Cake or Death? How Eddie Izzard Turns the Sublimely Ridiculous into the Sublime

The storied comedian brings her greatest hits to the District amongst a dizzying schedule of recent projects. 

Comedians don’t typically go on greatest hits tours. Eddie Izzard is no typical comedian. 

Spending the last three and a half decades of her career making comedic observations on everything from Greek Gods to the possible existence of a Death Star canteen, Izzard’s stream of consciousness humor, heavily influenced by Monty Python and Spike Milligan, never comprised of a mere setup and a punchline. There are no rim shots here. There isn’t time. And she’s moved on to the next topic, anyway. Try to keep up.

Chatting from Nashville where she’s about to launch The Remix Tour Live: The First 35 Years (which will include shows at the Warner Theatre on September 11 and 12), Izzard admits this approach to her previous material is a bit different. 

“This is kind of the greatest hits,” says Izzard. “It’s what bands do all the time.” As Izzard explains how she builds material for her shows, leaving room for improvisation each night, this comment of hers sends Izzard on a tear on how Jimmy Page recorded his guitar solos (“He would do a different one every night, as you would logically do”) to the Rolling Stones still singing “Satisfaction” after all these years.

“I was thinking, when Mick sings ‘I can’t get no satisfaction,’ you think ‘well, surely you’ve got some satisfaction?’ says Izzard, with a wry smile. “Surely it needs to be adjusted to ‘I’ve had some satisfaction, thank you very much. But, in the olden days, I couldn’t really get any and then, it got a little better.’”

Again, try to keep up. These days, keeping up with Izzard is very hard to do. 

Earlier this year, Izzard (who came out as trans 38 years ago and added Suzy to her name recently) performed a one-woman show of Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations” to rave reviews and sold out crowds in New York and London (a one-woman show of “Hamlet” is in the works and will debut in New York in January 2024).

She’s starred in movies alongside Dame Judi Dench and George Clooney, been directed by the likes of Peter Bogdanovich, written a best-selling autobiography “Believe Me,” and run 130 marathons for charity (during the midst of the pandemic, she ran 31 marathons on the treadmill, followed by an online gig for each one). 

And by the way, she’s running for MP for Brighton Pavilion (this is no publicity stunt. Izzard’s platform includes ideas on climate change, housing and education.)

“They want a new candidate in because the sitting MP is standing down,” explains Izzard. “It’s a very progressive area in the county of East Sussex where I grew up. There have been 300 years of Izzards in East Sussex.”

If reading all of this is making you feel incredibly tired and/or lazy, fret not. Izzard feels this drive might be biological.

“I think determination might be built in,” admits Izzard. “I like to say it’s built in because I think I’ve worked on my determination….You just keep hammering away with the determination to get in. It doesn’t always work but eventually it worked for me. Eventually, I feel, the world gave in and said ‘Alright, you can have a career. Go on, then.”

And try to keep up.

Eddie Izzard will play Warner Theatre on Monday, Sept.11 at 8 p.m and Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $54 and can be purchased here. To learn more about Eddie Izzard and her comedy, follow her online at eddieizzard.com and on Instagram @eddieizzard.

Warner Theatre: 513 13th St. NW, DC; livenation.com// @warnertheatre

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Christina Smart