Satire

Eddie Izzard

For the final paper, I will be researching Eddie Izzard. Well known British comedian Eddie Izzard created a unique persona for himself, always dressing up as a woman for his shows. He first gained fame after attending University of Sheffield and performing small skits which achieved notoriety in England. Izzard then proceeded to befriend Robin Williams while acting a part in the film The Secret Agent in 1996. He then went on to produce many stand up DVDs and acted in various television shows, theatrical performances and movies. Izzard is heavily influenced by Monty Python and John Cleese even referred to him as “the lose python” once. Izzard has always been one of my favorite comedians and I am looking forward to analyzing his form of comedy.

Highlights from Satire Comments

I think dystopic scenarios are also valid.

they can mock things that are going on in society and not get in trouble for it.

Satire often will tell the truth and sometimes will even deal with very important issues.

I believe this is vital to satirical presentation because it presents ideas in forms only visible to the discerning eye, and therefore avoids falling victim to being passed off as ‘just another critical assessment’.

sometimes I think that today in our society, we get caught up in the entertainment factor, the sparkle, the flash, and sometimes, the obscenity that is part of satire and forget to find the little truths behind the curtain.

Satire offers the audience a chance to see another side of an event, speech, or idea, opening perspectives and giving them a chance to laugh at the serious stuff.

I think we should begin with a discussion of satire. Some definitions from different sources would be good. Let’s post them and discuss them. I have always thought of satire in relation to comedy, but Jillian rightly threw that idea away by bringing up 1984 as a satire. So let’s see where we go from here.

See the whole document on Blackboard, but Hughet who wrote a book about the Roman satirist Juvenal has these criteria for satire:1. Does it tell the truth?

Does it tell the truth?
Does it deal with important subjects?
Is it effective?