No one can say Eddie Izzard doesn't have front. As soon as he strutted onstage in Brighton last night his front was clearly on display in the form of two size D cup bulges inside a torso-hugging red top. A military frock coat, leather mini, tights and stilletos completed the outfit. This provocative image almost got in the way of a roving, wide-ranging, all-conquering show, but comedy ultimately won the day.
The self-styled "action transvestite" has diversified in so many directions, from movies to Broadway, it is easy to forget that he is a stand-up at heart. Yet over the last five months he has been taking the Sexie tour around the world. And the effort shows. His familiar strain of oddball surrealism is more seamlessly eclectic than ever. One minute he was making jokes about Achilles, the next he was impersonating a cat being thrown out of a fire engine.
The bosoms might get people talking, but it is the gags that get people laughing. In the first half Izzard laid the foundations with richly drawn tales of Medusa's bad hair days, ineffectual guide dogs and forgetful flies. These weren't just riffs, they were extended virtuoso solos. One of his talents is making it feel as if structured material is being tossed together on the spot.
When he returned after the interval, in shorter jacket and longer slashed skirt, things gained momentum. There were more Pythonesque faces, Milliganesque voices and even political quips.
Izzard is not a natural satirist, but 9/11 has become part of standup's international curriculum. Smirking gently he recalled his problems when American customs officials saw that he was born in Yemen. Things didn't get any easier when they asked his occupation and he replied "comedian".
After two hours his confidence was unstoppable. Previous punchlines that seemed to dangle like loose threads weaved their way back into the central fabric.
Things reached a crescendo with a routine about the casual sadism of dentists and its inevitable nod to Marathon Man.
But the final story capped even that, involving a gallop through three countries and referencing umpteen gags that had gone before. After a strong start and a better middle it was a magnificent end. The ambitious global tour climaxes in London later this month when it is Wembley or bust. Or rather Wembley and bust.
Eddie Izzard
