He triggered open-mouthed horror at one Strasbourg dinner, at which MEPs were discussing the wickedness of British opt-outs from the European Working Time Directive, a meddlesome tool for limiting overtime.
The one-joke-for-all-people theory is the reason why Mr Izzard, who came to the fore as a motor-mouthed transvestite, thought he could play Bruce, the fast-talking, short-lived, stand-up comedian who became famous in the early 1960s for saying the unsayable.
The two began dating in 2005, and months into their relationship Cruise made headlines by jumping on a couch as an open-mouthed Oprah Winfrey watched because he couldn't contain his excitement about Holmes.