Originally released on home video in the UK c. 2002, The Circle features an extended performance from British transvestite funnyman Eddie Izzard's stand-up tour of the same title (the sixth of his career), which toured Great Britain in 1999 and the USA and Canada in 2000. The particular routine in this release was shot live at the Town Hall in New York City. In it, Izzard performs dozens of characterizations and bits, from "Darth Vader getting no respect in the Death Star cafeteria," to a gun-wielding primate who decides to blast the hell out of Charlton Heston's house, to riffs on Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli. The monologues find Izzard also pulling from innumerable influences, including not only comedy legends (Spike Milligan, Monty Python, Beyond the Fringe) but the masters of English literature. Lewis MacLeod created the inventive production design; Sarah McGuiness composed the score. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi