Here’s a clip from last night’s Late Show, where Stephen Colbert chats with Eddie Izzard about his decades of performing standup in over 40 countries around the world in four different languages – an experience that’s left him with a unique view of the role of comedy in different countries. “Comedy exists all around the world. Sense of humor is human and not national – that’s the interesting thing,” he says, adding that he’s discovered one reference that works for audiences pretty much everywhere: human sacrifice. “It’s a brilliant thing. It’s the only thing that humanity has actually all stopped,” he says. “Cause back in the day, someone was going ‘The weather is bad, the crops are failed, the gods obviously hate us, so we’re going to kill Steve.’”
Izzard also tells Colbert about his plan to run for Parliament in 2020, which is partly inspired by Al Franken’s Senate run: “Comedy is interesting, because it’s not a building tool, it is an attacking tool. It tears down pomposity and stupidity in certain presidents. But I like building, I came out as transgender 32 years ago, I’ve now run over 80 marathons, raised money, I’m doing standup gigs in four languages – in German, French, and Spanish – and I’m trying to be a 21st century person in the positive, inclusive. We’ve got to make the whole world work this century.”
