Comedy legend Eddie Izzard’s material has taken on a life of its own.

Now going by Suzy Eddie, she doesn’t just tell jokes, she’s rewritten history.

The comedian, actor, and politician has captivated audiences with a career that has constantly pushed forward, and now she’ll be captivating Kiwi audiences, gracing our stages later this year.

She’s bringing two shows to our shores that couldn’t be more different, the Remix Tour in May, and a one-person performance of Hamlet in July.

“Just like Shakespeare went from his comedies to his dramas and tragedies, so am I,” she told Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame.

The Remix Tour has Izzard performing highlights from her 35 year career in stand up comedy, and with so much material to pick from, every night will be unique.

“It lives – that's the thing,” she said.

“It lives as opposed to, oh it’s old and we pull it out and it’s the old prayer from before – it's got essences of that, but also new stuff as well.”

In contrast, Hamlet is a fair bit more structured – Izzard unable to shift things around from performance to performance, but that doesn’t make it a traditional rendition.

By its nature, theatre requires an audience to buy into the action more than with film or television, having to use their own imagination to fill in the gaps, and Izzard’s is no different.

“You get to concentrate, you get to see very clearly the text, the beauty of the poetry, the characters interplay,” she explained.

“We've worked very hard on moving ... the juxtaposition of me moving between different characters. There’s a subtle change – these are not caricatures, these are characters.”

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most people are aware that drivers licensing tests have changed over the years, but not everyone is aware of exactly how much.

Kevin Milne first sat his driver's test back in 1964, and in retrospect, the rules back then were much slacker.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ninth studio album from Swedish musician Robyn, ‘Sexistential’ is a return to an earlier form.

Unlike the softer sounds of her previous album ‘Honey’, her latest release is reminiscent of her 2010 trilogy ‘Body Talk’ – Robyn working with the same producer, Klas Åhlund, as she did on that project.

In Chris Schulz’s opinion, the album is easily the best pop album of the year so far, and he joined Jack Tame to share his full thoughts.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"There’s no denying that Fiji Airways is on a roll, busy spreading its wings across the world. Fiji’s plucky and ambitious national carrier is now a serious, highly competitive airline player in the Pacific, directly connecting Nadi with over 25 international destinations in 15 countries and territories. Its international route network is nearly as comprehensive as Air New Zealand’s, who fly to 29 international destinations in 16 countries."

"Fiji Airways has been showered with accolades of late, including being named an APEX World Class Airline for 2026, thrusting it into the world’s top 10 carriers, alongside the likes of Emirates, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines."

Read Mike's full article here.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent

If my sister hadn’t been beautiful, none of it would have happened.

Ruby Cooper and her sister, Erin, live an idyllic life in their close-knit church community in Boston. But when Ruby is sixteen, she is involved in an incident that causes her family’s world to implode.

Across decades, the fallout leaves a wake of destruction behind Ruby in Dublin and Erin in Boston.

Not that Ruby wants to think about the past.

But it can’t stay a secret forever.

Battle of the Arctic by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore

Winston Churchill called it 'the worst journey in the world'. But was even this telling quote, describing the nightmarish torment experienced while transporting military aid to northern Russia during World War Two, an understatement?

As this book's title implies, Battle of the Arctic tells a unique story. For much of the conflict was complicated by terrific storms, snow, ice, fog, whales and Arctic mirages, so that what is chronicled at times sounds like a cross between the nightmarish torment experienced by both Shackleton in his ship Endurance and Scott of the Antarctic, and an Arctic version of Robinson Crusoe. The action unfolded as Allied naval and merchant seamen, airmen, submariners, soldiers and intelligence officers delivered on their countries' promise to take arms to Russia notwithstanding the German attempts to hunt them in their aircraft, U-boats and surface fleet spearheaded by Tirpitz and Scharnhorst.

When ships were attacked, and went down in seas so cold that a man could die after five minutes of immersion, it triggered events reminiscent of the do-or-die moments during the sinking of the Titanic. Men perished one by one in lifeboats, and as castaways on deserted Arctic islands where they were stalked by polar bears.

Frostbitten and wounded survivors ended up in primitive Russian hospitals where amputations were carried out without anesthetics. Others, while stranded for months in the communist state they were aiding, experienced the murky worlds of the NKVD, and the gulag, as well as famine and prostitution. Using new material unearthed in American, British, Russian and German archives, as well as Polish, Norwegian, French and Dutch sources, and a remarkable collection of vivid witness accounts brought together at the passing of the last survivors, Hugh Sebag-Montefiore can at last shine a revealing light on this extraordinary tale that oscillates between the sailors' eye view on the front line, and the controversies that infuriated world leaders.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kate Hall has embarked on a new project.

She and her family have just begun transforming their 1960s home in Red Beach into what they’re calling a ‘Suburban Homestead’ – a home that produces more, wastes less, and works with nature rather than against it.

Kate joined Jack Tame for a chat about the project – their goals, current plans, and the reason they’ve made this decision.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Warning: Article includes images of animals caught in predator traps.

Not terribly long ago, Selena Gomez had a go at marketing a chocolate cookie that features cinnamon and all sorts of sweet stuff in the recipe.

It was an Oreo described as “Flavour-Forward”, and it was suggested people consume that wonderful stuff during things such as the Emmy Awards or the Oscars.

Sweetness and cinnamon are often used to attract possums to the lethal traps, used to make New Zealand Predator-Free…

And guess what!

A local Cantabrian biologist (Graham Hickling) had a go at trying out the Oreo to see if possums might be interested – and they were!

More than enough for me to have a go myself in the last few weeks, beginning with my Possum Trap. The Selena Gomez Oreo is dirt cheap – you don’t have to be Dutch to appreciate that…

With some apple, a couple of Oreos, and various other good possum attractants (self-raising flour and cinnamon), I started on night one, to see if any possum would be interested.

Problem is, I hadn’t heard a possum for the past five months, so my hope was not too high…

The following morning: bingo!

One hedgehog.

All the Oreos were gone, some apple was still around, and the hedgehog showed no signs of life at all.

I tried a second night with the same set-up:

Bingo! A second hedgehog.

The third night I had a go with a mouse trap or two. Two mice in one night, followed with a rat on the night thereafter.

May I recommend the Selena Gomez brilliantly cheap and useful, sweet lure to keep our Aotearoa in a much better state of predator-free?

Just saying!

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday 28 March 2026, legendary British comedian Eddie Izzard joins Jack to discuss her most iconic moments, playing all 23 characters in Hamlet, and gracing stages across NZ this year.

Jack reflects on what the opening of the Te Kaha stadium means for Christchurch as a city.

Chef Nici Wickes chats fancy sea salts and shares a deliciously easy recipe for Salted Caramel Baked Apples.

Sustainability expert Kate Hall discusses her latest project: a suburban homestead.

Plus, Swedish mega-popstar Robyn has released her new album ‘Sexistential’. Music reviewer Chris Schulz joins Jack to admire her impact and share his favourite tracks.

Get the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast every Saturday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.