Eddie Izzard - Stripped

I had the opportunity to see Eddie Izzard on May 10th at the Murat Theater in Indianapolis and jumped at the chance - the man is amazing, and to see him perform live was to watch a master craftsman at work. To give you an idea of his slanted perspective on the world, here's a quote from a prior show -

“But with dogs, we do have “bad dog.” Bad dog exists. “Bad dog! Bad dog! Stole a biscuit, bad dog!” The dog is saying, “Who are you to judge me? You human beings who’ve had genocide, war against people of different creeds, colors, religions, and I stole a biscuit?! Is that a crime? People of the world!”

“Well, if you put it that way, I think you’ve got a point. Have another biscuit, sorry.””

Eddie is so creative, he even inspires lego builders to stop the car modeling and recreate the mindscapes he has shared on stage. That's a hell of a lot of creative power, even for an Action Transvestite.

Speaking of action transvestite, one sad note for me was that Eddie Izzard performed in a rather standard outfit, not the fantastical confabulations of heels and leather and satin that he usually sports. I do wonder if he toned down the costume for the midwest audience, in which case I'd be disappointed! Either way, I can't figure out why he's suddenly started wearing such traditional guy look when he's so glamorous - nah, Glorious even - in his usual stage presence as I've seen it on the videos.

Here's a few of my favorite quotes from the Stripped show - I hope the DVD is out soon! Any lack of cleverness in the transcription is, sadly, my fault and cannot be blamed on any other. Be brave and share the blame with me - post a comment with quotes you remember, if you can!

Image by Nick J Webb via Flickr

• "The Europeans gave the Native Americans alcohol when they got to this continent. The Native Americans would have done the same thing if they had come to Europe first. You would have seen Europeans sitting on top of a mountain eating cake going 'bleagh' and stuffing their faces with it. The Native American conquerors would say 'don't worry, we have bakeries back home working 24 hours a day to provide this."
• "Before wikipedia, nobody knew how to make anything. Do you know how to make jam? Stavros, do you know how to make jam" [checks iphone, assuming wikipedia] "Jam... here's the recipe!"
  
• "Stavros is a perfectly legitimate Romanian name."