Eddie Izzard: Circle

After a terribly dated and silly Matrix-style opening sequence, this DVD opens up with the show filmed live in New York Town Hall. Circle was the first live show I've seen from Izzard in a while and I was quite looking forward to it and was happy to find him on good form. His style is the same as it ever was, with perfectly scripted scatological material done with good timing and delivery that makes him such fun to flit along with. Fans have already noted that some of the topics he covers are similar to ones he has done before – God as James Mason, religion, the British Empire, Star Wars etc; but he doesn't really do the same things or the same jokes with these.

Instead he goes off on different flights of fancy which are witty and clever even if they are slightly more hit and miss than normal. One of the problems is that the film either doesn't capture the atmosphere or there wasn't at atmosphere to capture. The venue doesn't feel "full" in the way that a venue full of excitement can do but rather it feels full of people who have come along for a look. This feeling probably wasn't helped by the fact that technical problems with the sound broke up the flow for about thirty minutes during filming but regardless the audience don't seem to be getting into it and it is something Izzard notices with his regular references to "6 people jokes" etc. It knocks him a little bit at times and you can see it as he doesn't appear to be enjoying himself quite as much as his best shows but still he delivers it well.

Fans will still have much to enjoy here because Izzard is almost as good as he has been in the past and it is only the slight feel that he has done some of the topics before and also the slightly stilted audience that takes away from it.

I can understand why die-hard Eddie fans are disappointed with "Circle" because it really isn't as fall-off-the-sofa-my-jaw-aches-omigawd-I-can't-breathe-for-laughing hilarious as the likes of "Dress to Kill" and "Glorious". However, there's still a good deal of intelligent and extremely funny observation going on here and, like all of his stand-up before it, it's worth it 'cause it's Eddie and a true fan doesn't need anymore than that as a guarantee. But even those not familiar with humour of the Izzardeque variety should find plenty to amuse them on this show. The signing with chimps ("gimme a f***ing banana"), monkeys with guns and Darth Vader trying to order penne arrabiata in the Death Star canteen are truly hilarious and just what we expect from our hero. Yes, there are some re-hashed lines but the same could be said for most stand-up comedians and besides, this was released over two years after it was filmed so there's bound to be stuff that we've heard before but seemed a lot fresher at the time.

I agree with those who recommend that Izzard novices start out on the true path of comedy righteousness with "Dress to Kill", "Glorious" or "Unrepeateable" but if you've seen them and not "Circle" please don't pass it by because you've heard that it's no good. There's plenty in there to make you utter many a hearty titter and more than a few mighty chuckles and like a lot of Eddie's stuff it gets funnier with repeated viewings.

Don't remember exactly in which order I saw his stand-up routines (none of them live though), but I am sure it was not in chronological order. I think it started with glorious. So maybe the order you see them influences your opinion cause I am (now) a die-hard fan of Eddie's stand-up but I seem to disagree with most other fan's that this is actually almost his best piece. My order would be: 1) Definite article 2) Circle 3) Glorious 4) Dress to kill 5) Unrepeatable 6) Sexie (which was not great actually, to say the least). Haven't seen live at the ambassadeur yet though but I suspect it will knock Sexie of that list. One other thing of course might be that this was actually recorded in the US as opposed to most of the others.

i was greatly looking forward to seeing this new dvd of eddie's show from New York after reading the praise heaped upon him by our american friends on this very site. I love eddie izzard's material, and have a couple of his older shows on VHS, so what didn't i like about this one? Mainly the beggining of the show itself, i thought it took him a good ten minutes to find his feet, didn't seem to know where he was going a lot of the time, which in itself is sometimes one of his endearing qualities, but too much can make me feel irritated! A lot of the show seemed way under-rehearsed, which he does actually admit to on the commentary. Too much about 'God' as well i thought, needs to get some different topics going on, like he used to. Having said all that, once he got into his stride there was some very funny stuff: 'Chimps with guns', 'Stoned olympics' and the bit about Darth Vader in the Death Star canteen, was Izzard firing on all cylinders! Once i've viewed this show three or four times i'm sure i'll love it to pieces, but that initial first view was a little shakey.

I thought he was hilarious! As soon as he walked on stage I started laughing. But the audience was in no mood for it and that threw him off, I think. Like when he was telling the one about the god of chaos out there in the middle of nowhere just trying to light his oven, (to make a flan), and he's poking a match in there and going "I'm just trying to light the oven... can't seem to get it lit.. Just trying' to.... BANG!!!" LOL!! But nobody laughed until he told them "And that was the big bang, thats how it all started." And they all kinda nodded and clapped in a "oh...I get it" way.

And then there were a few people who were laughing at everything, just in case it was funny. Every once in a while he'll just toss some nonsense out there and see what happens. But I could tell he wasn't connecting with them. He is at his best with an audience that already knows him, like in S.F. or London.