Laughter with a serious message

Eddie Izzard10 April 2012

On the night We Know Where You Live, for Amnesty International, should be a success. I'm the compere for this interesting event - and although any gig is potentially scary, once it's up and running adrenaline takes over. The other main people are Harry Enfield, Harry Hill, Richard Blackwood, Dom Joly, the cast of Goodness Gracious Me, Phill Jupitus, Badly Drawn Boy and Tom Jones.

The musical elements will follow the previous format because it's the son of Secret Policeman's Ball, so they're more acoustic than electric. John Cleese started the first Ball and he put my name forward. He'd done enough and this is for and by a younger generation. There's no chance of a Python revival.

I'll be running my arse off, as I did at gigs of yore in clubs all over London. I can do my thing but I've got to remember to get off stage and mustn't think, "Oh, this is going well so I'll stick around." But it's bound to overrun.

The title is designed to streamline the message of Secret Policeman's Ball, which was a bit more ambiguous. We Know Where You Live is about gangsters or governments who run countries and withhold human rights. We're also linking to the idea that governments should sign up to the message: we will track down the places where people are tortured and imprisoned without cause. We'll find you and bring you to justice. Right-thinking citizens will want that.

On the night I'll mainly be wearing clothes - maybe a track suit. I'd like to watch the show afterwards on the telly - I'm looking forward to getting it cooking. It's a great place to play once you're in the thick. Nothing's better. It's going to be great fun but the underlying theme is deadly serious.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in