It's Izzard,

When informed of the ardor, Izzard sighs. "Yeah, but if you start to believe it, you can lose your life and your soul." His solution is to push his artistic envelope. Armed with only high-school French, he took one of his shows to Paris. He's appeared in films--mostly forgettable parts in forgettable movies (the villainous chauffeur in "The Avengers," for instance)--and starred in the legitimate London theater as Lenny Bruce in "Lenny" last spring.

Nevertheless, Izzard still hankers after the comedic big time. Carolyn Strauss, VP for original programming at HBO, where the video of his '98 American tour "Dress to Kill" still plays, says, "He takes you right beyond the garb into the persona. We'd love to work with him again." Tickets to "Circle's" New York run sold out in five days. When an extra show was added, the tickets vanished in 36 hours. But some fans have grown positively possessive of Izzard's nichey strangeness. "As for his going mainstream, I hate it," e-mails Rebecca Townsend, a 28-year-old insurance exec. Cleese is reassuring: "I don't think Izzard will lose his weirdness. He won't change his act just to be more successful." Right. After all, he outfunnied that guy with the girder long ago.

© 2000