen

Product:	Eddie Izzard - Glorious (DVD)
Date:	19/05/09 (132 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant comedy sketches

Disadvantages: None

Eddie Izzard is a stand-up comical genius in my book, and I own all his DVD's and have been to see his show once in Newcastle a few years back.
I don't think there is anyone who could perform a stand-up routine quite the way he does and I find him side-splittingly funny. His comedy style has been described as 'rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime'.

Born in 1962 in Yemen, Eddie's family moved to Northern Ireland shortly afterwards, and remained there until Eddie was 5, before moving to England. Eddie's mother died from cancer when he was only 6 years old, and he states his desperation for affection following this is how he ended up on stage. He cites a lot of performers who have a dysfunctional lack of love in childhood have became performers, and it is something he has come to realise over the years as it has been talked about more and more.

'Glorious' is a performance which was first released in 1997, and features Eddie on stage doing what he does best.
I have watched this DVD many times and just never tire of it. The way Eddie can ramble from one subject to the next and end up back where he started never ceases to amaze me.

Eddie stated for this performance he wanted to try and start and end with the Bible, and really get stuck into it.
The show begins with the beginning of time and his hilarious version of it, as he speaks of God creating the world in just seven days and suggests it may have been better if he had created the world in 'a number of days' instead. What follows is a brilliant sketch where Eddie talks of God creating light, air , clouds etc and on to bees, bread, and tea bags amongst many other things and finally, Belgium! At the end of seven days God is running around trying to get everything finished in time, so this is why the Leaning Tower of Pisa leans - he didn't have time to get it straight!
What follows after the creation sketch is a really funny show, which takes us through The Grim Reaper not being able to get old women to die, toasters telling lies, shower units, the Pope, the siege of Troy, Robin Hood with an American accent, lawnmowers, computer technology, the Queen and Prince Philip, archaeology on TV and a very funny bee-keeping sketch, with the Book of Revelations spinning around it all.

A particular favourite all-time sketch of mine is Eddie talking about fruit which does not ripen for weeks, particularly pears, and highlights how we keep lifting it out of the bowl and they are still hard ( he is doing a voice coming from the pear at this stage , instructing the other pears to stay firm, saying 'No, not yet!') Then as soon as your back is turned the pear says 'Right, now!' It is then highlighted how the pear will only stay ripe for a minute, so of course you will miss it, after waiting all those weeks for it to become edible.
This is where Eddie is very funny, putting voices to inanimate objects and mime, and he does this throughout his performances.

My favourite sketch from this DVD is one featuring God and Noah. Fans of Eddie Izzard will know that he is also quite a good impressionist also, and he performs this sketch with God being played by James Mason, and Noah being played by Sean Connery. God tells Noah he wants him to build an Ark, and Noah replies that actually he is working on a speed boat right now! I was laughing so much at this, my stomach hurt. As the sketch continues with the Connery/Mason voices, it results in the Ark having a speedboat engine and the long-eared animals told to sit on the sides of the Ark as it goes along, so the wind blowing their ears will make a good picture for the Bible!

I could go on and on, but I would end up writing about every sketch from this DVD. As I listed above, there are still many more to have you crying with laughter, right up to the encore, in which Eddie talks about not reading instruction manuals and aeroplane flights.

Only Eddie Izzard can take you from hilarious historical analysis to household appliances, any pauses are filled with his trademark 'So, yeah' before quickly moving on to more rambling musings.

Fans of Eddie Izzard are often found to quote lines from their favourite sketches, as they have such an effect on you once you watch him perform.
In 2007, Eddie Izzard was voted the 3rd in a poll to list the 100 greatest comedians of all time. He was also voted amongst the Top 20 greatest comedy acts by fellow comedians and comedy writers in The Comedian's Comedian. John Cleese also referred to Eddie as ' the Lost Python'.

All that is left to say is that Eddie Izzard is a comic genius - 'So, yeah!'

'Glorious' is available from Amazon priced at £14.48 new and from £10.95 used.

Summary: Hilarious stand -up from comic genius