Cake or Death's Groovy News

[from tvguide.com]

British comic Eddie Izzard has been tapped for a recurring role on United States of Tara, Deadline reports.

In the Showtime series about a woman grappling with Dissociative Identity Disorder, Izzard will play a brilliant psychology professor skeptical about the disease. However, his growing fascination with Tara (Toni Collette) will lead him to explore the condition further.

Check out photos from United States of Tara

The role will mark Izzard’s return to American TV following his work on the short-lived 2007 FX drama The Riches. Izzard, 48, recently appeared on another Showtime original series, The Green Room with Paul Provenza.

Production on the third season of United States of Tara begins next month for a premiere in 2011.

Watch Eddie tonight on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon!

[from crainsnewyork.com]

Eddie Izzard, whose turn in David Mamet’s Race ends Aug. 21, is already focusing on his next gig. “I’m reading Treasure Island for a possible role,” he says.

Mr. Izzard, increasingly known as much for his acting skills as his comedic chops, is one of several actors up to play one-legged antagonist Long John Silver in a British TV adaptation of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson pirate tale.

In addition to prepping for the part, the cross-dressing Brit is no doubt busy deciding what to wear to the Emmy Awards later this month. Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story, the Sarah Townsend-directed documentary that tracks the comedian’s rise to fame, is up for an award for Outstanding Nonfiction Special. It’s the first program from new cable network Epix to garner such an honor.

[from hemeltoday.co.uk]

On September 24, 25, and 26, three of the UK’s best loved comedians, Eddie Izzard, Dyaln Moran and Reginald D Hunter, will take to the stage together in the glorious surroundings of St Albans Verulamium Park.

For those lucky enough to secure tickets this will be a chance to enjoy one of the very last evenings of the summer in historic style. Tickets for just one of these acts are difficult to come by, but the chance to see all three on the one stage on the one night is a unique, rare and magical experience.

The three-day event, which will take place on the UK’s first purpose built outdoor comedy platform, will have outside bars and food stalls.

Tickets are available at www.hmvtickets.com/events/1055

[from hollywoodreporter.com]

High-profile premieres will include Richard Levine’s “Every Day” starring Live Schreiber, Helen Hunt and Eddie Izzard; Aaron Schneider’s “Get Low” with Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Bill Murray; Don Roos’ “Love and other Possible Pursuits” with Natalie Portman and Lisa Kudrow; John Wells’ “The Company Men” starring Tommy Lee Jones, Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Maria Bello and Kevin Costner, plus John Madden’s “The Debt” with Helen Mirren and Sam Worthington.

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[from contactmusic.com]

EDDIE IZZARD, DAVID WALLIAMS and SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH have been honoured by the British Scout Association for their inspirational charity work.

The trio was among 15 heroes who received special Scout badges as the traditional boys’ organisation celebrated its 103rd birthday.

The two funnymen have raised money for Britain’s Sport Relief and Comic Relief charities by taking on gruelling challenges recently; Izzard ran 1,100 miles (1,770 kilometres) across the U.K. in 51 days last summer (09) and in May (10), Walliams completed a 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometre) charity bike ride.

Other recipients of the special badge included comic James Corden and pop band Scouting For Girls.

Believe has been nominated for an Emmy award in the category of Outstanding Nonfiction Special at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards 2010.

>> EMMY SITE

[from Playbill]

Stand-up comedian and stage and screen actor Eddie Izzard, currently appearing on Broadway in David Mamet’s Race, sat down with AP Live June 29 to discuss the the play and the issues it dramatizes.

The wide-ranging, 20-minute interview covers working with co-star Dennis Haysbert, audience reactions to the play, racism in Izzard’s native England versus the United States, Izzard’s decision to discuss historical mass murderers and his own transvestitism in his standup, and his passion for running marathons.

Izzard received a Tony Award nomination for his work in the revival of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. Other stage credits include Cryptogram and Edward II. He has appeared on screen in “Valkyrie,” “Ocean’s Twelve” and “Thirteen,” “The Cat’s Meow,” “Velvet Goldmine” and “The Avengers.”

…to whoever sent me the Eddie swag in the mail today. There was no note (that I saw) or return address or anything but thank you

[from Killing the Buddah]

“As the progeny of a hippie college professor/Episcopal priest who dropped acid with Timothy Leary, I received an admittedly eclectic religious education. How many nine year olds can recite the Lord’s Prayer along with the lyrics to “The Vatican Rag” and “Plastic Jesus?” While other kids were watching the Three Stooges and other classic American fare, my tastes drew me across the pond where I got hooked on Monty Python’s Flying Circus and The Goodies.

My Pythonesque journey took me to the religious universes of Lenny Bruce and George Carlin, two comedians who helped me to deconstruct the world of organized religion during that period when my home life detonated. When I first started writing satire, I got turned on to the religious rants of Bill Hicks, an American comic with a definite British sensibility. By the time I caught Eddie Izzard’s HBO performance Dressed to Kill (1999), I had become a full-blown comedy junkie, devouring the likes of Jonathan Swift, Richard Pryor, P.J. O’Rourke, Molly Ivins, and Steve Allen.

Given how much Izzard’s astute observations of religion and politics helped inform my own development as a satirist, I eagerly picked up a copy of the Eddie Izzard documentary Believe, thinking I might glean some insights as to the formation of his religious beliefs. At the very least, I was hoping this surrealist might explore how he inhabited the body of satirist Lenny Bruce during a 1999 limited run production of Julian Barry’s 1971 play Lenny…”

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