British comedian
Eddie Izzard has every reason to feel confident in smudged eyeliner. Ladies and gentlemen, yes it’s his
improvisation and wit, as well as his keen fashion sense, that has gained him a huge
following in both the UK and US. He’s
starring in a new film called Shadow of the Vampire with debuts later this year. His official website izzard.com is an eclectic
mixture of stuff from snowboarding pictures to original sound clips. And he’s currently touring the stage with his
one-act show Circles (sic). We are hoping
desperately that he has a thought or two about the internet to impart. Here he is now, Eddie Izzard.
[As Scott is
speaking, pictures of Eddie from his website and a short Shadow of the Vampire film clip
are shown.]
Did you get all
that stuff off the internet?
We just made it
up. We were hoping it fit.
Yeah, ‘cuz
one of them's got Shadow of a Vampire, where I play a bad actor. Because if anyone saw that, they must’ve
thought, “Oh, he’s a bad actor.” But
I’m playing a bad actor, so I think I come
off very good. Someone said I was very good
as a bad actor . . . some reviewer.
The snowboarding
pictures were great, I looked at those.
Yeah, I’m
quite good. I can ride fakie. I think it’s called riding fakie. Where you go like that [Eddie mimes snowboarding]
and then you spin ‘round and you’re riding the other way. 'Cuz snowboarding is one of the few things . . .
You know, 'cuz people were taking marijuana and winning snowboarding . . . um . . .
things.
Going for the
green?
I think it’s
one of the one’s where it probably helps 'cuz if you go into a half-pipe and you’re
spinning ‘round and you just don’t know how you’re gonna land . . . You can
go either way, and you can even go forwards and backward.
I mean it’s . . . it’s not like skiing where it’s just
forwards and stuff the rest of it. I mean,
snowboarding is any way you want to go. Even
sliding down like that. [Eddie “mime-boards”
some more.]
We have a lot of
snowboarders on our staff here.
'Cuz . . .I think
they should do snowboarding scenes like the bullet scenes.
You know, if you get some . . . Do you ever get snow on the streets of San
Francisco?
Once every 20
years.
So, that 20 years,
did you get some snowboarding? ‘Cuz it
would work!
Yeah.
Down the . . .
Especially that bit where it goes like that. [Eddie
makes curving motions with his hand.]
Oh, Lombard
Street! That’d be good. Get Willie Brown in here.
Just set it up,
fake snow.
Okay now,
izzard.com, just how active are you with it?
I’m medium,
medium active. In the fact that I feel it’s
something that could suck all my time into it and I could just live in there. But I love what the internet can do. I do go around and surf the internet, but it’s
all stuff about me and I just . . . If I keep putting content into it . . . and I want to
put content into the show, because that’s the main thing, and this should serve to
give information for.
But I don’t
want to put all my creative into the actual website, because then I’ll just get to
the show and go “Eh, I’m dry.” You
know, “Two men in a pub.” I can’t think.
That’s like with food, I’m very boring with food. I eat the same thing over and over again, because
I save my creativity for that hitting the stage bit.
Now, I understand
you talk about chimps in your show, is that right?
Chimpanzees. Well, monkeys, generally.
‘Cuz we’re big fans of chimps. We make tons of chimp references on the show, a
lot of Sasquatch references - which are primates. I
don’t know if you knew that Eddie.
That Sasquatch, it
that . . .?
Bigfoot
That’s
Bigfoot. What’s the fruit that also
sound like Sasquatch? That’s kumquat!
[The similarity
visibly escapes Scott. Eddie explains.] That’s quite close in my aural kind of
pick-up there.
Look out! It’s a kumquat!
But they could if
you get several kumquats all stacked together. They’d
look like a Sasquatch.
They would. The
mold would grow off.
No. There’s something like a Sasquatch . . . That’s
a squash isn’t it?
A squash? Yes! A
squash is actually a short term for Sasquatch. We
have a clip! Let’s look at it.
[Both turn to TV
screen behind them. Nothing happens. One gets the distinct impression there was never
any clip to begin with.]
Alright. So ah . . . How was it playing Lenny Bruce?
It was very good. I hope he liked it.
You know, ‘cuz I think . . . Because certain bits of what I do is
similar. I like to ad lib all over the place. I use historical and religious stuff as a basis
for doing the stand-up. But then, I’m
more surreal than he was. And he was way more
angry than I am. And I don’t think he
started angry, but you know, it became a drug-fueled . . . the establishment crushing down
on him. I mean, he was the godfather of
alternative comedy, and he died . . . he was the Jesus Christ of alternative comedy. He died so that alternative comedy lives, man.
Wow, I just had a
religious experience. Eddie, the time is up
already. You are our first celebrity
interview ever. Now, one more chance to play
the Smackdown. We’re gonna have the
Internet Smackdown. If you want to play. It’s up to you.
I desperately want
to play it. But I want to play the number
version of it.
We can do that.
Okay, if I win,
then I’m happy to play it. But if I
loose, then I wanted to play the number one in the first place.
Okay, but all the
money goes to charity.
Okay.
If you want to
catch Eddie Izzard on tour, you can check out his website at www.izzard.com.