Eddie Izzard

So, in short, I met Eddie Izzard in London.

Less briefly... I found out a few weeks ago that a) he was doing standup, b) he was doing it in London, and c) there were still tickets available for December 3rd. Over the past few years, I've said multiple times: if the opportunity ever arose to see him perform standup live, I would take it, regardless of cost and inconvenience and whatever else. And so I did.

His latest routine, Stripped, was pretty excellent. I'm of the opinion that his more recent works, Circle and Sexie, were weaker than the earlier ones... but this was fantastic. I'll admit, it started off a little slow, and I was worried, but the second half picked up considerably. Of course, since he's pretty much my hero, I would have been content with him reading the phone book for two hours.

People who have seen his routines know about the broad range of subjects he manages to cover... I'll just list a few highlights: giant squid diaries, Noah's ark, the development of human language, scrabble, dyslexia, the stone age, GPS, farm animals, Hamlet, the ten commandments, the burning bush, intelligent design, Sarah Palin, creme brulee, James Mason (very briefly), badgers, wikipedia... and so on

After the show, I thought I'd make an attempt at finding the stage door. I had to make two loops around the block, because it wasn't labeled, but the second time I found about ten people who were waiting outside a nondescript door. If you don't know what I'm talking about -- sometimes in theatre, the performers will come out the stage door after a performance and sign autographs and whatnot

We all bantered and had a good time for a solid half hour, hoping that Eddie Izzard would make an appearance. At last, he did -- and he was super friendly. He signed autographs and took pictures for everyone who wanted one, while ignoring this one obnoxiously drunk guy who kept interfering. I got the picture, and I got my program signed, so I was rather thrilled

That was Wednesday night. Friday night, I was slowly making my way back in the direction of the hostel, and passed by the theatre. I realized it was just about the time when he had made his appearance outside before, so I wandering around to see. There were fewer people, about half a dozen, standing around. I reassured them that he had come out Wednesday, and that it just took awhile. Just after that, the door opened, and there he was again. I watched people getting their autographs and stuff, standing back. I made the comment that I'd seen him on the US election coverage (he was in the US at the time, and did a short BBC interview that I saw purely by chance). We talked about that for a minute or so, he expressed his optimism for the future, he offered me a handshake, and then said goodnight and headed off

Whew. So I saw him perform, got a picture and autograph, had a conversation, and shook the man's hand. All of this is after having resigning myself to the thought, a year or two ago, that he was probably never going to do standup again. I was so very glad to be wrong

I'll write about the rest of my London adventures later, and my other celebrity encounters... because there's more... But at the moment, it's dinner time