Eddie Izzard to lead British comedy invasion of New York
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Eddie Izzard is to lead a UK comedy invasion of America amid signs that the British sense of humour has finally crossed the Atlantic.
The cast of The League of Gentlemen, Bill Bailey and Dylan Moran (from the Channel 4 sitcom Black Books) are among the other stars who have been lined up to take part in the New York British Comedy Festival later this year.
At the launch of the event yesterday, Izzard - who has just taken the US by storm with his tour Sexie - said he had been encouraging other British comic talent to try harder to crack the American market.
"I have been saying to all the comedians, 'Just go! Go and put the time in,'" he said. "If they go and just do one gig that's not the way it's going to work."
Izzard sold 90,000 tickets for his US tour, with 20,000 bought within 24 hours of going on sale, and he was described by The New York Times as "The most popular and exportable British comedian since the heyday of Monty Python".
The success has helped to create a new appetite for British comedy, compounded by the critical acclaim for the BBC show The Office, which is nominated for two Golden Globes.
The New York promoter Arnold Engelman, of Westbeth Entertainment, said that he believed the British style of stand-up comedy could be "the new entertainment form in America".
He said: "Stand-up comedy [in Britain] is an art form. It's in the West End just as much as a new playwright or George Bernard Shaw. American comedians get caught up in television and they can rarely perfect [stand-up]."
Mr Engelman said that as part of the festival later this year the British comedians would each be given a residency of a week or more, rather than doing short sets one after another.
Boothby Graffoe, one of the comedians taking part in the project, welcomed the chance to perform his entire set.
"That's one thing I've learnt from Eddie - don't do 20-minute sets in clubs, do the full monty," he said. "That way you rise or fall by your own hand."
Graffoe said that the idea that Americans have an irony bypass was "a fallacy" and he compared US audiences favourably to the London comedy club circuit.
"I've stopped doing the London circuit. A lot of the clubs have become more about crowd control," he said. "As long as you can control a crowd of drunken blokes you're all right. It's not like it used to be."
Mark Gatiss of The League of Gentlemen said that an earlier visit to the US had shown that American audiences quickly latched on to the bizarre characters of the village of Royston Vasey. "You have got to say we are a British thing, undiluted, take it or leave it," he said.
Bailey said that the growth in international comedy festivals had encouraged British comedians to tackle new territories.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments