Eddie Izzard is intelligent humor. He basis a lot of his humor around the outrageous things that happen in the world be it history or modern. As this is the source, there is an extra-reward to understanding what he is referencing in his jokes, more so as he often moves into other languages. It appeals to the linguist in me that he can mostly make the jokes to still be understandable despite the fact that he is using French or Latin or German. This is often accomplished by his cross referencing style. There will be jokes that come up several times during the course of a show so that you are rewarded by remembering the earlier joke. The clever way they interweave makes for even more hilarity in his comments, and the same mimes can allow you to grasp the jokes again when he slips into other languages. There are certainly comments that could be offensive, but by giving no-one the benefit of the doubt, least of all his own people, country, world-view, etc., Eddie Izzard keeps the comments from having a malignant feel to them. Everyone is worth making fun of, so it feels as though there is no particular malice coming from him. Quoting Eddie Izzard has made me several friends, and the shared references to his shows filled an entire summer with joy interacting with my co-workers. Here lies the source of my most used quote, “I claim India for Britain,” my favorite mime tilting the computer monitor to look at the printer that it isn’t finding, my favorite observation of Phoenix, “You can just attach the chicken to a bungee and throw it out the door to cook it,” a great memory of friendship, “I am an evil giraffe…I will eat more leaves than I should,…La cucaracha [the PA]” my favorite lists of random things, arguments and haircuts and jam and grandmothers and things that go ugg…and Rwanda, and possibly my favorite quote, though I can’t think for the life of me which that is off hand. The first time our family became aware of Eddie Izzard was a showing of Dress to Kill on comedy central. My dad had been channel surfing, and settled in on this. Both my mom and I were drawn in as almost never happens with television programming, and by the end we were both fans and ready to buy the show immediately. We have also had two chances to see him live, and his live performances are just as good as the DVD’s. He spends some time opening each show by commenting and making fun of the location he is in, and he is a keen observer in that he is usually spot on with his jokes. The fact they are so accurate sets the comedic mood, and makes it easy to settle in and laugh at the ensuing show.