It was nine years ago, and he was wearing spiky heels, PVC trousers and eye-shadow. And, well, he is a high-profile donor to the Labour party. He has been on Newsnight and Question Time flying the flag.His 5ft 7in frame looked stockier then - in fact, with his big square face, he looked like a giant toddler. Indeed, the day of Lord Levy's arrest, earlier this month, coincided with the publication of an advertisement in which prominent people declared their pride in contributing to Labour party funds - and Izzard was the most prominent. Where were all those luvvies, rock stars and captains of industry who had jumped on the New Labour bandwagon in 1997? Last autumn, in a double act with Neil Kinnock, he spoke about his vision for a federalist Europe at a fringe meeting of the Labour party conference.Thurman does the best she can, but her Jenny is a terrifying mood swing in dire need of Prozac.
The physique and walk are unmistakably male, but everything else - from the Calvin Klein sunglasses to the sheer tights - has been chosen because it screams "woman".
So who is this man strolling through London's Soho dressed expensively in women's clothes?
Things start looking up when Matt meets what he thinks is the girl of his dreams in Jenny Johnson (Thurman, Prime), a slender, statuesque woman who is also a real powerhouse in the sack.
Trouble is, Jenny exhibits quite a bit of odd behavior, as she mysteriously leaves at a moment's notice, comes back looking like she's been in a tussle, and despite always having an explanation, she always looks like she has something to hide.
I half expected him to be Sir Edward Izzard by now. I ask to what extent he has embraced the Hollywood life; does he have his own therapist yet? 'Regular appointments every nine years.'His father worked overseas as an accountant for BP, which was how Eddie came to be born in Yemen, 44 years ago.
'Don't want a knighthood,' he says, raising an eloquent eyebrow. His mother, a midwife, died of cancer when he was six.
Eddie Izzard, 41, had even attempted to make his burly physique more womanly with the addition of fake breasts - 38C, since you ask.
(The breasts, incidentally, were borrowed from Uma Thurman's body double in The Avengers film in which he co-starred.
Gandhi was ambitious.'I ask because there is a report today about how the going rate for a knighthood is £750,000. The more U-turns Labour makes, the more loyal he seems to become.
He was sent to an English boarding school where he cried up to the age of 11.
Further compounding the near-impossible dynamic, it's just too damned hard to get someone willing to put up with playing second fiddle to all of the city's victims in need.