Why Eddie Izzard’s still desperately seeking Mum

eDDIe Izzard’s mother died when he was six, and her presence — or rather her absence — haunts these pages.

a few years ago he was being interviewed for a documentary when he blurted out something that must have been in his subconscious for a long time.

Referring to his career as a comedian he said, ‘I know why I’m doing this. everything I do in life is trying to get her [ his mother] back. I think if I do enough things . . . then maybe she will come back.’

Izzard has gone on to become possibly the world’s most famous ‘straight transgender person’ as he refers to himself. He claims that he started wearing women’s clothes while his mother was still alive, so that anyone who suggests that his transvestism might have been triggered by her death is talking rubbish.

In all sorts of ways Believe me reads like the chronicle of a divided self.

While much of the book rambles about in his trademark meandering style, whenever Izzard mentions his mother something intriguing happens: his memory suddenly sharpens, sadness sweeps in and, if only for a moment, you catch a glimpse of the darkness that lies behind the wise- cracking mask. With the notable exception of his mother’s death, his early life was solidly uneventful. His father — the chief accountant for BP — plainly found it hard to cope alone with Izzard and his older brother mark and packed them off to boarding school.

There, horrified by the thought of revealing his vulnerability, Izzard taught himself not to cry and in the process became, as he admits, ‘dead inside’.

When Izzard was 13 he gained a step-mother — in aptly bizarre circumstances. His father Harold was a samaritan and one night took a call from a depressedsounding woman. Harold realised he knew her — in fact, she’d been married to his cousin. He made contact a few days later and they began courting.

His new step-mother had a