The Iceman (performer)

Last updated
Anthony Irvine
Born (1951-02-17) 17 February 1951 (age 73)
Medium alternative comedy, performance art, fine art, outsider art
Nationality British
Alma mater Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
Years active1977–present
Notable works and rolesThe Iceman, Funny Bones , aim

Anthony Irvine (born 17 February 1951), also known as the Iceman and aim, is a British performance artist and visual artist. [1] [2]

As the Iceman, his act is to creatively melt large blocks of ice [3] [4] [5] while talking to the audience over a soundtrack of tightly-looped music [6] and sound effects. [7] [8] His methods of attempting to melt the ice include breath, salt and a blowtorch. [9] [10] He might also sing songs, make puns, attempt to release a rubber duck from inside the block of ice, [11] or sell photographs of the ice to the audience. [12]

In the 1980s and '90s, he performed at notable alternative comedy venues including Cluub Zarathustra [13] [14] and Malcolm Hardee's Tunnel Club as well as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. [15] [16] [17] In 2007, he performed at the Hackney Empire in a tribute show to the late Malcolm Hardee. [18] In 2011 he performed at the Royal Festival Hall. [19]

He is often cited by Stewart Lee as a legend of alternative comedy [20] [21] [22] and by Jo Brand as a favourite act of the 1980s. [23] Lee dedicates his epic poem about stand-up comedy, "I'll Only Go if you Throw Glass," to notable 1980s performers including the Iceman. [24]

In 1995, Irvine appeared in Peter Chelsom's film Funny Bones . [25] [26] In the same year, he shared the Edinburgh Tapwater Award with Malcolm Hardee and Charlie Chuck. [27]

Since 2014, he has produced art brut paintings under the name aim. [28] [29] 2023 saw his first solo art show at Guggleton Farm Arts in Dorset. [30]

In 2022, Irvine published an ice-related children's book called Lockdown Melter. [31]

The Iceman is the subject of a 2023 book released by Go Faster Stripe called Melt it! The Book of the Iceman. [32] [33] As a result, he appeared on Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast. [34] There is also a film in production based on the book. [35]

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References

  1. ↑ "Anthony Irvine - Iceman". C86 Podcast.
  2. ↑ Mcgillivray, David. British Alternative Theatre Directory 1992-1993 (Rebecca Books, 1992).
  3. ↑ "Anthony Irvine is a man with a mission: to melt blocks of ice meaningfully (part 1)". The Independent via newspapers.com . 24 August 1995.
  4. ↑ "Anthony Irvine is a man with a mission: to melt blocks of ice meaningfully (part 2)". The Independent via newspapers.com . 24 August 1995.
  5. ↑ "RHLSTP 63 - Stewart Lee (TMWRNJ Special)". Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast.
  6. ↑ "Show People : A Chip off the Old Block". The Stage via the British Newspaper Archive . 3 January 1991.
  7. ↑ Giappone, K. (2018) The Punk Turn in Comedy: Masks of Anarchy
  8. ↑ "Changing times... : Interviews 2007 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide".
  9. ↑ "Edinburgh Festival Day 12: Apparently ." Independent.co.uk . 24 August 1993.
  10. ↑ "Jo Brand: 'If you're doing comedy, you must be funny first and preach second'". TheGuardian.com . 15 May 2016.
  11. ↑ "The Iceman". The List Archive. 25 August 1995.
  12. ↑ "Meanwhile..." Evening Standard via newspapers.com . 17 August 1995.
  13. ↑ Wringham, R. (2012) You Are Nothing
  14. ↑ "Top 10 Cluub Zarathustra Routines". 13 April 2016.
  15. ↑ "Edinburgh Festival Day 12: Apparently ." Independent.co.uk . 24 August 1993.
  16. ↑ "The Iceman". The List Archive. 25 August 1995.
  17. ↑ "1995 Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme by Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society - Issuu".
  18. ↑ "The Iceman - the Malcolm Hardee Tribute Night". YouTube .
  19. ↑ "Legendary cult act the Iceman talks of comedians Stewart Lee, Mike Myers &, inevitably, about melting blocks of ice". 21 March 2014.
  20. ↑ Lee, S. March of the Lemmings. (Faber & Faber, 2019)
  21. ↑ "Brexit confusion is scuppering my show – what next?". 28 October 2016.
  22. ↑ "Stewart Lee: A funny thing happened to comedy". Independent.co.uk . 28 November 2010.
  23. ↑ "Jo Brand: 'If you're doing comedy, you must be funny first and preach second'". TheGuardian.com . 15 May 2016.
  24. ↑ "I'll Only Go if You Throw Glass : Stewart Lee - 41st Best Standup Ever!".
  25. ↑ "A ★★★★ review of Funny Bones (1995)".
  26. ↑ "Anthony Irvine". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022.
  27. ↑ Hardee, M. (1996) I Stole Freddie Mercury's Birthday Cake.
  28. ↑ "ANTHONY IRVINE: Art as an agonising torment". RoshanDoug.com. 26 September 2022.
  29. ↑ "The artist formerly known as the Iceman has sold a painting… I think". 3 December 2016.
  30. ↑ https://vasw.org.uk/whats-on/aim-the-iceman-painting-clearance-sale
  31. ↑ "Cult creative performer/Painter the Iceman turns children's book author…". 29 May 2022.
  32. ↑ Bennett, Steve. "The Iceman gets exposure : News 2023 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  33. ↑ "1980s alternative comedy star the Iceman reveals all in new book". British Comedy Guide . 19 January 2023.
  34. ↑ https://www.rhlstp.co.uk/website.cgi?page=podcasts&id=1830
  35. ↑ https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/news/7703/the-iceman-documentary/
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