"Eddie Izzard?" Topic

During a broadcast I watched of his 'Force Majeure' show of a couple of years ago Izzard mentions the Barons' War, then later in the same show he uses the assault on the Pratzen Heights at Austerlitz as an analogy; a reference that surely only a tiny percentage of the audience could possibly have understood. Could he be a wargamer?

Strongly doubt it. His "run a marathon every day" regimen would preclude the development of a wargamer's physique.

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Mentions Pratzen, but doesn't say anything beyond that

He's also mentioned the board game Escape from Colditz (which btw is being re-released by osprey later this year).

So I thing he's just a history nut like the rest of us.

In the same show there's a functional description of the Battle of Alesia, and an oblique reference to the Jacobite Rebellion that betrays familiarity with the details of the campaigns thereof.

I understand that the marathoning is a relatively recent innovation intended to correct his long-standing wargamer's physique.

Reminds me of the tube train to Excel convention centre for Salute Wargames show in London each year. The train is half full of wargamers and half full of athletes on their way to register for the London marathon. It is difficult to tell the difference!

Funny political lizzard that.

He describes how to win at risk also. Beard and body odour next?

He had a big part to play in the BBC program celebrating the D Day landings the other year,

Tally Ho!

Eddie Izzard also said Hitler could have had the "thousand-year Reich" last a few years longer by playing a few games of Risk. Izzard said the best lesson Hitler would have learned from the game was you cannot hold Ukraine, so don't invade Russia!

If he's merely a history nut, it appears it's military history driving his aberrant psychology.

In years gone by there was a contributor to Miniature Wargames who went under the nom de plume Eclaireur, apparently because he had a public profile and didn't want his tabletop activities to become public knowledge. I wonder…

No, Izzard is not Eclaireur.

I suspect Eddie is more like Al Murray with an interest in military stuff. Murray was also an avid builder of models but from his book he doesn't seem to have gamed with them.

Well, he was in the Army for a bit, and wanted to be SAS (though his penchant for high heels would make tabbing about a bit difficult) so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that he'd be into military history. Saw him live last year and he was damn funny, and did a bit about Napoleon going into Russia, and how much better it all would have come out if he had just taken a right turn at Hungary and gone for a sun bath in coastal Greece…

In a review on Amazon;

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Someone says;

" interesting yarns about boarding school, war games and bike trips,"

But this may mean the likes of Risk etc.

I remember reading an interview with him years ago and he mentioned that Waterloo was one of his favorite films.
Saw him live a few years ago- funniest show I've ever been to.

Pete

I've met Eddie Izzard a couple of times during his work with the Normandy Veterans' Association and he's DEFINITELY a military history nut. Don't know if he's a wargamer though. I didn't admit it in polite company and neither did he… ;)

He's also an absolutely brilliant bloke to have a drink with.

Eclaireur does share the same taste in shoes and eye-liner at weekends (when he's known as 'Loretta')…