EDDIE IZZARD

Eddie Izzard: Stripped, State Theatre
Monday 21 November

I have always enjoyed Eddie Izzard on television and in film (he has a part in Shadow of Vampire by coincidence!), and knew a little of his standup, but this was my first proper experience of it and I was not disappointed. I also love The State Theatre as a venue, it's opulence and mix of gothic and deco (both my favourite styles of architecture) always leave me breathless. But back to Eddie...

The theme of the night was the History of Civilisation in just over 2 hours...well, Eddie's take on it. It was very clever and very funny, and I know I can do absolutely no justice by trying to describe it. However, he would go off on tangents, that at the time did not make sense, until he did full circle and tied it all up - always a sign of a great comedian. A few bits fell short, he knew it immediately and tried to make amends, which made it a bit more noticeable, he needn't have done that and it was only now and then, nothing to ruin proceedings. His lovely English articulation and pronunciation of some words left me very amused and his take on religion and God left me in tears from laughter. How he remember half of the things he said is beyond me, I was impressed.