Sexie

Eddie Izzard walked onto the stage of her 2003 arena tour with high heels, leather pants, and a newly acquired, mail-ordered pair of prosthetic breasts. This aesthetic pivot (which Izzard jokingly recommended as a great way for middle-aged men to distract from a thickening midsection) anchored a show that treated stand-up like a rock concert. Complete with arena-level lighting and a booming Tom Jones intro, the performance leans heavily into Izzard’s trademark digressive style, where a routine about Greek mythology quickly derails into a discussion of Medusa’s hairdresser.

Recorded at the Congress Theatre in Eastbourne, England, Sexie caught Izzard at a career high point, fresh off a Broadway Tony nomination for A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. The 97-minute show captures the comic’s transition into playing massive venues, translating intimate, improvisational whimsy to thousands of people at a time. The material meanders through shark behavior, the slow speed at which superheroes get dressed, and her role as a German cowboy in a French-produced Western. Izzard closes the evening with a characteristically bad impression of Christopher Walken.