Force Majeure

Having had our dinner at Jano Bistro, we then nipped down the road to the Michael Fowler Centre to see the main event of the evening, Eddie Izzard’s Force Majeure.

Spoiler alert: If you’ve not seen Force Majeure, and are waiting for the DVD, (a) it’s been out since 2013, so really, get your act together; and (b) if you don’t want to know who did it, stop reading now.

After greeting us and catching up on a bit of local history (the Duke of Wellington’s famous encounter with Napoleon at the battle of Auckland, shortly before the battle of Austerlitz), he explained how he’d been taking this show around the world, in some cases delivering it in the native language (French, German, Spanish and Russian). In some cases where he didn’t speak the language too well he learnt his lines like a play.

And then, into the body of the show. He covers his usual themes, with digressions into philosophy, Roman leaders, use of flags, people called Steve (unless they’re called Jeff), human sacrifice, dressage, and lots of godlessness. Chickens featured much more than in previous shows that I’ve seen, including as military advisors. There was also a lot more singing than is customary. We laughed. How we laughed.

But did we laugh correctly? Is Eddie Izzard as funny as he used to be? It’s difficult to tell. I think we’ve become used to Eddie Izzard, so things that were once frighteningly original now seem expected, even obvious. Yes, Mark Anthony is a chicken (an actual chicken, not just someone who runs away a lot). But is that as funny as putting horseshoes on a duck? The show didn’t tie everything up in one glorious knot with the interconnectedness of everything being finally revealed as in previous shows. And yes, I think we’ve known for years that the Indian accent sounds a bit like the Welsh accent. He also recycled a tale about stealing make-up that he’s used before (in Definite Article, I think).

As he’s got older, he’s got more serious. In his early shows, there would be no topical political references. These have crept in (notably his rants against the royal family), and he now spends more time on his personal political beliefs, particularly about Europe, which aren’t actually comedy. It may be time for him to hang up his comedy hat and start his political career.