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The Iceman (performer)

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Anthony Irvine
Born (1951-02-17) 17 February 1951 (age 73)
Mediumalternative comedy, performance art, fine art, outsider art
NationalityBritish
Alma materRoyal 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. "1995 Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme by Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society - Issuu".
  16. "The Iceman - the Malcolm Hardee Tribute Night". YouTube.
  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. "ANTHONY IRVINE: Art as an agonising torment". RoshanDoug.com. 26 September 2022.
  26. "The artist formerly known as the Iceman has sold a painting… I think". 3 December 2016.
  27. "AIM: The Iceman Painting Clearance Sale..." VASW.
  28. "Cult creative performer/Painter the Iceman turns children's book author…". 29 May 2022.
  29. Bennett, Steve. "The Iceman gets exposure : News 2023 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  30. "1980s alternative comedy star the Iceman reveals all in new book". British Comedy Guide. 19 January 2023.
  31. "RHLSTP". www.rhlstp.co.uk.
  32. Guide, British Comedy (December 22, 2023). "The Iceman to be celebrated in documentary film". British Comedy Guide.
  33. Bennett, Steve. "The Iceman cometh back : News 2024 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk.

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