Article by Simon Williams taken from VOX.

Lounge Izzard

VIDEO OF THE MONTH

Definite Article

Somewhat inevitably, the simplest things end up being the funniest in the seasonal carnage commonly referred to as the pre-Christmas rush. And few comics have remained as vehemently rudimentary as young Eddie Izzard. While the rest of Santa's sack bulges with all manner of belligerently manufactured fodder from erstwhile stand- up- comedians- turned- primetime- TV- entertainers (you know who you are, amigos. More importantly, so do we...), The Eddster continues his one-man-campaign against sanity.

It isn't all kids over quids, admittedly: Definite Article captures Eddie on his last UK jaunt, at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, and is neatly timed to coincide with another nationwide tour this winter. But in terms of surreal titillation, Izzard's naturally bizzare bonhomie still outweighs the wacked-out commercialism of his peers in this VFM-beyond-the-call-of-duty 108 minutes of intellectually twisted action from One Man and Pavlov's dog.

No drilling cats this time around, but there are supermarket sagas, fruity tales about, uh, fruit, crime sheets, shoplifting for make-up and generally a string of shuffles around the back areas of the brain normally only aroused by a couple of skunk-laced spliffs round mad Jack's paranoid pad. A few points off for his extended Latin wibblings - marginally tedious in the flesh, and no more enlightening on video - yet for the most part Izzard's tarty lounge lizard approach is a sensurrounding success.

- Simon Williams