Definite Article
Eddie's 3rd show, Definite Article, opened at London's Shaftesbury Theatre in October 1995. The show ran for 10 weeks and sold out completely. As warm-up gigs for this run, Eddie toured small venues throughout the Western Isles of Scotland, Wales, Cumbria, Sheffield and Dublin, where the venue capacities ranged from 80 in Ullapool to 1200 at the University of Sheffield
Memorably, the show opened with Eddie coming through a giant book, seated in a giant armchair and resplendent in an orange Gaultier jacket. On the opening night a button fell off the jacket. Eddie said of the incident, "An actor would have kicked it to the side of the stage. I thought I'll talk about this. Then I tried to pull the thread off but couldn't get to it. Someone threw a pair of scissors on stage, then someone threw a sewing kit. I said "Good heckle". I knew I had to do it.
Once you commit, as long as you finish you'll be fine, so I sewed the button back on and talked about my granny and her sewing. That's what I learned from street performing, all you have to do is finally do it."
A 4-month World tour with Definite Article followed in September 1996, beginning with a performance at the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea on 1st September, and then shows in Paris (in French), Reykjavik, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Copenhagen and a 4-week sell-out run at New York's PS122, as well as 45 dates across the UK and Eire. It was during the UK leg of the tour, at a performance at the Cambridge Corn Exchange in November 1997, that Eddie was engaged in a fracas with an audience member, who insulted Eddie for wearing makeup etc, the result of which was a black eye for Eddie. However Eddie won through in the court case as the man concerned received a fine.Definite Article won Eddie a second British Comedy Award for "Top Stand-up Comedian" and a New York Drama Desk Award Nomination for "Best Solo Artist".
