Eddie Izzard - Definite Article

Yes, I know, everyone likes Dress to Kill. I believe that is because that is the concert most people saw first, and there is noting quite like that first taste of something special. Dress to Kill is a great concert, but Definite Article is Eddie at his best. His regular references are not getting familiar and he does not creep into what I call the "serious dead spot" that shows up in his later shows where he gets more political or engages in some social commentary which is interesting, but not as entertaining. Definite Article is the concert I show my friends who have never seen him before and they are hopelessly hooked. Now that all his shows are on DVD (except Live at the Ambassadors. Sexie is on PAL DVD and, yes, I have that one too.) watch these two shows back to back and you will see what I mean. It won't change your opinion, but you will see Eddie at his hottest (Definite Article) and as he hits his stride in America (Dress to Kill).Some technical notes: The video quality is excellent compared to the VHS version and the commentary will make you just that much more of a fan. Enjoy!

Laugher is healthful and relieves stress, not to mention making you feel good.Eddie Izzard is witty, intelligent, and just downright funny. He is unlike any other person I have heard called a "Stand Up Comic". I would call him more of a social satirist. He touches on history, culture, philosphy, religion, politics,----nothing is off limits. You HAVE to hear him doing the voices of God and Jesus. Normally I am touchy about people using Christianity for jokes but this is not only not offensive it is HILARIOUS.I have everything available of his, on DVD. "Dressed to Kill" is the one that I have watched 12 times now. It is my "go to" DVD when the whole week has stunk and I need a litle escape.Of course the British accent lends itself to additional laughter in the way he uses it. If you have any trouble with British accents put the closed captioning on---it will greatly improve your enjoyment.I LOVE EDDIE-----makes me laugh just thinking of some of the things he says. GET HIS DVDs and treat yourself to a unique experience.

Frankly, at two hours this show is too long for an Eddie Izzard performance and since he is best at little vignettes (like those that often show up on YouTube) this performance has way too much rambling filler that gets tiring and unfunny. It would have been much better cut in half or less, in my opinion. He needs an editor. There were about four or maybe five short individual self-contained bits in this that I found genuinely funny and that worked, but the rest was either not top-notch, not water-tight, and/or rambled too much. In addition, he tries too hard to tie everything back to things he said or did earlier in the show. Sometimes this is charming and funny, but more often I found it irritating. The audience seemed to love every last second of endless miming, riffing, seemingly off-the-cuff, rapid-fire silliness he did, but I wasn't laughing for most of it; I was waiting desperately for the two hours to end.In sum, I like Eddie best in short, tight bits, like many of his YouTube excerpts.

The picture quality is not great. Also, the show is slightly different from when it was presented on HBO. That said, Eddie is amazing and very entertaining.

I'll admit, I've purchased, watched and loved five of his DVDs. In one week.This DVD is very good - but I prefer Dress to Kill, Circle, and Glorious. It seems to be one of his earlier routines, but not as early as Unrepeatable. He keeps you laughing, as usual. I can see why one reviewer said it appeals to British audiences, but I think this is simply his earlier material - we understood the material/humor just fine.If you're an Eddie fan and have Circle and Dress to Kill, then I'd recommend Glorious as your next purchase. If you're wondering if you should try an Eddie DVD, I'd recommend Dress to Kill or Circle. Once you're used to his style, any Eddie DVD is a good laugh.

The DVD had no scratches and was fairly clean considering that it was used.

I've bought "Dress to Kill" and "Glorious" in that order and I greatly enjoy them both. "Definite Article" is another good show from my favorite comedian and it has all the trappings of his previous work: cerebralism, silliness, and a nice alternate take on history. However, this time Eddie's material runs to the esoteric (more so than usual) and a new fan might find it a bit uninteresting. As a die-hard fan I found myself tuning out once or twice, too. The show can get repetitive, particularly when Eddie seems to make private jokes public. After a couple of doses, this DVD can stand on its own as well as any of the others. Just be forewarned that it'll take some getting used to. In short: This one is definitely for the fans (pun intended). Is that a pun? I can never tell.

I must preface this rave review by saying that if you don't like British comedy, are uncomfortable with transvestites, or have no patience for intelligent humor, you DON'T want to buy this. That said, BUY THIS DVD! One of his best performances, this installment of Eddie Izzard reinforces what I and his thousands of loyal fans already knew: he is by far one of the most talented comedians of the past 2 decades, and not a shabby actor either! (See  Shadow of the Vampire  for more info.) His comedy spans every imaginable topic - the NRA, the creation of the world, Queen Elizabeth,

I remember being introduced to Eddie Izzard back in the mid 90's. I had never heard of him before and watched The Definite Article for the first time without any pre-conceived ideas of what to expect. I was, up to that point, a big fan of stand up comedy. Staple diets of Billy Connolly and Bill Hicks had fed my appetite. Eddie Izzard is a real comedian. I was howling at times during this video. I don't want to spoil it but it is well worth the watch just for the sketch about French language classes alone.I have been looking for this on DVD for some time now and am delighted to have found it after all these years. I am now sharing this with my teenage sons and my wife. Although there is some bad language it is not over-the-top and unnecessary. I would not hesitate to recommend this DVD to my friends and family.

I cannot rate this gold highly enough. This was one of the first stand up comedy performances that I ever saw and is definitely Izzard's best.I have never laughed so much, so hard, or found off-on-a-tangent musings so delightfully endearing. He is a true storyteller; Izzard irrevocably draws you in with spot-on observational humour and usually outrageous ruminations, which are told with such an imaginative, conversational style that you have to remind yourself that the show is premeditated and not a gloriously surreal stream of consciousness.I especially love Izzard's supermarket musings ("this is a POO shop"/"there's a badger with a gun!"/"I left my aura there!"), and perhaps you should do what other reviewers did (and I didn't think to do) and pause it to ensure that you never miss anything over your belly laughs and tears. It is something I could watch over and over again, as finding a gem that you had previously laughed over come in thick and fast!Buy this if you're new to Izzarddom. Buy this if you're not and haven't seen it yet (where've you been?!). Yeah!

This is quite possibly the funniest DVD currently available on this planet. I have watched my VHS version (remember those? ah, bless) until it broke and Universal have _finally_ released the DVD. For example, Eddie's Bond impression - I defy anyone to keep a straight face through this sketch.His unique insight into evolution (pity the salmon), his historical slant on what the Corinthians really though of St. Paul, to sensible life coaching advice with bad handshakes. Watch his portrayal of late-night petrol station murderers and then go and stand outside a Jet station at 3am on Saturday morning. You'll be sniggering all the way to A&E.Eddie is a true comic genius and the world is a better place with his type of humour.

Eddie Izzard is at his very best in this performance , try to keep up but you may have to rewind a few times as your laughing so hard you may miss bits. How his mind works is a mystery but it is a hilarious mind. The ramblings of an Executive Transvestite are a wonder to behold.

We first bought this on video, but lost it in a house move 6 years ago. So when it came out on DVD, we jumped at the chance to buy it.This is one of the best stand-up comedy events ever. My wife and I were literally gasping for breathe as Eddie described a passage from his childhood when his school's orchestra "murdered" a piece of classical music. We had to pause the DVD to recover. And the French bits were hilarious - I didn't understand a word of it, but it still had me in stitches.