Released as part of Polygram's British Jesters series, Eddie Izzard: Glorious and Lee Evans Live: The Ultimate Experience showcase a pair of England's hottest comedians, both of whom are coming off relative triumphs. Izzard was recently named Comedian Of The Year by some organization that decides such matters, and Evans was recently plucked from relative obscurity to star in the sleeper hit Mousehunt. But apart from both being newly successful and British, it's difficult to imagine two more different comedians: Izzard is bourgeois and cerebral; Evans is aggressively working-class and physical. Izzard first rose to fame in part because of his tendency to perform in women's clothing, and while he does wear a shiny red women's suit and high heels in Glorious, it would be a mistake to write him off as merely a novelty act. Instead of playing up his flamboyant appearance, Izzard pretty much ignores it, focusing instead on a string of witty, slightly surreal observations about such time-worn topics as The Bible, the unfortunate plight of would-be saints who have only accomplished two miracles, and the solitary world of beekeepers. And while Izzard mostly stays away from topics both political (aside from one bit involving the death of Princess Diana) and personal (aside from one bit involving a fistfight with a group of hooligans), it doesn't really matter. Since Izzard's writing is so strong—and his delivery so off-handedly brilliant—he's able to transcend the familiar nature of his topics. Always funny and frequently hilarious, Glorious is a delight. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Evans' The Ultimate Experience. While Izzard's flashy appearance runs somewhat contrary to his relatively straightforward comedy stylings, Evans, who resembles a vaguely simian Vaudevillian, looks exactly like the sort of person who would be performing his act. Culled from several of his earlier videos, The Ultimate Experience is a best-of compilation showcasing the comedian's potent combination of Henny Youngman-style one-liners ("I just tried these nicotine patches, and they work! I stick them over me eyes and I can't find me fags!") and sub-Vaudevillian mugging. Indeed, mugging seems to be Evans' forté, since he spends most of The Ultimate Experience bugging his eyes, making wacky faces, and falling down at seemingly random intervals. Which, while not particularly entertaining, is at least better than Evans' trademark delivery, which constitutes screaming Cockney slang in an impenetrable accent, then making a wacky face and pretending to break wind. Evans may be mildly amusing in small doses, but 90 minutes of him in The Ultimate Experience is too much of an overbearing thing.