Dress To Kill is the title of a performance by Eddie Izzard, and is a continuation of the British comedian's surrealist, ideas-based comedy. The VHS was recorded during a performance in San Francisco, California, United States. However, the tour was a global one. During this tour Izzard also wrote the book Dress to Kill with David Quantick, which was published by Virgin Books in hardback in 1998 and in paperback in 2000. Izzard's humour includes observations on the American concept of history, beginning with his throwaway line "I grew up in Europe, where the history comes from" and continuing through diversions about the belief that all Europeans live in castles and the attitude of Americans toward historical landmarks. Additionally, Izzard takes time to explain his background as an executive transvestite and how it affected his desire to join the military. This is explained through a proposal for the Army's "first battalion transvestite brigade...with fantastic makeup and a fantastic gun." The centerpiece of the performance is a retelling of British history from Stonehenge through to the Reformation. This is done with Izzard adopting a very Italian accent to signify the Pope talking to Henry VIII and explaining that he can't marry as many wives as he wants to. This is set against the backdrop of Martin Luther pinning his 95 Theses on the door of Wittenberg Cathedral, a paper that reads "Eine Minuten bitte. Ich habe einen kleinen Problemo avec diese Religione." "He was from everywhere," explains Izzard to great cheers from the audience. Similar to his use of Sean Connery as the voice of Henry VIII, he uses the voice of James Mason as the voice of God.
19 Feb Eddie Izzard: Dress to Kill (1999 Video)
Mr Stevens
As a break from long form narrative, I have been watching a lot of films of standup comics. It is one of the most puzzling things I have done recently.
Nothing tells you more in a short time about someone than what they find funny. Part of that is the structure of the humour, the core of what I’ve been studying. But it is worth remarking that some component is what we want to believe is funny.
Some of that is physical group dynamics; we join in groups in order to laugh. A related affiliation is incorporated into the humour — race and class comedians exploit this. Sometimes you leave just feeling dirty afterwards by the association.
I think Chris Rock brilliantly exploits this by alternately seducing us into joining a group and then allowing us to make fun of ourselves for doing so.
Izzard works with a quite different sort of humour. I think I will characterise it as similar to Rock, but instead of joining a group, he tricks us into joining a narrative or reminding us of a narrative we already joined. Then instead of directly making fun of it or us, he takes it seriously to an extreme. This allows us to think we are laughing at him rather than ourselves, removing that barrier of ironic self-loathing.
Underscoring this is his persona as a self-hating, ugly transvestite. Being a successful standup comic must be one of the hardest, most fragile things you can do. If you can do it and have the audience leave actually feeling better — well, that is a gift.
Posted in 2011
Ted’s Evaluation — 3 of 3: Worth watching.
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