The Show
Eddie Izzard is one of the funniest comedians in the world, but he's never been able to break through in America. Perhaps it has something to do with the whole transvestite thing. Us puritans just can't wrap our heads around a guy who wants to wear a dress. Meanwhile, there have been plenty of summer days that made me jealous of the girls wearing those airy sundresses. But perhaps I've revealed too much.

Izzard's comedy can be a bit to "Anglo" for some, but as a lifelong fan of Britcoms, there's little he says that makes me do the confused dog head-tilt. Sure, there are some more recent references that go over my head (I had to look up subbuteo table), but in context, they pretty much all work. The majority of his material is universal, just said with British slang.

Some of his best bits are found in this set, including him pondering James Bond's gadgets, President Kennedy's donut proclamation, Mr. Dog, mice's best-laid plans and Pavlov's dog. Much of the comedy is trademark Izzard, with his hilarious imitations of James Mason and Sean Connery, his frequent mentions of jam, Italian Job tangents and segues that make zero sense.

Izzard is the kind of performer who can say just about anything and make it funny. There's something about the way he speaks and moves that's so infused with joy and fun, that you can't help but smile. Even when he's going into more high-brow bits about the Bible or English politics, he's still able to make them hilarious by changing the inflection of his voice. A true performer, through and through, Izzard delivers an outstanding stand-up set.

The DVD
"Definite Article" arrives in America on one DVD, packaged in a keepcase, with an insert showing the chapter stops. A static full-screen menu starts the disc with a choice of English, Spanish or French, which changes the menu language and the subtitles, leading into an animated full-screen menus with chapter selections, subtitles and special features options. In an interesting touch, from the special features menu you can select a bleeped soundtrack that eliminates cursing.

The Quality
I was disappointed to see this disc is in full-screen, but I guess that's the way it was shot way back in 1996. Considering its age, the video's quality is fine, though the color has that look that you get when shooting live in a theatre, with a red hue dominant in the palette. There's some grain and color bleed, but it's kept to a minimum. Aurally, the 2.0 Stereo feed is as good as necessary, with the audience reaction kept at the proper level in comparison to Izzard's mic.

The Extras
The biggest extra here is a 48-minute featurette entitled "Je Suis a Stand-Up." A camera crew follows Izzard as he travels around the world, performing the "Definite Article" set in far-flung places such as Iceland, Sweden and New York. Shot at the time of the main show, Izzard isn't at the height of his fabulous-ness yet, and in fact, he looks quite plain at many times during the tour. This is a pretty intimate look at the man behind the comic, and interestingly, you see where some of his ideas come from, as the featurette follows bits of footage with the jokes they inspired. This is as well-made a behind-the-scenes mini-doc as I've seen.

A commentary recorded by Izzard nine years after the show runs the length of the show, featuring comments about his jokes, remembrances and jokes about his performance. This is a much more subdued Izzard (similar to the way he's seen in "Je Suis") but he's definitely not bored like some commentators are. There are times when he gets caught just enjoying his own comedy, but most of the time he has something interesting to say. There's also a subtitle "Trivia Track" that is not what you might expect. Similar to "The Annotated Dennis Miller", which explained the comic's "Monday Night Football" references, this track gives background about the topics Izzard touches on. Using the menus, you can't select both the commentary and trivia track, but you can make them both appear using your player.

The Bottom Line
Eddie Izzard's comedy is, in some ways, much like Miller's, in that even if you don't get all the references, you'll still laugh because of the way he tells his jokes. Not that he really tells jokes though. His stories, impersonations and riffs on life make him one of the funniest performers working today. This DVD presents one of his earliest and most hilarious performances, complete with a very complementary set of extras. Check it out, or you risk needledeath. Or perhaps hand-squeezy death.

Follow him on Twitter

*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.