Izzard looking to remix history
For British actor and comedian Suzy Eddie Izzard, few things are funnier than ancient history.
Over the course of her singular career, the seminal stand-up comic and performer has found ways to mine everything from the infamous exploits of Henry VIII to the battles of ancient Greece for material. Shot in San Francisco in 1998, Izzard’s breakthrough special, “Dress to Kill,” famously included a riff on Stonehenge. It would also set the tone for a career that’s subsequently seen her tour across the globe and record a slew of acclaimed releases over the last 35 years.
Though Izzard’s sets often focus on days long ago, the 61year-old has long been ahead of the curve. Performing in a dress and heels from her earliest days, Izzard has subsequently come out as genderfluid, noting in 2019 that she’d prefer to be identified by “she/her” pronouns. Earlier this year, Izzard announced she’d be going by Suzy, sharing that it was a name she’s wanted to use since age 10.
It’s a fitting backdrop for Izzard’s current venture, “The Remix Tour,” which visits San Francisco’s Orpheum Theatre on Oct. 19-21.
Speaking by phone from a tour date in New York, Izzard told the Chronicle about her decision to dedicate her latest show to revising some of her most cherished material and whether her bid to be elected as the Labour candidate for England’s East Sussex constituency might interfere with her plans to play every character in “Hamlet” on Broadway next year.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: San Francisco is very excited to welcome you back for three nights! Going back to 1999, where did you film “Dress to Kill”?
A: I believe it’s become a nightclub now, but it was called the Stage Door (now August Hall). It was like 500 seats, and the Cable Car was this 200-seat basement theater below it. That’s where I was playing, but as I walked through (the Stage Door), I thought, “This would be a good place to shoot a comedy special.” Then I asked if I could play there for an extra weekend and shoot it, and that’s where we did it.
Q: The theme of your current tour finds you revisiting some of your most famous material and reworking it and re-imagining it. What led you to design a show around that concept?
A: The Rolling Stones are a good example: They’ve played for 60 years now and when they do the classics, they do them in the
“Eddie Izzard’s The Remix: The First 35 Years”: 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 19-21. $69-$106. Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., S.F. broadwaysf.com
classic style, because that’s what people want to hear. They don’t want it remixed. But in comedy, if you go in and do the same beats, it doesn’t work. That’s why I want to change them, so that I can live it and go, ‘What do I say next? What comes here?’ It’s like a chess game. That’s what really turns me on: not being quite sure what I’m going to say next.
Q: You recently performed a one-person version of “Great Expectations” on Broadway where you played 19 characters. Do you think your stand-up career helped prepare you to take that on?
A: I think everything helps. The drama helps the comedy, in my articulation. I suffered from being ignored in my family, or I felt I was ignored, so I started mumbling, which came into my stand-up. I think drama has helped me to articulate more clearly.
Being able to play 19 characters stems from a stand-up technique I got from Richard Pryor, who would sometimes do two people talking to each other as part of his material. It wasn’t often, but I thought he was doing it all the time — and that everyone else was doing it too. Having come from sketch comedy and wanting to be in Monty Python, I just started doing it. In retrospect, I’ve come to realize that not a lot of stand-up features multiple characters talking to each other, but I do it and I thought I could do it in drama as well. In that way, the stand-up helps the drama, and the drama helps the stand-up.
Q: And next you’re tackling a one-woman version of “Hamlet,” is that correct?
A: Yes, “Hamlet” is all lined up to launch in January in New York. It’s a big thing to do, but they won’t give me the roles in the standard way. I’m not top of the list, like “Let’s see what Suzy is up to, she’d be perfect.” They don’t put me at the top of the list, so I decided to put me at the top of my own list.
Q: That’s a fitting segue to your current political aspirations, as you’ve also recently announced your intentions to run for office in the U.K.
A: It’s a tricky thing because our system is a movable feast. We never know when the next election is going to come, and a week is a long time in politics. Hopefully, I can get a short run of “Hamlet” done — get it launched and on its feet — and then I will go into campaigning to go into politics. That’s what I hope, but we’ll just have to see what happens..
Q: This won’t be your first campaign, but given you once ran 29 marathons in 29 days , I imagine you’re determined to see this through to the finish line too?
A: I had a lot of transphobic pushback when I was running, initially (in 2022), on my first selection, which was a primary up in Sheffield. I’m now doing that in Brighton, and I’ll probably get it again. I’ve had it since I’ve come out. I’ve had people fight me in the streets, people hurl abuse at me. I just carry on and push back on that. Someone once told me that we must go through this phase, which will hopefully be the last screaming push from the right, from people who are very reactionary and negative and want to go backwards in time. They don’t want progress, and they’re making a lot of noise about it.
If I get elected, I will be one of the first trans MPs in the United Kingdom. Surely, that’s going to push some people with a negative viewpoint, but it’s all about being truthful. This is something I’ve known since I was 5. Before that, I didn’t have any sensibility, but was still there as part of my DNA. It’s part of my chromosomes or something.