IzzardLounge.com

This is London 24th April 2001

Football Notebook

by Martin Chilton.

There's only one man who can save Crystal Palace now ... Eddie Izzard. A sense of humour has always been a requirement for any Palace supporter and the club seem to attract more than their share of comedians. As the clock counts down to relegation to the Second Division, though, the celebrity fans seem to be deserting a sinking ship.
Neil Ruddock lookalike Jo Brand, who turned out at a fundraiser for Palace in July 1999, can be forgiven as she is dealing with more important matters.
The star of Through the Cakehole has just become the mother of a baby girl and is having to give Palace a wide berth. The 43-year-old, who once got all emotional on television describing how painful it had been to see Palace lose 9-0 at Liverpool, will not be available for any much-needed morale-boosting at Selhurst Park this Saturday when Palace play Wolves.
Brand's pleasant agent told Notebook: "Football, ahh. Well, she hasn't been to Palace for a while and I'm afraid she's engrossed in girly things like babies."
What about Sean Hughes? Alas, this comedian, who is a regular Palace supporter, is away touring Australia (just don't joke about Down Under).
How about Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey? Sadly, the man who said Palace's traumatic play-off defeat by Leicester triggered a 24-hour drinking binge (well, it's a good enough excuse), is off filming in Canada.
We can discount Roger De Courcey - Notebook has already revealed the NookieBearGate scandal where the ventriloquist defected to help Chelsea - and that leaves only Izzard.
Football is infested with johnny-come-lately luvvie fans, who tend to go for Manchester United and Chelsea, but Izzard doesn't seem to be one of those. The 39-year-old was an Eagle fan even in the non-glamour days of John Jackson, Don Rogers and Mel Blyth.
The man, who stars later this year as a bisexual transvestite in the film All the Queen's Men (a tribute to Gerry Queen perhaps), has been a Palace fan since 1969.
In fact, he chose to break the news to his dad he was a transvestite after they had watched Palace lose together. Some day for dad that must have been.
In any case, high heels or not, Eddie, your club needs you.

Eddie Izzard Leads Joe Egg Back to Comedy, 5 Dec

Laurence Boswell's critically acclaimed revival of Peter Nichols' A Day in the Death of Joe Egg will receive a new lease of West End life next month when it transfers to the Comedy Theatre where, coincidentally, the play received its original London premiere in 1967. The production finishes its current limited run at the New Ambassadors Theatre on 24 November then reopens for another eight-week season at the Comedy on 5 December 2001.

At its new home, comedian Eddie Izzard will take over from Clive Owen as Bri, the young father struggling to come to terms with the burdens of caring for his brain-damaged daughter. His official opening night in the part will be on 10 December. Owen must leave at the end of his current contract due to filming commitments.

Izzard was last seen in a West End acting role in 1999, playing American comedian Lenny Bruce in Lenny. His other stage credits include The Cryptogram, Edward II and 900 Oneonta, while on film, he's appeared in Velvet Goldmine, Shadow of the Vampire and The Avengers. As a stand-up comedian, Izzard has a huge following for his touring comedy shows and videos such as Dress to Kill and Glorious.

The rest of the Joe Egg cast - Victoria Hamilton (as wife Sheila), Prunella Scales (as Bri's mother Grace), John Warnaby (Freddie) and Robin Weaver (Pam) - remains the same with the Comedy transfer. The production is designed by Es Devlin, with lighting by Adam Silverman and sound by Fergus O'Hare.

Boswell's revival is the first major London staging of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg since the original 1960s production. Combining elements of tragedy with grim humour, the play is widely recognised as dealing sympathetically with the difficulties faced by parents and carers in such a situation.

The 1967 version of Joe Egg won the Evening Standard Award for Best Play, with a Tony Award for Best Revival bestowed in 1985. The 1971 film interpretation, adapted by Nichols himself, starred Alan Bates, Janet Suzman and Peter Bowles. It was directed by Peter Medak (who went on to make Let Him Have It and Romeo Is Bleeding) and won a United Nations film award.

Another Peter Nichols revival, his 1977 musical comedy Privates on Parade, opens next month at the Donmar Warehouse. It is directed by Michael Grandage and stars Roger Allam.

- by Terri Paddock