CakeorDeath, NJ: Eddie Love your shows, thanks for
the hours of laughter. I can't attend church services, funerals or weddings without
hearing James Mason as the Voice of GOD. You seem to add a touch of
"French-flavor" in your routines. Did you study in France? I'm going on holiday
to Paris next month...any vacation tips?
Eddie Izzard: No vacation tips. I studied French at school, but I'm very positive
on being a European citizen, so I wish to do my standup in different languages around
Europe. I've already done gigs in French in Paris. I intend to do them in German, Italian
and Spanish sometime in the future.
Mankato, Minnesota: Are we ever going to see Dressed to Kill in video stores?
Eddie Izzard: All the videos are available in American format on Izzard.com (and
the CDs as well). At the moment, the only video that I've done a distribution deal with in
America is "Glorious", which is being reissued very soon.
Sacramento, California: Where do you get all your cool clothes? And I think your so
funny. Kinda cute for a guy in a dress.:)
Eddie Izzard: Shops, mainly.
Comment from Eddie Izzard: Nowhere in particular. But I'm big on Jean Paul
Gaultier.
Boston, MA: You've mentioned several times in your stand-up routines that some
people give you a really hard time for being a transvestite. Now that you're that much
more famous, with more and more people watching your movies and finding your stand-up act
funny, have you found that people are more or less accepting of your cross-dressing?
Eddie Izzard: I find that more famous people give me a hard time and call me a
transvestite. But generally, it is easier. What usually happens is someone is asking for
an autograph while someone standing next to them is insulting me. This happened a few
times.
Saratoga Springs, NY: Do you frequently get sick of you act during a tour? If so,
what games do you play with it to keep the material fresh?
Eddie Izzard: I always get bored of what I'm talking about. That is why I
constantly improvise and come up with new material to keep fresh. The show is therefore
constantly changing from night to night.
Saint Simons Island,Ga: Eddie, are you going to be revising your role of Lenny on
Broadway in the future? If so, when might that be? Carrie
Eddie Izzard: Maybe. But at the moment, there are no set plans. I would like to,
though.
Buenos Aires, Argentine: Eddie, will you be making another show in Iceland any time
soon? hermann@reynisson.com
Eddie Izzard: Yes, I will return to Iceland to do more gigs there (Sweden, Denmark,
Holland too). But I plan to start touring again at the end of 2002 in Germany in Berlin
doing the gig in German. This is all part of me wanting to play as many countries in
Europe as I can.
Atlanta Georgia: Can you give us any hints as to any new movie roles you've got
lined up? (Other than "All the Queen's Men" and "Cat's Meow")
Eddie Izzard: Those two are the only films that are coming out at the moment. I am
planning to do more films over the next two years, but I'm being choosy about projects at
the moment. So nothing to announce right now.
Winston Salem, NC: How are things proceeding with "We Know Where You
Live"? Love ya! Mary Layton
Eddie Izzard: They are proceeding very well. The gig will happen at Wembley arena
on the 3rd of June, and I will be hosting it with a number of other comedians and a few
music acts. But we're not releasing details of who else at the moment.
Cincinnati, Ohio: I thought your HBO special was hilarious and that your humor was
particularly intelligent and insightful. What's your educational background?
Eddie Izzard: I did mainly sciences at school and took accounting and financial
management with mathematics at Sheffield University. But I pulled out after one year to
concentrate on comedy.
London, England.: They say people in LA are a bit bonkers - what is the strangest
thing you have been asked to do (professionally of course!)since you started working out
there?
Eddie Izzard: Host my own game show, I suppose. I've probably been offered more
weird things, but my agents knows I'm not going to do them, so I don't hear about all of
them.
Hermosa Beach, CA: You're a brilliant comic -- any advice for those considering it
as a career?
Eddie Izzard: Yes: Be determined. And you have to be pushy. Once you get a certain
style going, keep pushing to change it and explore new areas of standup technique.
Runcorn, Cheshire, United Kingdom: Who or what inspires you?
Eddie Izzard: The Simpsons. Harry Enfield. Richard Pryor. Billy Connolly. Kevin
Spacey. Jack Nicholson. Sean Penn. And there are probably others, whom I'll remember after
this chat is done.
Washington, DC: What is your personal reason for living, apart from the fact that
dying is kind of crap?
Eddie Izzard: Well, I think the meaning of life is to live it, if that answers your
question. I just try and do things that are positive but that scare the hell out of me.
Washington, DC: Do Europeans really hate the United States as much as the media
(both ours and theirs) wants us to believe they do?
Eddie Izzard: I think what Europeans hate about America is probably the same as
what Americans hated about the British in 1776. Everyone hates the country with the most
aggressive foreign policy. America can do what it wants now, as it is the most powerful
country in the world, and back in 1776, Britain did just the same. But on a one-to-one
basis, British people will know Americans and will get on very well with them, but they'll
still have a problem with America.
Washington, DC: How would you rate George W. Bush's performance as president so
far?
Eddie Izzard: Kyoto. That seems to sum it up.
Topanga, CALIFORNIA: What are you going to do during the writers/actors strike?
Eddie Izzard: Learn languages, probably.
Comment from Eddie Izzard: I have to get way better at German before doing my gigs
in Berlin.
London: In your recent Sunday Mirror interview you mentioned that you liked your
women 'vavoomy', I think that is a fantastic word, but please define it according to the
Eddie Izzard Dictionary of Groovy words. Thanks Lots of Love Mysterywoman
Eddie Izzard: I'm not really into women who are as thin as a broomstick. That's
what it means.
Comment from Eddie Izzard: You know, curvaceous.
Atlanta, Georgia: If you could meet anyone in the world, who would it be?
Eddie Izzard: I'd like to meet Nelson Mandela. I'm not sure what we'd chat about,
but I would like to meet him.
Seattle, WA: What's in your CD player at the moment and what book is on the
nightstand? Trivial, but we MUST know! (Clearly a matter of life and death.)
Eddie Izzard: I don't read books, and the CD I'm listening to this moment is a box
set of "Beyond the Fringe", a British comedy show recorded in 1961, with Peter
Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller.
Boston, MA: Who do you think is the dumbest person alive in politics today?
Eddie Izzard: I think he's running your country.
Comment from Eddie Izzard: Goodbye, and if you want to know
any more details about when I'm touring or looking for videos and CDs, izzard.com is where
you'll get the information first.