News

EARLY EDDIE IZZARD SHOWS TO GET FIRST NORTH AMERICAN DVD AND CD RELEASE; 9-STOP IN-STORE TOUR TO COINCIDE WITH RELEASES; ‘UNREPEATABLE,’ ‘DEFINITE ARTICLE’ AND ‘GLORIOUS’ DUE NOVEMBER 9 ON ANTI-; DOUBLE EMMY AWARD WINNING ‘DRESS TO KILL’ OUT FOR THE FIRST TIME ON CD

Tony-nominated actor and double-Emmy Award-winning comedian EDDIE IZZARD is launching a nine city in-store whistle stop tour as North American fans get a chance to enjoy some of his early work for the first time. IZZARD’s one-man shows UNREPEATABLE (1994), DEFINITE ARTICLE (1996), and GLORIOUS (1997) are all set for their first release on DVD and CD (and for UNREPEATABLE and DEFINITE ARTICLE their first release ever in North America) on Anti- records on November 9 – the same day the in-store tour begins.

Also on November 9, DRESS TO KILL – the show that made IZZARD a household name (not to mention a two-time Emmy winner) in America – gets its first release on CD. The show, which was an HBO special in 1999 and a 2002 DVD with over 100,000 copies sold since its release, features such classic IZZARD non sequiturs as “Squirrels in Makeup” and “God Attack the Queen,” and his singular skewering of historical figures like “Engelbert & JFK.”

UNREPEATABLE – recorded in March, 1994 at the Albery Theatre amidst a seven week sold-out run during which IZZARD played to 34,000 fans – has IZZARD riffing on topics like “New Improved Dyslexia,” “Do Earwigs Make Chutney?” and “Secret Magicians.” In addition to subtitles in English, French, and Spanish, the disc’s bonus features include audio commentary, a photo gallery, and a trivia track.

The next step in IZZARD’s evolution, DEFINITE ARTICLE, took him on the road for the first time, and marked his introduction to American audiences. IZZARD’s third one-man show made stops in New York, Stockholm, Paris, and Reykjavik. His imaginative wit is on display as he touches on surreal themes like “The Big Bang Salmon,” “Best Laid Plans of Mice,” and “Late Night Murderers.” DVD extras include the BBC documentary “Je Suis A Stand Up,” along with a photo gallery, trivia track, subtitles, and audio commentary. The performance captured on DVD comes from the show’s 12-week run at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre, which earned IZZARD the following praise from London’s Daily Telegraph: “’Definite Article’ marks that thrilling moment when a promising talent moves up several gears into major stardom.”

GLORIOUS is taken from a 1997 performance at the Hammersmith Odeon during a sold-out world tour which kicked off in New York. It was during this tour that IZZARD first performed an entire show in French in Paris. As IZZARD reinvents stand-up, he takes the Bible with him, rewriting the Old Testament to include the likes of “Noah on Speed” and “The Tyranny of Ducks,” and sprinkling the New Testament with such memorable yarns as “Crazy St. Peter,” “The Flight of the Volkswagen,” and “Death By Chocolate.” Bonus features on the DVD include the documentary “Lust For Glorious,” as well as audio commentary, subtitles, a trivia track, and a photo gallery.

IZZARD’s most recent world tour, 2003’s Sexie, was his most extensive and successful to date. In North America alone, IZZARD – described by the New York Times as an “exhaustingly funny stand-up comic,” and by the Los Angeles Times as the “funniest man in, well, pretty much all of the known universe” – played to over 90,000 fans in 16 cities.

His most recent comedy DVD, 2003’s Circle, was culled from his one-man show of the same name in 2000. Recounting his performance in Circle, Daily Variety noted, “Maybe the greatest tribute one can pay Izzard is that sometimes you’re reluctant to laugh for fear of what you might miss next.”

In 2003, the charismatic Brit was nominated for a Tony Award for his Broadway reprisal of the lead role in Peter Nichols’ A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg, which IZZARD first played in London’s West End. Among his big screen credits are Shadow of the Vampire with Willem Dafoe and John Malkovich, and Peter Bogdanovich’s The Cat’s Meow, in which IZZARD played Charlie Chaplin, starring opposite Kirsten Dunst as Marion Davies.

IZZARD is slated for an early November appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and a November 16 appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. His first person account of Christmas past can be seen in the December issue of Playboy. IZZARD’s upcoming film roles include Ocean’s Twelve (out December 10), John Turturro’s musical Romance & Cigarettes (early 2005), and a starring turn with Kiefer Sutherland in Disney’s animated adventure The Wild (March, 2005).

IZZARD’s in-store Q&A/signing appearances are as follows:

Tue., Nov. 9 - Los Angeles - Virgin Megastore – Sunset

Wed., Nov. 10 - San Francisco - Borders – Union Square

Fri., Nov. 12 - Chicago - Tower Records – Clarke St.

Sat., Nov. 13 - Toronto - HMV – Younge St.

Mon., Nov. 15 - New York - Virgin Megastore – Times Square

Thur., Nov. 18 - Boston - Borders – Downtown Square

Fri., Nov. 19 - Atlanta - Tower Records