Eddie Izzard Comedy Gala – Sydney Opera House (18.10.14)

The 4th Annual Just For Laughs Festival came to an end in Sydney over the weekend with a string of hilarious appearances from some of the worlds finest comedians. Though as is the case most years, the hottest ticket this weekend was the Gala, taking over the Concert Hall on Saturday night. With names like Drew Carey and John Cleese hosting the event in years past, the 2014 installment saw British comedian Eddie Izzard serve as our guide through six performances plus a taste of his own medicine.

So let’s talk about Eddie first. Where as Drew Carey knows how to run to a clock from his TV duties, and John Cleese sits well amongst an ensemble, an Eddie Izzard show is very much a show. Jokes are long form, the material well crafted and connecting banter key to the success of his humour. He’s no longer the man of the 10 minute monologue. He doesn’t have to be. So with this in mind, as he tours the world on his Force Majeure tour (just announced to hit Sydney in January) even Izzard admitted tonight would be a challenge for him – running to a clock and still trying to deliver an “Eddie Izzard experience”.

Powering through a short dose of material no doubt found on his Force Majeure tour (as well as an old favourite or two for good measure), Izzard touched on historical humour, ego, German and French languages (he is fluent in all three and proud of it), and his position in the world as an “Action Tranvestite”. It was often hilarious, overtly intellectual and saw Izzard embody multiple characters as he led us masterfully down a series of rabbit holes filled with laughs and some historical knowledge. But while this is what he’s known for, and no doubt what fans were there to see, this was not an Eddie Izzard show – it was a gala – and it just didn’t quite work in the context. As he creates these worlds that you jump back and forth into, you feel like he’s being interrupted by these six great comedians, rather than supported by them. He may be a great comedian, but as a host of a gala… Well let’s just put it this way: it’s of little surprise a headline tour was announced shortly after his appearance. It all had the ring of a promo trip rather than what was advertised…

But criticism of Eddie’s hosting abilities – or his ability to suitably fit into his allocated time frames – aside, in the end it was the six diverse comedians from Australia, New Zealand and North America who stole the show. They delivered impeccably timed, well crafted and consistently hilarious 10 or 15 minute performances (I was always laughing too hard to check my watch) that offended, humoured and entertained. We started locally with Ronny Chieng, who brought humour to modern mobile technology and the pains of having to deal with people under 25. US comedian Ted Alexandro was next and delivered a sharp and witty set that was the highlight of the night. He professed his self-admiration for being a single 45 year old (“I made it through the maze! I did it!”), delivered one of the best set up toilet jokes I’ve ever heard, and no doubt separated the crowd with an abortion joke for the ages. Not a sentence I thought I’d be saying about tonight… Or any night really. The man is ballsy to say the least.

Reggie Watts was weird and wonderful in every way you expect him to be. Jumping between characters, music and unintelligible banter, there’s something about Watts that makes you cry with laughter even though you have little to no idea what is going on. It’s either the sign of a genius or a madman. I imagine it’s a bit from column a and a bit from column b…Alonzo Bodden followed and dealt primarily with race, being perplexed by “Blacktown” and culminated his set with a story about how he once found himself defending racist Americans against South African racists. He told it better than I ever could.

Newcastle comedian Sarah Kendall was the lone woman on the year’s lineup, and delivered a great set, talking about her days in school, from handjobs during Jaws 4 to calling a teacher the “King of Cunts”. Then is was New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby‘s turn to shine, delivering a physical set (he did a cartwheel!), documenting his days in the New Zealand army, where they shouted “bullets!”, because they couldn’t afford actual bullets. And don’t get him started on the Navy. Brilliant, brilliant stuff and a great way to help bring the Gala to an end. But not before Izzard returned to sneak in a bit of crowd pleasing material…

The gala might have been Izzard’s, but this Just For Laughs night belonged to the guest comedians.

Larry Heath

Founding Editor and Publisher of the AU review. Currently based in Toronto, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter @larry_heath or on Instagram @larryheath.