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One of Britain’smost beloved stand-upswraps upwhatmight be comedy’s longest tour
TheWorldAccording
toEddie Izzard
international relations
In thenearly three
years sinceEddie
Izzard landed inBucharest, Romania, for the
first legof his ForceMajeure Tour (which
wraps up thismonth at thePalace Theatre in
London), theBritish comedianhas performed
in28 countries, a feat hehas described as “an
unofficial comedyworld record.”
It’s an impressive achievement. But does
Izzard’s brandof gleefully absurd, wildly
digressive, unapologetically campyhumor
translate in, say, a remote corner of Eastern
Europe? “Well, I can tell you thatwe sold600
tickets in twohours inBelgrade,” Izzard says,
before adding that hedoesn’t subscribe to the
idea that different nationalities finddifferent
things funny. “German, French, Chinese—we
are all thebloody same,” he says.
Izzard argues that responses tohis comedy
relyon sensibility rather thanbirthplace. “I
have this bit about theCaesar salad getting its
name from adyingCaesar saying, ‘Remember
me as a salad!’ Butwhat he really saidwas,
‘Rememberme… suh-ah-uh!’ And someone
said, ‘Didhe say salad?’ There arepeoplewho
will say, ‘What is he talking about?’” This is
as likely tohappen inBrooklyn asBotswana,
Izzard adds, if the audience isn’t right.
Havingperformed in four languages (French,
Spanish, German, andEnglish) during the tour,
Izzardwill allowone exception tohis “humor is
human” rule. “I have this line about how, when
you’re a kid, your body goes on andon, ‘Come!
Theremight be an ice creamover thenext hill!’
But as you get older, thebodybecomes like
twoweasels covered in gravynailed to
thebackof a tractor. InEnglish this gets
a laugh, but inGerman it didn’t, and I think
I knowwhy—it’s the translation: ‘Yes, the
body is likeweasels, isn’t it, when theyhave
gravyon their heads andyou attach them
very forcibly to thebackof farming equip-
ment.’When I say it like that, all themusic
goes; it doesn’twork.”
Which isnot to imply that Izzardbuys into
Teutonic stereotypes. “If theGermansare so
efficient,”he says, “whycouldn’t I get anyone to
mend the treadmill atmyBerlinhotel?”
—CW
BestPicturewinners
typically earn an additional $15million inboxoffice
revenue. The2011winner, The King’s Speech, garnered$138million at theU.S. box
office alone—$100millionmore thanwas expected.
Hollywood talent agents
andmanagers estimate that clientswill get a20-percent
boost inpay for their next film if theywin the award for Best Actor or Actress.
Thebiggest earner
amongOscar nominees in2015wasAmerican Sniper, which
was responsible formore thanhalf of the$620million earned at thedomestic box
officeby last year’s eight Best Picturenominees.
I’dLike toThank
MyAccountant…
Canyouput aprice
on creativity? This
month’sAcademy
Awards (Feb. 28)
suggest that the
answermight beyes.
“German,
French,
Chinese—we
areall the
bloody
same.”
©ANDYHOLLINGWORTHARCHIVE (IZZARD)
