The surreal Eddie Izzard
(from the Irish Times)

RULE number one: never try to tell one of Eddie Izzard’s jokes. You just won’t seem that funny. At his show this weekend leave your logic at the door, you won’t be needing it.
And if you leave without laughing there’s something wrong with you, so make an appointment with the doctor.

The man who would give David Bowie a run for his money when it comes to make up kits can be brilliant, bizarre and sometimes downright baffling. Anyone who can pretend he’s a talking orange and get away with it must be onto something.

None of this makes any sense, of course, but neither does a lot of what Eddie Izzard says. But who cares, because it reduces audiences to tears of laughter every time.
Where other comedians corner themselves into telling endless dirty jokes, Izzard seems to have captured his large following with this off the wall observational humour. If he gave full vent to his comical musings on life they would have put him away a long time ago.
It hasn’t all been a barrel of laughs for Izzard over the years. His first show was at the Edinburgh Festival in 1981 but he failed to make any impact and he says the 80s is a decade he wants to forget.

But his perseverance finally paid off. After spending a decade in the doldrums, Izzard has finally become a star in Europe and developed a cult status in America.
With fans like Robin Williams singing his praises and producing his US shows another triumph can’t be too far away. Television specials screened to millions in the US haven’t hurt either.

He may be 20 years honing his skills, but Izzard’s approach to his craft hasn’t changed.
“I don’t sit down and write it, I ad lib it on stage,” he says. “It’s a very lazy way of working except when I’m on stage where I work my backside off basically.
“I’m mildly dyslexic so it works with my brain patterns.”

This is a serious business for the restless joker. This year he’s already starred in several films, published an autobiography, Laughing Stock, and completed a 12 week West End run playing Lenny Bruce.

Izzard was back on the road touring the very next day.
“I don’t want to be dawdling,” he says.

The 80s were a washout, the 90s got them giggling. The next decade should make Eddie Izzard the king of comedy.

• Eddie Izzard is at the Shelbourne Room in the RDS, tonight and tomorrow night at 8pm.