He's got a razor sharp mind and wit, and just recently, he was on "Conan" riffing on the football/soccer name game the US and Britain (and the world) play. We'd hardly qualify as fans of the game whatever you call it - too much pointless running around, no scoring, don't understand the rules, too impatient to learn the rules - but we will give Izzard the nod for noting English football is actually consists of a "foot" and a "ball" and American football he would call Throw-HitMan or something like that. Only occasionally Izzard said did one of them kick a ball through an H. What makes Izzard, who winds up a three-night stand at the Orpheum  Wednesday April 30, so special is that he's both a student of history and an observer of pop culture. Which is to say as a historian he's got a bit of Howard Zinn in him, as he humorlessly lays waste to the pomposity and idiocy of much warfare, modern and ancient. We don't know what the "Stripped" tour concerns specifically, if anything. It may just be a name. But, if you only know Izzard from the plasma screen or the movie theater, do yourself a favor and catch him live. He really is one of those Eric Idle-Robin Williams LOL kind of guys. He'll probably be dressed as a man. Show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets: $71.25-$46.25.

1 Hamilton Place, 617-931-2000 www.ticketmaster.com