2024 the best part of me movie review

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Critically acclaimed, award-winning British comedian and actor Eddie Izzard details his childhood, his first performances on the streets of London, his ascent to worldwide success on stage and screen, and his comedy shows, which have won over audiences around the world.

Over the course of a 30-year career, Eddie Izzard has proven himself to be a creative chameleon, inhabiting the stage and film and television screens with an unbelievable fervor. Born in Yemen and raised in Ireland, Wales, and postwar England, he lost his mother at the age of six. In his teens he dropped out of university and took to the streets of London as part of a two-man escape act; when his partner went on vacation, Izzard kept busy by inventing a one-man act, and thus a career was ignited. As a stand-up comedian, Izzard has captivated audiences with his surreal, stream-of-consciousness comedy - lines such as "cake or death?" "Death Star canteen", and "do you have a flag?" have the status of great rock lyrics. As a self-proclaimed "executive transvestite", Izzard broke the mold performing in full makeup and heels and has become as famous for his advocacy for LGBT rights as he has for his art. In Believe Me, he recounts the dizzying rise he made from street busking to London's West End to Wembley Stadium and New York's Madison Square Garden.

Still performing more than 100 shows a year - thus far in a record-breaking 28 countries worldwide - Izzard is arguably one of today's top kings of comedy. With his brand of keenly intelligent humor that ranges from world history to pop culture, politics, and philosophy, he has built an extraordinary fan base that transcends age, gender, and race. Writing with the same candor and razor-sharp insight evident in his comedy, he reflects on a childhood marked by unutterable loss, sexuality and coming out, as well as a life in show business, politics, and philanthropy. Honest and generous, Izzard's Believe Me is an inspired account of a very singular life thus far.

Reviewer: Amber Garabrandt
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: I have always enjoyed his stream-of-conscious comedy and respected him for being "out" ...
Review: I received an Arc of this book from First to Read in exchange for an honest review.  My apologies for being late.          Eddie Izzard is a hilarious British stand-up comic ( "cake or death?").  I have always enjoyed his stream-of-conscious comedy and respected him for being "out" as a transvestite at a time when it was very hard.  We say Transgender now, but I don't know if that completely covers it- he feels both masculine and feminine and refers to himself often in the book as an "action transvestite", loving sports and GI Joe and girls.... and sometimes their skirts and makeup.             Reading this book gave me a new respect for Izzard as an individual and a professional.  Loosing his mother at a young age to cancer, Eddie and his brother then went to boarding school- not the easiest thing for anyone, especially a grieving boy with confusing feelings about himself.  We face the drama of puberty, flirting, self discovery, and hacking one's way into the comeday set (street performing, the London circuit, tours, America and acting); all the while trying to make it so that his sexuality is not the only thing he's known for.  It is sad, honest, and often hilarious as Izzard bears all to let us into his world.              This is a five star book for me.    In fact, I loved it so much I bought it so that I could check the printed version and give quotes.  I loved the flow of the book- a tiny bit choppy and out there as if you are just sitting listening to him talk.  He speaks here much like he does in his stand-up (and, indeed some of my favorite zingers here were one show or another).  As someone with a transgender person close to me, knowing what they have been through even now, it was nice to hear Izzard's take.                As far as the Adult Content Scale, it was maybe a three.  There is a great amount of language, but not much else.            Now, for the quotes:(On having the confidence to ask a girl out)  If you don't have the confidence to walk out the door and say, "Hey, who wants to have a relationship with me?  I'm a teenage guy with no real experience or confidence!  But it's going to be fun," then it's just not going to happen.(How he came out as trans during one of his routines)  I had one joke about being TV that I had been carrying around for about four or five years.  It was this:  "If you're a comedian, it's good to have something to rail against.  So if you're from the working class background, you can say 'Oh, the rich people!  They're always in control.' If you're a woman  you can say "oh, men!  They're always getting paid more!' If you're from an ethnic background, you can say, 'Oh, white people.  They're always making it hard for every ethnic group.' But if you're a white, male, middle class, stand-up, you have no one to rail against.  So thank god I'm a transvestite!" .... When I finally told the joke it got a laugh, but people didn't actually believe that I was a transvestite.  They thought I was joking!(On his choice to go in "girl mode" sometimes).  ...How I dress and what I look like is not a character.  It's me.  I'm just talking.  And sometimes I just happen to be wearing lipstick.(On his constant drive to push himself) Most of us think that while we are here on earth if we eat cake and watch television, that's fine.  That's what we're supposed to do.  But that's now what our bodies are built for.  I believe we can all do more than we think we can do.(His outlook on our differences) ...If you look at what makes us all similar instead of looking to find what makes us different, you'll see that there is one thing that is the same for all of humanity: And that is love.........We are all worth fighting for.  Running and hiding and separating, building walls, hating the Muslims, hating the Jews, hating immigrants-none of this builds a better world.  The twenty-first century is a key century for us on this planet.  Either we make a world, where all seven billion people have a fair chance in this century-or forget it.  I don't think we are going to make it as a species.  Despair is the fuel of terrorism and hope is the fuel of civilization, so we have to put more hope into the world than despair.  Hatred and separation and building walls is not the way to progress.....Some people say I am a nonbeliever.  But I am a believer; I believe in humanity.  I believe in people.  I believe in our ability to make the world a better, more compassionate, and more civilized place.

Reviewer: Teresa Freeman
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: One of my comedy idols
Review: It’s lovely to read a memoir and hear the voice so clearly. I’ve loved all the shows and am amazed to learn more about the choice to run the marathons, speak multiple languages, and learn to fly a plane. Funny and smart with a cause.Short a star because he lost me a bit with the creation theory chapter.

Reviewer: FJK1138
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Excellent chronicle of Eddie's life and career.
Review: Eddie Izzard has to be one of the smartest comedians out there. I also find his overall stage presentation to be fascinating because he is such a great speaker, especially when doing all his silly routines. It's no surprise then that when I learned he has a book coming out, I pre-ordered it right away,For those reading this book hoping for explanations or deep thoughts on the origins of "Cake or Death", or my absolute favorite "Deathstar Canteen", you will not find that here. What you will find,however, is a very personal story about a man who worked very hard to make it to the stage, hone his craft, and deal with some deep personal issues and experiences that had a sincere effect on his life all along the way. His first-hand account of coming out as a transvestite was quite interesting and explains all of the hopes, fears, and prejudice that went along with that process. I also found it interesting that, despite his comedy routines, there was literally almost no swear words in the book, but there were what had to be the most amount of foot notes usage I have ever seen. Yes - Eddie's rambling verbal style is in full swing here, and we love him for it.This book makes a great companion to his documentary about his life, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in his career.Well done Eddie, and keep polishing those nails. I wouldn't want you to be any other way.

Reviewer: D. Snyderman
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Get the Audio Book!
Review: Eddie Izzard is a great comedian (though after listening to this audio book, I now know he would prefer to be a great actor). If you have ever seen him in person, you know that he has a tendency to get off topic but always manages to get back to his routine. I have no doubt that this book is good as a written work but, I strongly advise you to get the audio book because, as he does when performing stand up, he diverges from the script quite often resulting in additional information and a lot of the book's entertainment. The audio book unabridged is 12 disks. I don't know how long the written book is but I suspect that there is anywhere from 2 to 4 disks of extra content on the audio book. The book evidently has some photos which, obviously, are not on the audio book but other than that, I can see no reason to read it when you can get so much more from listening to it.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Fascinating and very well written in Eddie's unique style. Really enjoyed it from start to finish. He's had an extremely interesting and diverse life so far. Would definitely recommend.

Reviewer: PETER
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Funny book. Can’t get in bookstores anymore.Fast delivery.

Reviewer: Priyanka Anand
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Quite inspiring and engaging autobiographies. I was kind of quite connected to the each chapter even though I didn't read the entire book in one go. Last two chapters made the book truly unique.

Reviewer: Barbara
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I'm a fan of Eddie Izzard and I found his story both amusing and sad at times but the main trait of his character that came across was his sheer stubborness of attitude towards achieving his goals in life. He accepted the setbacks and just put his head down to getting on with the job - something I find most commendable. Very brave in his truthfulness, I'm an even bigger fan of Eddie's than before.A very good read.

Reviewer: marshadesalvatore
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I have comfirmed my love for this man even more with this book! He is not only intellignet, witty, charming And funny but sweet and endearing talking about his childhood. His stories about his mum made me cry. I also enjoyed learning about why he dresses as a woman. He made it seem so normal. More people should read that to better understand the trans culture. He is sexy as a man and as a woman. I heart Eddie.