How fortunate Pittsburgh is to host Eddie Izzard for two nights because, if you missed him on Wednesday, you have one more chance to catch his explanation of the world and everything in it. When Eddie Izzard says he wants to talk about the universe and all of history, he means it.

His shows can vary widely from night to night, but Wednesday found him starting off in the Ice Age, taking a hard look at the Stone Age and moving right up through Noah and Moses. That leaves room for many sequels, especially since he has so much to say about Wikipedia, You Tube, Macs and PCs.

And he's channeling a lot of animals these days -- mad ducks, fussy badgers, sick cows, Spartan sheep (so tough, they sheer themselves), their ancestors, the luckless sacrificial sheep, tigers, giant squid and an outrageous, extended bit about charade-playing giraffes.

Izzard's mind works so fast, it's only later you realize how amazingly smart and brilliantly structured his work is. Who else could turn the agony of Latin declension into a hilarious visit with Roman soldiers who can't quite get the hang of their own language?

He even harvests ideas on the fly. Some of the stuff he found out about Pittsburgh while he was on the phone with me (as you can see from my preview story; click here) also made it into the show.

As with any master comedian, it's no good trying to retell his jokes. It would be like singing "Young Americans" to give a sense of David Bowie's genius. You just have to see Eddie Izzard. And lucky you, you still can.