The Iceman (performer)

Last updated
Anthony Irvine
Born (1951-02-17) 17 February 1951 (age 74)
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]

Contents

Performance

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. [9] [11] [15] In 2007, he performed at the Hackney Empire in a tribute show to the late Malcolm Hardee. [16] In 2011 he performed at the Royal Festival Hall. [17]

He is often cited by Stewart Lee as a legend of alternative comedy [18] [19] [20] and by Jo Brand as a favourite act of the 1980s. [10] Lee dedicates his epic poem about stand-up comedy, "I'll Only Go if you Throw Glass," to notable 1980s performers including the Iceman. [21]

In 1995, Irvine appeared in Peter Chelsom's film Funny Bones . [22] [23] In the same year, he shared the Edinburgh Tapwater Award with Malcolm Hardee and Charlie Chuck. [24]

In 2022, Irvine published an ice-related children's book called Lockdown Melter. [25]

2025 saw an Iceman performance called "The Final Block" at the Bill Murray Comedy Club in London. [26]

Visual Art

Since 2014, he has produced art brut paintings under the name aim. [27] [28] 2023 saw his first solo art show at Guggleton Farm Arts in Dorset. [29]

He returned to Guggleton Farm Arts for a second show in 2024.

In 2025, he held an art show at The Tabernacle in Notting Hill.

Legacy: Book and Film

The Iceman is the subject of a 2023 book released by Go Faster Stripe called Melt it! The Book of the Iceman. [30] [31] As a result, he appeared on Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast. [32]

There is also a film in production based on the book. [33] [34] [35]

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. 11 February 2015.
  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. 1 2 "Edinburgh Festival Day 12: Apparently ." Independent.co.uk . 24 August 1993.
  10. 1 2 "Jo Brand: 'If you're doing comedy, you must be funny first and preach second'". TheGuardian.com . 15 May 2016.
  11. 1 2 "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. "1995 Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme by Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society - Issuu". 4 August 1995.
  16. "The Iceman - the Malcolm Hardee Tribute Night". YouTube . 30 March 2008.
  17. "Legendary cult act the Iceman talks of comedians Stewart Lee, Mike Myers &, inevitably, about melting blocks of ice". 21 March 2014.
  18. Lee, S. March of the Lemmings. (Faber & Faber, 2019)
  19. "Brexit confusion is scuppering my show – what next?". 28 October 2016.
  20. "Stewart Lee: A funny thing happened to comedy". Independent.co.uk . 28 November 2010.
  21. "I'll Only Go if You Throw Glass : Stewart Lee - 41st Best Standup Ever!".
  22. "A ★★★★ review of Funny Bones (1995)".
  23. "Anthony Irvine". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022.
  24. Hardee, M. (1996) I Stole Freddie Mercury's Birthday Cake.
  25. "Cult creative performer/Painter the Iceman turns children's book author…". 29 May 2022.
  26. https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2025/03/28/57770/the_iceman%3A_the_final_block
  27. "ANTHONY IRVINE: Art as an agonising torment". RoshanDoug.com. 26 September 2022.
  28. "The artist formerly known as the Iceman has sold a painting… I think". 3 December 2016.
  29. "AIM: The Iceman Painting Clearance Sale..." VASW.
  30. Bennett, Steve. "The Iceman gets exposure : News 2023 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  31. "1980s alternative comedy star the Iceman reveals all in new book". British Comedy Guide . 19 January 2023.
  32. "RHLSTP". www.rhlstp.co.uk.
  33. Guide, British Comedy (December 22, 2023). "The Iceman to be celebrated in documentary film". British Comedy Guide.
  34. Bennett, Steve. "The Iceman cometh back : News 2024 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk.
  35. https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2025/03/28/57770/the_iceman%3A_the_final_block