Not quite as polished as Dress to Kill, Glorious is still a good example of the quick wit and intelligent observations that Izzard is known for. The quality of the video interferes with the viewer's enjoyment but his commentary still shines through. Moving from the Bible to the Trojan War with side trips through giraffe impressions, you have to see this to truly appreciate Izzard's creativity. Any fan of thought-provoking comedy is in for a good time with this video.
15 Reviews
Not Eddie at his best but still bloody funny.
CharltonBoy19 June 2000
Here is another video of Englands best stand up comic and athough very funny it is not the best routine he has done. (check out Dressed to Kill).We do meet some of Eddie's reccuring themes,James Mason, Mrs Badcrumble and for some reason Mr Izzard has a bit of an obssession with Jam in the video but we wont hold that against him! His religous ramblings are very funny and quite true when you sit and think about it. If your a fan you will love "Glorious" , if your a first time viewer of Eddie Izzard try one of his other videos first. 7 out of 10.
Eddie is a genius
edkipp25 July 2008
Eddie Izzard is one of the only comedians that is worth seeing in person today. His humor works on many levels, and at times I out of the blue remember a line from Glorious or one of his other performances and it makes me laugh. As an actor he is pretty good but his strength is definitely as a stand-up comedian. It's almost as if a male college professor with a brilliant sense of humor and womens clothing is standing in front of a classroom of people and just lecturing about history, religion, whatever seems to cross Eddie's mind. If you haven't seen his stand-up performances, don't cheat yourself out of the pleasure.
Terribly quick wit!
mistercindy4 September 1999
Eddie Izzard is the smartest stand up I have seen since the early George Carlin material. He leaves no sacred topic untouched (particularly religion). I saw his HBO special, Dress to Kill, and ordered Glorious as soon as I knew about it. It is well worth it.
Lives up to it's title!
simpfann27 May 2001
I just finished watching this video about 5 minutes ago, and it has joined the list of my top 5 favorite comedy movies/shows. I saw Izzard's other show, Dress To Kill, first. Unfortuneately, the local video store doesn't have most of his other shows, but they do have Glorious. My parents had seen it and told it wasn't as funny as DTK. I rented it today out of curiosity as to why they thought it wasn't very good, but now that I've seen it, I disagree. It is every bit as funny as DTK, if not funnier! His thought process is amazing. From interviews I have read, Izzard makes almost no preperation for shows and that his act is highly improvised. It shows, as sometimes he will be doing a bit of "dialogue" (he faces one way speaking as one character and then faces the other way to play the other character, and goes back and forth), and he'll accidentally switch voices or things like that, or sometimes he'll have a character he plays say back to him, "You don't know what you're talking about, do you??" The stream-of-conciousness process of his act is amazing. He opens by talking about the Old Testament, and ends with the Book of Revelations and Armageddon, covering everything from the Trojan War and the X-Files in-between. And his bit near the end about trying to get a computer to print is hysterical because it's word-for-word what really happens, at least from my personal experience, with computers: "It's 5 in the morning! I'm just trying to print this one f**king file-- ohhhh, no, don't-- don't you crash on me, you b**tard!" I hope I can find tapes of some of his other shows. It is indeed glorious. Even if you had to pay 100 dollars to buy this tape, believe me, its worth it.
Make you smile when you thought you could't!
catty_cakes13 March 2005
Eddie Izzards talents have taken him far beyond any one else in the comedy industry. This movie will not make you stop laughing and its the kind of thing that you can watch over and over again and can make you smile when you thought you could not!His quick wit and his genius ability to ties lose ends up and to make everything fit together gives you a sense that this guy is not just up there for money or for fame, he is up there because he has a talent to make people laugh, and genually that's a rare thing to be able to come back and to continuously get such a positive response about it Thanks Eddie Chiao...
Sweet
PedroJT25 May 2000
This really is a treat. An amazing character, Izzard plays out like a highly polished simpsons episode played with the fast forward button down. Upbeat and manic, he goes through topic after topic without a strain on the viewer, it flowed very easily. And talk about hilarious, "i'm covered in bees!"
One of the best stand-up's best at his best
wymhdv7 January 2000
Eddie Izzard's finest hour (or two)... If you've never seen Eddie before, this is where to start. Eddie starts at the beginning of time (Biblically) and ends with Armageddon (out of here). On his way he covers the loophole in the great flood story, death and Death, the Trojan War, Bin Hood (he steals from the comfortable and gives to the moderately impoverished), machines and the end of the world.
Izzard is an example of British humor at it's finest (and sometimes most surreal) taking his influences from the Goons, Tommy Cooper and Monty Python. He is, however, also very unique. No one else I know of rambles in the most entertaining way Eddie does, sometimes losing the plot himself. I've never had the opportunity to see Eddie live, but am sure I will. I bought Glorious, now I've been out and bought the rest of his videos. Every one is a classic, but this will remain my favorite.
Izzard is an example of British humor at it's finest (and sometimes most surreal) taking his influences from the Goons, Tommy Cooper and Monty Python. He is, however, also very unique. No one else I know of rambles in the most entertaining way Eddie does, sometimes losing the plot himself. I've never had the opportunity to see Eddie live, but am sure I will. I bought Glorious, now I've been out and bought the rest of his videos. Every one is a classic, but this will remain my favorite.
Hilarious
mikelawson031 June 2003
I went over to a friend's house and she had this tape sitting on top of her VCR. We were bored and both had seen everything else she had, so we decided to watch it, as I had never even heard of Eddie Izzard. Before it started, she warned me that most people that have watched it with her think it's terrible and don't really understand alot of his humor. Two minutes into the film, I could barely hear one joke from still laughing at the previous one. Chronicling the whole of the Bible, granted with many long, random tangents, Izzard's comic genius had me laughing for the entire hour and a half.
A clever wit, keen observer..
cs-155 March 2000
I have two videos of Eddie Izzard now. I love them both. He has a clever wit, making the most of keen observations, and applying good exaggerations and body language... Irreverent often...funny always... Highly recommend it!
The only thing that made me cry from laughing !!!!!
digital_accsses25 June 2009
This was the first show that I saw for Eddie, and I really cried from laughing, I had tears coming down my checks, and by the time the show finished, my mouth and stomach were hurting me from laughing. I have seen this show over 1o times, and I still laugh every time I watch it, although I know every word he will say, its just the way he says it, he is just brilliant, so intelligent, he addresses general issues that everyone would laugh about, and he dose it in such a way, that you can actually see what he is talking about, because he gives so much details into the small things, and he always finishes a story, even if that story had 3 or 4 stories in the middle of it, I would recommend this DVD for anyone who really wants to laugh from the heart. Its one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life.
Typically scatological and creative humour from Izzard
bob the moo13 August 2007
In a typically ambitious show, Eddie Izzard opens with a discussion of the old testament and the creation of the world itself by God as played by James "The Voice" Mason. From here he covers the siege of Troy, the new testament, revelations, the construction of the ark, settings on toasters and showers and the noise baboons make when being punched.
Eddie Izzard is perhaps an acquired taste his film career has mostly been successful when he doesn't fly along surreal flights of fancy but his stand-up is where his style really comes though. His subjects are not really anything particularly new but where he takes them is almost always funny. And so it is with this 1997 show that sees him roughly have a structure of the bible and history but does bounce around rather randomly in the way that his material does. Of course having seen one of his live shows after having heard it on a CD from another place first I can confirm that it is as tightly scripted as you can get. In a way this is actually more impressive because Izzard does keep the sense of spontaneity and creativity alive no matter how many times he repeats it.
His material here is typical. At its weakest I found it amusing if a little silly but at its best it was taking me by surprise and drawing laughs from me so suddenly that I once nearly did that thing that people in films do when they have just been surprised after taking a gulp of water (except mine was noodles which was as unattractive as it sounds). Of course those that don't like Izzard will not enjoy it for the same reasons as I did, but why then are you watching? Those unfamiliar will find this as good a place to start as any but, if you're not into it after 30 minutes then just give up as it is what it is. To me though it worked really well and it was only a weak ending (where he sort of apologetically closes the show) and the movie spoof at the start (which was a great idea but needed to look more professional to really be funny) that stood out in my mind as being misfires.
Overall then, yet another funny stand-up show from Izzard with all the things that his fans love him for. Of course those that don't find it funny will hate it for the same reason but that to one side, I personally rarely found it less than amusing and comical.
Eddie Izzard is perhaps an acquired taste his film career has mostly been successful when he doesn't fly along surreal flights of fancy but his stand-up is where his style really comes though. His subjects are not really anything particularly new but where he takes them is almost always funny. And so it is with this 1997 show that sees him roughly have a structure of the bible and history but does bounce around rather randomly in the way that his material does. Of course having seen one of his live shows after having heard it on a CD from another place first I can confirm that it is as tightly scripted as you can get. In a way this is actually more impressive because Izzard does keep the sense of spontaneity and creativity alive no matter how many times he repeats it.
His material here is typical. At its weakest I found it amusing if a little silly but at its best it was taking me by surprise and drawing laughs from me so suddenly that I once nearly did that thing that people in films do when they have just been surprised after taking a gulp of water (except mine was noodles which was as unattractive as it sounds). Of course those that don't like Izzard will not enjoy it for the same reasons as I did, but why then are you watching? Those unfamiliar will find this as good a place to start as any but, if you're not into it after 30 minutes then just give up as it is what it is. To me though it worked really well and it was only a weak ending (where he sort of apologetically closes the show) and the movie spoof at the start (which was a great idea but needed to look more professional to really be funny) that stood out in my mind as being misfires.
Overall then, yet another funny stand-up show from Izzard with all the things that his fans love him for. Of course those that don't find it funny will hate it for the same reason but that to one side, I personally rarely found it less than amusing and comical.
Eddie Izzard is fantastic
skaz-221 September 1999
Once again Eddie Izzard tackles subjects that the average comedian would not be able to handle. However, Izzard, who could never be called normal, manages to keep the audience in fits of laughter. This is one video which you will be able to watch over and over again.
Make sure you use the restroom before watching....
Ruby_Tuesday24 October 2002
Gosh, how do I summarize something like this??
"(Eddie, as the Greeks leaving the Trojans that wooden horse)Goodbye! We give up! You win. We've left you a huge (BLEEP-off) horse...as per usual...."
That was from the Trojan horse part! One of my favorite quotes.
But really, how does one summarize the work of Eddie Izzard?? It just seems too funny for words, you just have to see the video. But let me leave you with this:
(Singing) "Bum bum bum bum bumm, I am a GRAN! I live forever....."
Don't ask, just watch the video.
"(Eddie, as the Greeks leaving the Trojans that wooden horse)Goodbye! We give up! You win. We've left you a huge (BLEEP-off) horse...as per usual...."
That was from the Trojan horse part! One of my favorite quotes.
But really, how does one summarize the work of Eddie Izzard?? It just seems too funny for words, you just have to see the video. But let me leave you with this:
(Singing) "Bum bum bum bum bumm, I am a GRAN! I live forever....."
Don't ask, just watch the video.
different versions?
salehrules25 April 2004
i first watched glorious about 3 years ago, and must say i enjoyed it a lot more than i did when i watched it (after buying another one) recently. i was wondering if there were two versions, as the more recent one i watched didn't seem to be as spontaneous as his performances usually appear to be. anyone feel that glorious sometimes isn't as funny as his other ones? until now i'd always regarded it to be izzard's greatest.
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