Death or plumbing? (Eddie Izzard - Live at the Ambassadors (DVD))

Member Name: Epiphany

Product:	Eddie Izzard - Live at the Ambassadors (DVD)
Date:	18/05/01 (427 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny (but not the best by far)

Disadvantages: Deleted, Hard to get hold of, Expensive

Now deleted, Ambassadors was the first Eddie Izzard show released on video. This came in 1993 after an expected one-month run at the Ambassadors Theatre, London, lasted three months. It is still available within the box set (approximately £50), and also comes up sometimes in the e-bay auctions online. This video is particularly highly sought after by Eddie fans and can go for quite a lot of money (for an old video).

Having watched his other videos, there is a very noticeable difference in the quality of his performance as he gets more used to performing in front of large audiences and also the cameras. His early shows begin by saying how you can’t really make a big entrance in stand-up, but with the later shows such as Dressed to Kill and Glorious he has learnt how to do just that. Ambassadors however, begins with a low key, low impact entrance.

This video is full of hesitations and Eddie loosing his train of thought. Whilst this is typical in most of his shows, there are more witnessed here than ever, and I think that it may be due to his apparent nervousness. I watch him and wonder if he is contemplating whether or not he is being funny enough or if he is thinking that he can be more funny, and getting disheartened at his performance on the night. The Eddie back then is also a rounded chap, wearing an awful shirt, but I guess most of you don’t really care about that. It’s just I’m used to seeing Eddie Dressed in shiny suits and looking, well, rather nice but here he just looks… odd.

Eddie has a very accessible kind of stand-up performance. He highlights everyday events and makes them amusing, odd ‘ways of the world’ that he makes us think about more closely and generally his comedy is timeless. There are few good examples in this video, which is why I recommend watching some of his others in preference to this one, but to give you a taste of his humour, here are a few examples of the things he di
scusses. One example of first class Eddie humour, is shown when he talks about women taking the names of their husbands when they get married; he suggests that Prince Phillip should actually be known as King Elizabeth (do you follow the connection?) which is amusing. My favourite bit comes at the end however, where Eddie talks of PMS: This is occurs the week before a woman’s period, the week after, the week of the period itself, and the week in between. This just about sums me up, and on that note I will conclude this opinion.

To summarise, if you are a die-hard Eddie fan, you’ll simply have to have this video anyway. For those who are very keen on the comedy of the man I would suggest trying to get a copy, but don’t expect it to be of the same standard as D2K or Glorious; and finally, for those new to Eddie, I would start with some of his funnier offerings… Glorious is probably my favourite but I would recommend pretty much anyone except this one, it might put you off unjustly!

Summary: