Eddie Izzard talks comedy, politics and his theory of the universe. See him Oct. 11 at the Van Wezel

British comedian, actor, politician and transgender activist Eddie Izzard will appear at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Oct. 11.

Izzard is known for a fanciful and surreal brand of comedy reminiscent of Monty Python, as well as appearances in movies like “Across the Universe,” “Ocean’s Twelve,” “Ocean’s Thirteen,” “Whisky Galore!” and “The Lego Batman Movie.”

The funny Izzard also has serious political ambitions. Izzard continues to gain political momentum in the U.K., where he temporarily held a seat on the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee. Izzard says he will stand in the next general election.

His current “Believe Me Tour,” is based on his 2017 autobiographical book, “Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens,” and the 2009 Emmy-nominated documentary “Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story.”

The show explores Izzard’s theory of the universe and how he came to exist in it, and he promises it’s a funny story.

Izzard spoke to the Bradenton Herald about Florida weather, his new show, his political ambitions and what’s been inspiring him lately.

Here are some of the highlights.

So you’ve been to Florida before right? What do you think of it?

Yes, I have played Miami, I have played Tampa and I think I have played Orlando as well.

I don’t know the state that well, but it is quite exciting going there. Some states you go to and you’re like OK, I don’t really know much about it. Maybe because you’ve got the big rockets taking off from there. Miami has all this history. One of the crew that I work with, Greg, is from Miami, he’s Cuban-American. You’ve got a lot of history, which kind of gets me. It’s always good to come back. The weather is always hot but wet, right? What’s it like at the moment?

Really swampy. But at least we don’t have a hurricane headed our way at the moment.

Oh yeah. Which way is the hurricane going now?

Towards the Carolinas. It’s a year since we had a major one here.

Dreadful.

Anyways, enough about Florida. I have some other questions for you.

Politics and entertainment seem to run together more and more. You’re in an interesting position because you have a foot in both worlds. How do you walk that line?

That is a very good question. I think, if you go back to Reagan—it wasn’t an A-list actor, it was a B-list actor, which is interesting. And the reaction of Christopher Lloyd’s character in “Back to the Future,” he says, who’s president? It’s Ronald Reagan? Yeah OK, that makes a lot of sense.

It is happening now more and more. More people from comedy and acting are going into that. For me, I think initially people just thought it was a joke. But the weird thing is, coming out as transgender back in ‘85, once I started talking about that it gave me a very serious side. Because my comedy is so surreal and Monty Python-esque. So I felt that was quite a good thing. I could talk about things kind of seriously and then try to make a joke about it as well, to be light about the idea of being transgender.

But that was my first foray into talking about something which is referred to as sexual politics instead of political politics. And then I became an activist, and I’ve worked at it, so I’ve done it for a number of years. I acclimatized slowly—a bit like Reagan. He moved up the political believability scale, I suppose. I think I’ve done that too.

I’ve been very positive about Europe. I’m performing in French, German in Spanish as well as English now. Running marathons, that’s also put things in the real camp. I’ve tried to acclimatize people to the fact that I’ll be talking politics and then I’ll be off to do the comedy thing. They’re an odd mix, because my comedy’s just off of the wall. But I try not to put any overt politics in my comedy. But I’m gradually letting some comedy come into my politics.

Comedy’s not a good political tool, interestingly. It’s not a good building tool. What you should be doing as politics is putting forward a vision for the future, ideas of how to change things and build new systems for the future. You can only use your comedy to attack the ideas that you think are not good, or the opposition that you think is a bunch of idiots. That’s where it’s good. That’s the unusual part of it. People seem to have gotten used to it now.

I just had this vote in the U.K. for the party National Executive Committee and I got 67,500 votes. Even though I didn’t get on, everyone thinks that’s pretty good because I had no party machine behind me, no momentum machine behind me. So yeah, I’m just going to keep doggedly pushing on. I’m a very determined person, and I’m a big positive thinker, and I know a lot of people are responding to that. There’s everything to play for.

I guess the longer you keep at politics, the more people will realize that you are serious about it.

Yeah. I’ve had eight years of consistency. I said in 2010 I want to stand in the general election in May 2020. Now we’ve changed that system again so now the next general election could be any time, it could be tomorrow or in four years. So, the first general election after 2020 is when I will attempt a stand.

Both politically and in your comedy, you promote cultural exchange. For example, you often perform in the native tongue of the country you’re performing in. Do you think that cultural exchange has power in such a divisive political climate?

I think it does. I look for bridges around the world. I thought (performing in multiple languages) was quite an overt way that I could show it. Every summer, 6th of June, the anniversary of D-Day, I perform in Caen, Normandy, in German and then in English and then in French. Three shows, three languages, and three hours, and we give the money to charity and have a meet and greet and buffet afterwards. I think that’s a beautiful thing to do. So I try and use my abilities in a way that sends a positive message out.

And I know now that there are young French kids who are performing in English, and German kids, and Russian kids and Italian kids. This has changed forever the way things happen. I may not have been the person that made that happen, but I’m one of the people. I’m in the vanguard, that avant-garde of that. I had that as a vision years ago. It took me a long time. But now I can improvise in French and I can improvise in German and that is just off the hook. That just blows my mind.

You seem to have adopted the philosophy that actions speak louder than words. For instance, you’ve run marathons to draw attention to world issues. Do you think it’s an effective method? Probably better than arguing about something on Facebook, right?

Absolutely. Have a positive idea and go out and do it. I’d encourage any positive, progressive person. All of the regressive, negative hateful people, I would tell them no, just sit there and don’t do anything. All of us positive people must have the idea, think outside of the box. If half of the world is saying, hey, tribalism, let’s try that, let’s try politics from the 1930s, let’s try extreme-right Nazi salute hatred stuff— no, come on, we did that already, use your brains. Some people don’t vote using common sense, some people vote using emotion. That will be the problem of humanity.

I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again: this century is the key century, where we make it work for 7 billion people or we wipe ourselves off the planet. It’s all or nothing this century. We’ve got artificial intelligence, mechanization and automation coming on. Some people are going to be unemployable because they are unskilled labor, and machines are doing it. We have to make this work. If the super-rich are just trying to screw us to the wall all the time, that’s not going to work. This century is the one. I’m going to say that over and over again to encourage moderate people to get mobilized, to get of their asses, to get up there and do it.

You’ve been a pretty big advocate of trying to get young people out to vote in the U.K. We have a problem with that here too. What would you say to people who are on the fence about the whole voting thing?

If you don’t vote, you’re going to let all the people drive your country into a ditch, drive the humanity of your country into a ditch. That’s what Trump’s doing, that’s what Brexhate is doing. The Brexhate, Trump-hate, negative, separation, hatred as a political tool unfortunately seems to work very well. That’s why a number of people used it all the way down through the centuries.

If you want to have a decent life, what you need politicians to give is a vision for the future. I’m trying to live a vision for the future. I’m trying to speak as a transgender guy who’s running marathons, who’s performing in different languages, who’s looking for a live-and-let-live idea. I believe in the essence of goodness. We can make this work, but we have to fight to make it work because some people are trying to lock us down into the super-rich and the poor. If you’re young and you’re not voting then older people are going to screw your life up for you. So get motivated.

Politics can be a little depressing sometimes. How do you stay hopeful?

Because I’ve already traveled a really tough road so far, and I’ve made it work by just going on and on and on. I’m a positive thinker. I believe there’s more good will than ill will in the world. I see it goes in a cyclical nature. We had Obama just not long ago, and then we suddenly swung down to this idiot Trump. We just have to push and push and push and it will come back round again. Hillary got three million more votes. A lot of people in your country want someone other than Trump in there. So that’s how it is.

Changing gears a little bit, what’s been inspiring you artistically lately?

Well, I just watched the entire box set of “30 Rock,” and I loved that. You can buy the entire box set now for a fairly decent price.

I also love the idea that younger people can get into making films now. I just think there are a lot of things to play for.

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” that was a great film to see. I don’t see that many films now, I tend to be acting in films, so that’s a weird thing. But yeah, I just love acting in films and performing in different languages.

What have you been talking about lately on stage?

I’m developing my new show which is just talking about the last 100,000 years and includes my theory of the universe, which is in my autobiography and which I think is correct. I have worked out, I think, how the universe works. I don’t bother doing proofs, I just do the Hail Mary part and say I think it’s this. So, that’s what I’m talking about.

How would you describe your live show to someone who hasn’t seen it before?

The live show that I’m going to do, I would say, explains how I can get to be an actor, comedian, marathon runner, political activist and transgender all at the same time. Hopefully that’s what comes out of it. And it should be quite funny as well.

Kind of an autobiography in stage form?

Yeah, it is. It’s from my autobiographical “Believe Me,” book. And it has some of the “Believe” documentary, which is the Emmy-winning documentary. (Note: “Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story” was nominated for Outstanding Nonfiction Special, but did not win.) It has videos, and photographs and me explaining things. Yeah, that’s what I do. People seem to like it.

Last question. How do you spend your spare time, if you have any?

I just like to relax. If I had the chance to do it I’d sit up in the Alps. I love the Alps, and I would like to just rest in a chalet looking out over the beautiful view. Even in the summer when it’s less snow and it’s all green, or in the winter when it’s all very snowy beautiful that way. I don’t get to do that enough, but that’s what I’d like to do.

See Eddie Izzard at 8 p.m. October 11 at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets: $37-$47. Info: 941-953-3368. vanwezel.org.