As my blog yesterday mentioned performer/artist The Iceman, I thought I would ask Gencraft AI to create an image of “a man made of ice attempting to melt himself with a flame-thrower”.
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
This was the result.
It’s an interesting idea, but is this an example of Artificial Intelligence taking the piss…?
Is Artificial Intelligence taking the piss…?
Filed under AI, Eccentrics, Humor, Humour
Anthony Irvine aka The Iceman recently had a book Melt It! published about him – crafted by multi-tasker Robert Wringham. I posted a blog about it.
Now the book has inspired a forthcoming movie Melt It! The Film of The Iceman.
The selling line is: “In the 1980s and 1990s, Anthony Irvine was a comedian and cabaret performer. His act was a little unusual. As the Iceman, he went on stage – to melt ice. But what happened next and where did he go?”
The documentary is co-produced by Robert Wringham and director Mark Cartwright.
I talked to Robert and Anthony via Zoom… Mark was elsewhere, possibly in Wolverhampton.
JOHN (TO ROBERT): Did you approach Mark or he you?
ROBERT: I was trying to promote the book and Mark has a YouTube channel where he interviews comedians and musicians. His interviews are very intelligent.
JOHN: Oh dear.
ROBERT: He likes fringe comedy so I thought maybe he’d like to interview the Iceman. And it turned out he had been looking for appropriate subject matter to direct a documentary. Someone from the fringe pockets of comedy. The book made him realise there could be a film in the Iceman.
JOHN: So what’s next? A Disney animation? You’re already doing a film of the book of the act. Disney could do an animation of the film of the book of the act, then do a live-action version of the animation of the film of the book of the act.
ROBERT: We do have dreams of getting our film in cinemas. We’ve just signed up Michael Cumming to be the executive producer. He directed Brass Eye, Snuff Box, the Toast projects – Toast of London, Toast of Tinseltown etc. His current project is Oxide Ghosts, where he shows cutting room floor material from Brass Eye and does Q&As. He’s very familiar with the whole indie cinema circuit.
JOHN: In the film’s Kickstarter appeal for funds, the selling line is: “How much permanence and success can we assure for this man whose entire act was about impermanence and failure? Back the film and be among the first to find out”… Isn’t there an irony about trying to be successful with a film about failure?
ROBERT: (LAUGHS) I’m aware of that and I’m actually concerned it will spoil the true legacy of the Iceman!
JOHN (to the ICEMAN): Is that a real moustache you have on there?
ICEMAN: Yes. Traditionally, I put on a moustache for all Zoom meetings.
JOHN: I hate Zoom. What is that thing you have?
The Iceman (bottom) with rubber duck, Tapwater Award and irrelevant pot…
ICEMAN: It’s a Tapwater Award which I won at the Edinburgh Fringe.
JOHN: The alternative to the Perrier Award…
ICEMAN: It has been touched by Malcolm Hardee and Charlie Chuck.
JOHN: Without mentioning ice once, why are you doing this film?
ICEMAN: It’s going to be a sophiceticated film. In the production team, there is quality and creativity and a seri-iceness of purpice. I think it’s an adventure that will give coherence and professionaliceism to the Iceman concept. So, late in the day, The Iceman is going to be distanced from the incoherence and chaos of the original act…
JOHN: (SILENCE)
ICEMAN: The core of it is based on the Melt It! book. So a lot of it is talking. But there will be an element of Battleship Potemkin, Luis Buñuel, Stanley Kubrick. There will be a lot of art involved and interviews with people saying they remember the so-called legend that was the Iceman. And the whole concept of the ice blocks living on will be part of it.
The question is: Will The Iceman outlive the blocks or will the blocks outlive The Iceman?.. Having a film might suggest the blocks will outlive The Iceman.
There will be touches of Federico Fellini and…
JOHN: Sam Peckinpah? It needs conflict.
ICEMAN: There’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Have you seen that? It’s about a painter painting a portrait of a model who didn’t want to be painted.
JOHN: Is there a car chase in it? You have to have a chase sequence. You could chase someone round the block. The ice block.
ICEMAN: (SILENCE)
The Iceman with duck, block of ice and a Melt It! movie poster
JOHN: When is it going to be finished?
ICEMAN: Well, due to public demand, I have been invited back to the famous art gallery in Stalbridge, Dorset – Guggleton Farm Arts – for an exhibition of my paintings – from 15th July to 14th August this year. I think the idea is we have a finale there where we film the public filing in to look at my pictures… and buying them… in cash.
ROBERT: There are strands. Old footage of Anthony doing the Iceman stuff. Interviews hopefully with comedians and artists. And it’s all going to come together with where Anthony is today, which is that he has been accepted into the Art world. The Guggleton Arts event will be a kind of a denouement.
ICEMAN: Because, as we all know, The Iceman is now a contemporary visual artist known as AIM. Hopefully we can get famous comedians to say: “Yes.. He was a legend.”
JOHN: “Was?” In the past tense. In order for that to work, you would have to die.
(LONG SILENCE)
ICEMAN: I’m painting a picture at the moment called Riced in Pice.
JOHN: Riced in Pice?… Ah!… Rest in Peace? Why?
ICEMAN: Because I’m thinking very much about mortality and Will the melting blocks outlive me? So I’m confronting death in this picture. It’s basically me at my own funeral. I’m not being morbid. I’m just toying with the idea of…a church made of ice blocks and… that sort of thing. Do the blocks live on in some form? They must.
The Melt It! Iceman movie poster
This is a serious film. I notice when you write these blogs with me, it’s always completely confusing conversations. I am going to answer every question seriously from now on.
JOHN: Why do boxers not have hair on their chests?
(SILENCE)
JOHN: You have developed from performance art into Art art. Are you now going to get more into movie making?
ICEMAN: I am going to stick to oil painting. But film is a visual medium and it’s quite exciting to see me slightly objectified. The film will include reference to the painting. I’m quite happy to have this parallel artistic life.
I’m quite interested in filming a block of ice melt for the entire duration of the film. Like Andy Warhol’s film of the Empire State Building. It maybe sound a bit naive, but I think there could be quite a lot of interest. It obviously couldn’t be TOO big a block or it might take 400 days. But, if you had maybe a day’s melt, I think there’s a film there.
JOHN: Surely, to become successful, all artists have to become bullshit artists? You have to say: “This is a representation of global warming. It is Art”, Then Tate Modern and the Museum of Modern Art in America will beat a path to your door and you’ll make a fortune.
ICEMAN: Well, I WAS the first green artist.
JOHN: Eh?
ROBERT: The idea that the ice is melting anyway. Once Man is involved, it accelerates.
ICEMAN: Ah!
JOHN: Ah!
ROBERT: Ah!
Anthony demonstrates the effect of Man on a melting ice cap
JOHN: Have you seen the movie The Iceman about a real-life killer who had that nickname?
ICEMAN: Yes, that’s rather unfortunate. I’m a bit worried that, when you Google “Iceman” this murderer comes up. I want my film to overtake his film.
ROBERT: Is he still alive? Maybe we could interview him in prison.
JOHN: It’s all coming together now. The ideal way to promote your film is for you to be dead. The Iceman kills The Iceman to promote The Iceman movie.
ICEMAN: I ‘received’ the title Iceman. I didn’t make it up: it was given to me.
JOHN: By whom?
ICEMAN: By all the other comedians of the time.
JOHN: What were you billed as before? Just Anthony Irvine?
ICEMAN: Yes. The film, in a way, is a tribute to the performance artist who disappeared and then returned as an artist. I think it’s going to be professional, which is in contradiction to my actual live performances. But, as you know, I’ve always had a very serious side. I have a feeling the film is going to highlight my metaphysical thoughts.
Have you heard the pop song Melt It?
JOHN: No, I’ve not heard it. But you should record some songs to promote the movie when it comes out.
ICEMAN: I’m quite a heartfelt singer but I can only sing if I’m trying to be funny.
JOHN: As a defence mechanism in case people think you can’t sing properly?
ICEMAN: Possibly. I don’t know what the psychological reasons are. I can only sing to satirise the song I’m singing. That way it becomes quite moving and funny at the same time. Which is what a German woman picked-up on in Edinburgh. She stayed behind to say: “I loft yor singeen” and I knew she meant it, because I looked in her eyes.
I think what we’re hoping for from you is a serious blog. Is it an art film or a documentary film? I suppose it’s both.
ROBERT: I agree.
ICEMAN: I think the whole concept of the blocks disappearing and changing is quite deep. And that’s why some audiences follow me round going: “Deep!… Deep!”
I might even say something like: “Well, I have to go now,” and people will go: “Deep! Deep!”
JOHN: Anthony, why have you actually got a block of ice with you on this Zoom call? You are not about to do a performance. Why have you a block of ice?
ICEMAN: Well, this is a…
(AT THIS POINT, THE ZOOM CALL CUT OFF…)
Filed under Art, Comedy, Eccentrics, Movies, Performance, Surreal
Last week, I blogged about the death of multi-talented British eccentric Bob Flag.
In the summer of 1981, he was performing on stage off-West End in London as part of The Mad Show.
Another of the Mad Show performers was Anthony Irvine, who later developed an ice-block-melting performance art routine as The Iceman and who, more recently, became a painty-painty real artist as AIM.
The Iceman with ice and duck in London
Anthony has just shared some memories of Bob Flag with me. He writes:
I loved Bob’s helter-skelter act in The Mad Show. I used to admire his manic energy, both on stage and off.
In The Mad Show, his act included drums, music and a chaos that I related to. He had a sort of milkman sidekick on keyboards. I watched him every night of the run. Something about his fast-talking, almost serious, delivery got me – and the disintegrating drums, like The Iceman’s music stand.
I can’t remember if he participated much in the other antics in the show, like the immersion in the aquarium or the Japanese singing fruit group or the open bus trip round the Mall where Dave Brooks (of the Greatest Show on Legs) joined the soldiers at Buckingham Palace during the Changing of the Guard. He wore his kilt and played his bagpipes.
I didn’t really stay in touch with Bob after The Mad Show finished – my loss. But I do remember two particular meetings.
The first was a completely random meeting of 40 seconds when I got out of a northbound train at somewhere like Newark and there was Bob on the platform.
We both behaved as if this was completely normal.
Before I could say much beyond the pleasure of seeing him again years after The Mad Show, I had to get back on the train which was only doing a brief stop.
The second and last time I saw Bob was when I sold him a brand new baritone saxophone I had bought in East Germany before the Berlin Wall’s de-construction. The saxophone was very big in relation to him. He paid cash. It was in Leyton.
He came in like a man in a hurry to get elsewhere. It was a very good sax. He paid me in wads of cash. I was surprised how much money he had on him.
I had bought the saxophone in East Germany – possibly in Leipzig – with lots of East German Deutsche Marks that I had received. And, yes, I was big in the East before the Wall came down.
I blogged about Anthony a couple of times in July (HERE and HERE) when he was about to start an exhibition/clearance sale of more than 1,000 of his (AIM’s) artworks at a gallery on a farm in Dorset.
That exhibition/sale has now finished. The exhibition/sale was titled PEG IT! because a lot of the exhibits were pegged up in mid air.
Part of The Iceman/AIM’s multi-pegged art exhibition/clearance sale at the farm gallery…
He (Anthony/The Iceman/AIM) tells me:
De-pegging and dismantling the show was a huge physical effort because I had spent four weeks adding to/pegging up the show. Fortunately I had a team of customers – Jonathan, Liz, Dale – who broke the back of it.
While we were un-pegging, a local lady – Alison – appeared and chose eight pictures she wanted to buy. She kept going home to get more cash. She repeatedly kept having a new painting wish and going home to get more cash to the extent that I showed my concern about whether she could afford to buy them. This inadvertently became an unintentional sales technique.
I sold over 20 paintings on the very last day. As the gallery is a bit out-of-the-way, this was remarkable indeed.
A site for sore eyes: the waste recycling site
My latest project is to sell my AIM paintings at the waste recycling centre in Bournemouth.
This is very logical because people at Bournemouth’s waste recycling centre have just dis-burdened themselves and so have empty cars.
I can get in with an opportunistic sale.
The idea started when I was talking to Stuart Semple at the GIANT gallery in Bournemouth.
Stuart liked my idea of ‘recycling’ sales and latched onto the “performative element”. This gave me confidence.
The very next day I tested the idea on site at the waste recycling centre.
It did feel a strikingly original idea and the public intercourse that resulted was very funny.
There was some interest, some amusement plus some indifference.
Overall it was a success, though I can’t give any sales figures at this junction. I found the ‘performative element’ to my satisfaction: interacting with the dis-burdening public
Two recycling workers at the waste recycling centre had diametrically opposed reactions which, I think, encapsulated the experience.
One was very sympathetic and we talked about Egyptian art.
The other warned me that I was breaking regulations and I must be off.
I have also now got into film shorts mapping my artistic achievements. You can see them on YouTube HERE.
Filed under Art, Comedy, Eccentrics, Humor, Humour, Performance
AIM, the artist formerly known as The Iceman
What is The Iceman? Who is he?
Comedian Stewart Lee describes him as “a blank canvas. You project your own ideas onto him: fun, single-mindedness, commitment, a love of life and its inherent absurdity”
As a performance artist, he’s The Iceman. As a painter/artist, he’s AIM – comic Simon Munnery says AIM creates “absurd beautiful art”.
As himself, he’s Anthony Irvine. And he occasionally turns up in this blog.
This week, on Friday, for the first time in ever, AIM will be exhibiting his paintings all based on The Iceman’s performance art.
Well, the exhibition runs from 7th July to 5th August.
The exhibition is called AIM: The ICEMAN PAINTING CLEARANCE SALE and it’s at Guggleton Farm Arts – ‘The Gugg’ -in Dorset.
That’s right. It’s a farm which is an art gallery.
We had a chat about it.
AIM has a penchant for bunging AIM/ICE letters into words
JOHN: As well as the exhibition of your art, you are going to do a ‘big’ painting there – live…
ICEMAN: Yes, I’m going to do it on site. Maybe find a bit of an old stable or door or…
JOHN: …a horse?
ICEMAN: No. But people can come and watch the progress of it. My idea is to name it PEG IT!
As well as the gallery where I’m going to hang the bigger ones up with bamboo, I’m going to peg all the smaller paintings onto long lines of BT rope across the farm.
JOHN: BT rope as in British Telecom rope?
ICEMAN: I don’t know. I guess so. It was just abandoned next to a litter bin. I thought That could be useful. I’ve got 1,000 paintings. Then I had to buy bulk pegs. A thousand plus.
JOHN: Over a thousand paintings?
ICEMAN: Yes, it’ll take some time to hang them all up with the pegs. The show is billed as A CLEARANCE SALE…
JOHN: I suppose all gallery exhibitions where you can buy pictures are clearance sales…
ICEMAN: PEG IT! Do you like it? It has a double meaning.
JOHN: Sounds like you’re going to die.
ICEMAN: Yes.
JOHN: Well, that’s not untrue. Local Trading Standards can’t complain.
ICEMAN: Over one thousand paintings.
JOHN: They’re all for sale?
ICEMAN: Yes. And there will be a raffle ticket. People have to guess how many paintings I will actually manage to sell and, if they get it right, they get a free painting… though I’m just a bit worried they might decline the painting…
JOHN: Is there an entrance fee?
ICEMAN: No, you just come through the farm gate.
On Friday (7th July) I’m being interviewed by a poet called Roshan Doug – He was Birmingham City’s Poet Laureate.
JOHN: Really?
ICEMAN: Yes. Dr Doug – He’s a doctor of philosophy. (He wrote an appreciation of The Iceman’s work HERE.)
JOHN: Where are you staying during the show?
IDEMAN: I asked if I could sleep in the barn. I was originally going to stay in Sherborne where I do educational work at the International College, but that fell through.
I’m not used to publicising art; I’m more used to comedy.
JOHN: That jacket, that hair, the neckerchief… You’re the biz… What biz I’m not so sure…
ICEMAN: I have a friend in Bournemouth who likes my act and has written a song and I’ve done the chorus: Melt it! Melt It! Melt it!
JOHN: Cool.
ICEMAN: I see what you did there.
JOHN: What is the song called?
ICEMAN: Melt It!
JOHN: Seems reasonable.
JOHN: It’s called Melt It! after the title of your recent book?
ICEMAN: Yes.
JOHN: Very trendy.
ICEMAN: And I’m on Tik Tok.
JOHN: So the Chinese will know about you. Good sales potential…
ICEMAN: I’ll show you one of my Art films on Tik Tok? I’m not boring you, am I?
JOHN: How long’s the film?
ICEMAN: It’s a short. Look. I’ve built a boat out of cardboard. Do you think I could be a film maker? I’m quite amused by the sliding block of ice.
JOHN: You can’t beat a video of a sliding block of ice for entertainment value.
ICEMAN: I think I might get labelled as an outsider, a Jean Dubuffet type. In the text publicising the exhibition, I have put that AIM – that’s my painting name – “declines to be categorised. He just paints pictures of himself with a block of ice”.
JOHN: Again, undeniably true.
ICEMAN: But what if no-one comes?
The Iceman with his book on a train by a toilet
JOHN: If no-one comes, you just say it was a massive success, massively crowded and, if no-one came, no-one knows otherwise and all anyone knows is that it was a massive success. That’s the eternal default position for Edinburgh Fringe shows. If it gets round that you’re a massive success but unknown, you could end up at the Saatchi Gallery in the blink of an eye.
ICEMAN: I’m already on a little website which acquired the name Saatchi Art. No connection.
JOHN: (LAUGHS)
ICEMAN: It looks impressive.
JOHN: I’m impressed.
“I had an old-fashioned kitchen sink and, for some reason…”
ICEMAN: When I first went on it, I put really ridiculous prices: £100,000 or something. But now I’ve reduced them. There are about 70 pictures of mine on it. The one I claim is extra-valuable is the one I’ve called Crazy Larry’s – a painting of the very first block of ice I ever did at a Chelsea club. Rory Bremner and people like that were there.
JOHN: Why Crazy Larry? That’s another name for Wild Man Fischer…
ICEMAN: Crazy Larry’s was a Chelsea club.
JOHN: Maybe it was named after Wild Man Fischer,
ICEMAN: Maybe. It’s no longer in existence.
JOHN: Nor is Wild Man Fischer.
ICEMAN: It was the craziest block I ever did. I had an old-fashioned kitchen sink and, for some reason, I brought that along and I remember being mainly horizontal. People thought I was actually insane.
JOHN: And the strangest thing of all is that you’re not.
ICEMAN: You can buy Crazy Larry’s – the painting – for £3,000.
JOHN: Well, if you like it and you have that sort of money, then £3,000 isn’t a lot. Have you seen The Laughing Cavalier?
ICEMAN: Yes.
JOHN: It’s a tiny little thing. I expected a big OTT canvas. Tiny. Must be worth a bit more than £3,000. Like Kylie Minogue.
ICEMAN: I think my art is definitely different. I’ve called my most recent series of paintings OneOne – I just do one brush stroke. Then I also have TwoOne, which is two brush strokes. But with multiple colours on my paint brush. Big brushes. Then the other series is EightOne…
JOHN: Let me guess.
ICEMAN: Eight different brush strokes.
AIM – Guess the Brush Stroke title…
JOHN: I have to say that sounds totally mad and therefore the sort of thing that the real Saatchi Gallery or someone like that might be interested in.
ICEMAN: Normally I’m very fussy in my paintings. But I think I’m onto something here with OneOne. For me, it’s all a slight game, I want to do the most unlikely thing and sell my Art against all odds.
JOHN: I know nothing about the Art trade but it seems to me the thing to do is to create something you want to do for yourself, then think of some more or less random blurb words that make it sound intellectual. It has to sound intellectual. So you say something like: “It encapsulates a post-Covid re-awakening of post-modernism with the unique twist of icy Brexit cynicism”.
ICEMAN: Mmmmm… Guggleton Farm Arts in Dorset, 7th July to 5th August.
(…UPDATED HERE…)
Filed under Art, Comedy, Eccentrics, Performance
The Iceman with ice in a cup and rubber duck in hand at London’s South Bank Arts Centre…
Occasionally, The Iceman turns up in my blog.
As my avid reader in Guatemala will know only too well, The Iceman’s stage act involves attempting to melt a large block of ice using increasingly desperate methods.
I first met him in 1987 when I auditioned him for Channel 4 TV’s The Last Resort With Jonathan Ross.
I would have booked him.
The powers that be did not agree.
Now, with Robert Wringham, he has a new book out called Melt It! The Book of The Iceman.
It is illustrated, according to publishers Go Faster Stripe, “in thrilling Instamatic colour”.
I met The Iceman for a chat on London’s South Bank and co-author Robert Wringham (see my May 2022 blogs) joined in from Scotland via FaceTime.
THE ICEMAN: Last year, John, you mentioned my book Thespian Follies in a blog and, about five minutes before I met you today, I got an email from the drama people, saying: “You have been selected to receive an award regarding your publication Thespian Follies and we have an item to post to you.” Isn’t that lovely? It’s a New Author award.
JOHN: And now there’s your new book Melt It! You’re on a roll…
THE ICEMAN: The exciting thing is there’s a lot of fine art in this book.
The Iceman, in London with duck looking on, holds up a near-invisible ice cube to Robert in Glasgow
JOHN: So how did this book Melt It! come about, Robert? You wanted to be put in touch with the Iceman and I gave you his contact details.
THE ICEMAN: I was at the top of the Himalayas, I think.
ROBERT: The thing I knew about the Iceman was that he took a photo of each block and recorded it in a ledger. I thought: Ah! Maybe that would be a nice photo book! and he was amenable to that but he only had 56 Polaroids.
JOHN: How many ice blocks had you melted over the years?
THE ICEMAN: That’s a good question. I used to be meticulous, but… Somewhere between 800,000 and 5 I guess.
JOHN: So basically you’ve done a 184 page book with 56 photographs of different blocks of ice.
THE ICEMAN: There’s a lot of text as well…
ROBERT: I had not known that, as well as taking Polaroids, he was painting pictures of the blocks. I wanted to interview him to get some answers, at last, about his motivations, because there are people that want to know. And I wanted to know. We spent a day together at Battersea Arts Centre and we ended up with a 15,000 word interview with no waffle.
The Iceman book as seen from Glasgow via cyberspace
So I approached some publishers and they all told me to get fucked. But then Chris from Go Faster Stripe saved the day. He’s got the right audience for it. Thousands of people with an interest in niche or fringe comedy and a lot of them know of The Iceman and want answers too.
THE ICEMAN: Rob was very good at glueing it all – freezing it all – together. He is hard-working; he’s a grafter; he works fast.
ROBERT: I’m always worried that I’m going to lose interest or that other people will lose interest.
THE ICEMAN: Rob is resuscitating The Iceman and I’m game for anything. After my retreat in the Himalayas, it’s time to be back. I like working with Rob.
JOHN: You can see royalties on the horizon?
THE ICEMAN: Money is not my main priority.
ROBERT: We may do a book launch in London.
JOHN: Simon Munnery wrote the Foreword to the book and Stewart Lee wrote the Afterword. They are both big fans. Stewart put you on at the Royal Festival Hall.
THE ICEMAN: Yes, and Simon wrote quite an incisive Foreword – He concentrated on an ice block in Sydenham at the Greyhound pub. I think it was Block 126. He said it was “beautiful art”. I was quite touched by that.
ROBERT: Neil Mullarkey described your set with the repetitive music – the one I saw for The Last Resort With Jonathan Ross – as…
THE ICEMAN: …a riposte to showbusiness…
ROBERT: When Neil saw that act, he said the only people in the room laughing were him, Mike Myers and Ian Macpherson.
THE ICEMAN: …and Ian Cognito.
JOHN: I wonder whatever happened to Mike Myers.
THE ICEMAN: He died didn’t he… on stage… like all the greats.
JOHN: Mike Myers?
THE ICEMAN: Ian Cognito. He used to bang a nail into the wall at the start of his shows. The audience was scared from the word Go.
JOHN: He was certainly tempestuous. You don’t bang nails into walls, but you have turned from performance art to fine art painting of late…
THE ICEMAN: I’ve actually got a formal exhibition at the Guggleton Farm Arts – ‘The Gugg’ – in Dorset. It’s on 7th July to 5th August this year (2023). Four weeks of solid ice work. It’s a farm. I’m in the pigsty.
JOHN: Literally?
THE ICEMAN: (LAUGHS) Well, it’s an art community farm now. It’s owned by the Countess Isabel de Pelet. I’m going to have ‘security’ there.
JOHN: What? To try and keep you out? They have specifically talked to you about security? Why?
THE ICEMAN: I used to live on a houseboat on the Grand Union Canal.
JOHN: That’s not an answer.
THE ICEMAN: It was called the Tivoli… It sank… It was a converted lifeboat… I can ask the Countess if she will stock my book. That’s why I need security.
Guggleton Farm Arts – now more tasteful gallery than a pigsty
JOHN: It’s a farm; they’re used to having stock. She’s turned the farm into a gallery?
THE ICEMAN: It’s been going 25 years, but not many people know about it.
JOHN: They approached you?
THE ICEMAN: I approached them. A friend had an exhibition there. I thought: Ooh! They could exhibit MY art! And they said Yes… You know I worked in a circus? I know all about animals.
ROBERT: …and in a chicken factory.
JOHN: You worked in a chicken factory?
THE ICEMAN: You need to read the book.
JOHN: Long ago I met someone who used to ‘sex’ chickens. It’s very difficult with animals that small to…
THE ICEMAN: …to see?
JOHN: Yes. To see the relevant bits. And it matters because of breeding. It matters if they’re male or female. So he made lots of money travelling the world checking the sex of chickens at speed. If your book doesn’t sell and the ice work dries up, you could look into becoming a chicken sexer.
THE ICEMAN: It sounds a bit intrusive to the chickens’ privacy.
(THOUGHTFUL PAUSE BY JOHN AND THE ICEMAN)
ROBERT: Look! The book is full of The Iceman’s beautiful art.
THE ICEMAN: I’m glad you got the better quality paper.
“This is the book I’m proudest of… It’s so… so pure…”
ROBERT: Yes. This is the book I’m proudest of. It’s so… so pure…
THE ICEMAN: Pure… Pure…
ROBERT: There’s not a single regret in it.
THE ICEMAN: Pure… Pure…
ROBERT: When I look at my other books, there’s always some weird phrasing or something I wish I’d done differently. This is just a perfect book.
THE ICEMAN: What more can we say to ‘sell’ the book? I want to be a businessman like Andy Warhol said.
JOHN: He did?
THE ICEMAN: He said “Good business is the best type of art”.
ROBERT: I don’t like that quote.
JOHN: No. Surely art is the best type of business?
ROBERT: Ice is the best type of art.
JOHN: What’s your next project, Robert? How can you follow The Iceman?
THE ICEMAN: By turning the book into a hardback.
ROBERT: Yes. An Iceman hardback. Also, I’ve written a novel.
THE ICEMAN: Is that The Man in The Bath?
ROBERT: Yes. Well, it’s actually called Rub-a-Dub-Dub, but it’s all about a man in a bath. (MORE ABOUT THAT IN A PREVIOUS BLOG.)
THE ICEMAN: I love my rubber duck. (MORE ABOUT THE DUCK IN A PREVIOUS BLOG.)
The once but maybe not future cover…
ROBERT: There was going to be a rubber duck on the cover of Rub-a-Dub-Dub, but I’m not sure now.
THE ICEMAN: What about your James Thurber thing? You were going to go to the States.
ROBERT: That’s a long way away…
JOHN: …about 3,000 miles.
THE ICEMAN: He’s very keen on James Thurber.
ROBERT: Things like that generally. I like short humour.
JOHN: Charlie Drake?
(A LONG, LONG PAUSE, THEN…)
THE ICEMAN: Poor… Poor…
JOHN: I did Latin at school. Now I’m reduced to this…
(THE ICEMAN’S WEBSITE IS HERE…)
(…AND THERE IS A BOOK TRAILER ON YOUTUBE… )
Filed under Art, Books, Comedy, Eccentrics, Performance
… CONTINUED FROM DIARY No 37…
SUNDAY 4th OCTOBER
In this COVID-19 era, the protocol on non-rush hour London trains seems to be that everyone sits on alternate seats, leaving a gap between each person.
MONDAY 5th OCTOBER
Meanwhile, Thameslink trains are dependable for their undependability. When I arrived at Elstree station at 1358 today for the 1401 train, the indicator board proclaimed that the next train was the 0931 tomorrow morning, expected to arrive at 0939.
After travelling by Thameslink, President Trump’s overdramatic exit from hospital in Washington and overdramatic arrival back at the White House after his COVID infection seemed less surreal.
One online reaction to President Trump catching the coronavirus…
TUESDAY 6th OCTOBER
I was talking with someone who used to work in the London Docks who told me that the nickname for the police there used to be “the cabbage”. Neither he nor I could think of any explanation for this.
He also used to know Barrie Keefe, writer of wonderful 1980 gangster movie The Long Good Friday who, sadly, died last December.
Apparently Barrie Keefe wrote a (so-far un-made) sequel to The Long Good Friday, centred on the tiny but essential character played by Pierce Brosnan in the original movie.
Keefe once told someone that Brosnan had no lines in the original film: he never spoke. The other person disagreed. Keefe (who, remember, wrote the movie) watched the film again and, sure enough, Pierce Brosnan (in the swimming pool scene) does say “Hi!”
“That’s actors for you,” Barrie Keefe responded.
I was working at ATV (who commissioned the movie for the ITV Network via their ITC/Black Lion companies) when ATV/ITC boss Lew Grade refused to screen it because he was outraged by the ending. It had been commissioned by Charles Denton, who was both Programme Controller at ATV and Managing Director of Black Lion, presumably without Grade ever reading the script.
I think the scene in which someone is crucified on a wooden floor in London must have been inspired by Arthur Thompson‘s penchant for doing that in Glasgow. My ex-London docker told me that the scene in which a widow steps out of a car to spit at a criminal was based on a real incident though, in reality, the man apparently just legged it sharpish.
If you have seen the movie, there is a clip on YouTube of Pierce Brosnan talking about The Long Good Friday but – BEWARE – there are major, major plot spoilers in it.
WEDNESDAY 7th OCTOBER
I was talking to someone who plays the online game Words With Friends with strangers.
Playing with scammers who have only a loose grasp of English
Apparently this has attracted scammers who bombard her with messages of a romantic nature – usually in broken English – Many of them, for some totally unknown and incomprehensible reason, claim to be estate agents (that’s a realtor or real estate agent if you live in the US).
I can only assume there is a school for scammers which provides a template suggesting would-be scammers masquerade as estate agents.
THURSDAY 8th OCTOBER
Is this the shape of bomb disposal technicians to come in the near future?
The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer has suggested that, because of the COVID-19 crisis and its effects on jobs, people should think of switching careers.
My diminutive writer/composer/comedy chum Ariane Sherine (her physical stature is relevant) took the government’s online Careers Advice Test on a whim and it suggested she should become an army officer, a bodyguard or a bomb disposal technician.
Her reaction: “This is clearly not the perfect career for someone with clinical anxiety and paranoia who gets freaked out by sudden loud noises!”
Inspired by this, I tried the Careers Advice Test myself. It suggested I could or should become a boxer, a jockey, a hairdressing salon manager, a Member of Parliament or a TV/film producer…
The government site, which also handles Track & Trace for the COVID-19 outbreak, may need some urgent attention.
FRIDAY 9th OCTOBER
An odd day.
I went into the Tesco store in Borehamwood where, among the free books, were copies of Rolf Harris‘ True Animal Tales and the violent Mafia memoir I Heard You Paint Houses (filmed by Martin Scorsese as The Irishman). I am not sure what this says about the reading or social habits of Tesco’s customers in Borehamwood.
“I am not sure what this says about the social habits of Tesco’s customers in Borehamwood.”
Later, I went into the Tesco store in Leytonstone and found the stand-up urinals in the Gents toilets each had an orange plastic insert bearing the word P-WAVE. I would like to have been at the branding meeting where they brainstormed ideas for the name and colour of this product.
SATURDAY 10th OCTOBER
Anthony Irvine, the ever-inventive act formerly known as The Iceman emailed me, without explanation, an image of his latest painting.
I have no explanation. He had no explanation. I am open to offers…
But the sky today hinted that God takes cocaine. This could explain a lot about the last week and the current year.
… CONTINUED HERE …
… CONTINUED FROM DIARY No 27 …
SUNDAY 26th JULY
Ariane Sherine, who is writing an album of songs as Ariane X, has discovered that, since finding a new man in her life and becoming happy, she has been unable (temporarily one hopes) to write songs.
I remember Charles Aznavour being asked in an interview why he always seemed to write sad songs. He said that, when people are happy, they are all happy in much the same way, so happy songs are a bit samey; when people are sad, there are varied, specific reasons why, so ‘sad’ is more inspiring and more interesting.
Let’s go off on a random phishing expedition… (Photograph: Bearmix Studio via UnSplash)
MONDAY 27th JULY
I had a call from BT, my internet provider, telling me that my line has been compromised and that my landline and broadband might be cut off…
Except BT is not my internet provider nor my line provider.
There was an electronic recorded voice explaining the above, which then transferred me to a second electronic recorded voice which said it was putting me through to an ‘adviser’ who said, in a very heavy Indian accent: “Hello. This is BT, your internet provider”.
I replied “No you’re not. So you can fuck off.”
It seemed best in the circumstances.
As someone pointed out, the quality of scammers has deteriorated recently.
The COVID self-administered swab test pack – my fifth test…
TUESDAY 28th JULY
No wonder the self-administered COVID-19 swab tests are inaccurate. I just self-administered my second one. (This time, I was randomly chosen by IpsosMORI for their research.)
You are supposed to stick the swab up both nostrils and into the back of your mouth, touching both tonsils, using a mirror to see the tonsils.
Perhaps I am oddly built but, for the life of me (which could be literally true) I cannot see my tonsils nor pretty much anything at the back of my mouth/top of my throat.
After sticking the swab up both nostrils and turning it around a bit, I dabbed it and turned it vaguely at the back of my throat on each side and hoped for the best.
In the evening, I went to my local cinema to see The Dark Knight. Cinemas are currently screening ‘modern classic’ movies to entice people in after the coronavirus lockdown.
I sat in my normal seat in the very front row. I was the only person in the screening room until, at the very last moment, a tall man came in and sat in the very back row. He had a green Mohican hairstyle, which struck me as a little old-fashioned. I was reminded of James Fenimore Cooper.
WEDNESDAY 29th JULY
Good news for comedy clubs. A friend of a friend who works for a comedy club (and who has luckily been on paid furlough because of the coronavirus) will be back at work this Saturday because a lifting of restrictions means that comedy clubs can open provided they observe social distancing and take other anti-virus precautions.
Other than that, it was a surreal day…
The ‘artist formerly known as The Iceman‘, now occasionally and erratically known as AIM, has been painting aliens. He sent me an image of his latest encounter.
Like many by the artist formerly known as The Iceman, this painting is fairly self-extra-planetary
The “BARGAIM of the WEEK” (sic) on his website is currently a painting of his ice block at the Glastonbury Festival for a very reasonable £5,077…
Richard Moore, known as ‘C’ or ‘M’ but not as Roger Moore.
Richard Moore has been appointed the new head of MI6 – ‘C’ to his chums; ‘M’ to James Bond fans.
It is a sign of our surreal times, that #RogerMoore is now trending on Twitter because people only skim the headlines and get confused between reality and fantasy.
THURSDAY 30th JULY
On Monday I have an appointment to see the doctor who is trying to figure out why my calcium level and kidney function went mad in May and I had to be hospitalised. It is a face-to-face meeting and will include yet another blood test.
As I have come to expect, this morning the NHS sent me a text saying the face-to-face meeting has been changed to a telephone call. I assume this is bollocks.
This afternoon, I had a chat in Covent Garden with performer Samantha Hannah for an upcoming blog. Nearby in the piazza, in front of ‘The Actors’ Church’, a lone puppeteer street performer was trying to attract a crowd. The place used to be thronged. No more – because of COVID-19.
A street pupeteer (extreme right) tries to attract an audience (extreme left) in Covent Garden piazza
Samantha told me two fascinating facts which will not be in the blog…
Apparently up-market apartments are not selling at The Shard in London – not because of the prices but simply because it is (just) south of the River Thames. North has more prestige.
And she read somewhere that people from hilly areas speak with accents that go up and down more than people from flat areas. This is such a weird and unlikely idea that I suspect it may actually be true.
Life is a simultaneous drama and comedy for all these days
FRIDAY 31st JULY
On the early morning Today programme on Radio 4, Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed that comedy clubs can open tomorrow.
I double-checked with the hospital that my appointment on Monday is, indeed, a face-to-face meeting with my Kidney Man, not via telephone.
And, indeed, it is face-to-face.
The text I got from the NHS was bollocks.
Later, I got a text about my self-administered coronavirus test:
Thank you for completing the COVID-19 swab test. Your swab analysis results indicate that you are COVID-19 negative. Although results are not 100% conclusive, it is important that you and your household continue to observe social distancing guidance. If you or anyone in your household has or develops symptoms you must follow the Stay at Home Guidance even if you have a negative result.
That is my fifth COVID-19 swab test. All negative.
I received a more positive email from Kunt and the Gang:
“It took 18 months… 20-odd rehearsals, 3 days in the studio”
It took 18 months, 2 line-up changes, 20-odd rehearsals, 3 days in the studio and about 2 months of pinging mixes back and forth remotely all through lockdown, but finally, at long last… Kunts Punk In Your Face is out now to download from our Bandcamp page.
As a thank you to everyone who supported my book Kickstarter all those years ago it’s available for free until 17-08-2020.
For everyone else it’s pay what you want – I suggest between a fiver and a tenner, depending on how flush you are, or be a proper kunt and go and pinch it for free!
Or get it on CD with extra bonus track from http://katg.co.uk
It should also be up on the likes of your Spotifys and your iTuneses etc. soon, so go and have a check – if it’s not up right now it won’t be long but those platforms are a bit of a law unto themselves.
At lunchtime, it was suddenly announced that the slow easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions has been put on pause and comedy clubs (and other premises) will NOT be allowed to open tomorrow.
Worse still, for me, cinemas can remain open but audiences will have to wear masks.
It is, at least, good to know that, in such uncertain times, you can rely on the arrival of Kunt albums with puns in the titles.
SATURDAY 1st AUGUST
And, it seems, you can also rely on Apple…
Writer/performer/producer/comedian/all-round good guy Peter Michael Marino, who lives in New York, says:
Socially-responsible, financially lucky Peter Michael Marino
At Grand Central Genius Bar:
“Your 2.5-year old, out-of-warranty MacBook Pro is defective and needs a new keyboard, new battery, and new hard drive.
“How much?”
“It’s your lucky day. It’s all free. Don’t ask any questions. Play the lottery, dude.”
Just played the lottery and won $10.
I reply:
Apple Store, London, late 2011.
I took my out-of-warranty MacBook Pro in for repair for the third time – a faulty DVD drive. They had previously repaired it for free, because the drive was a third-party item – not of their making – and they passed the repair charge on to the other company.
“John, you seem to be having a problem with this machine. Would you like a new one for free?”
“How much would it cost if I bought it?”
(The answer was over £2,000)
“I’ll have it.”
“I’m afraid there will be a delay of about a week. We have to get it in from Ireland.”
A week later, I am watching the BBC News Channel. They announce that Steve Jobs has died.
Half an hour later, the phone rings.
“Your new MacBook has arrived.”
Newer model. Bigger hard drive. Faster processor.
July 2020… It is still working.
Thankyou Steve Jobs.
I buy a ticket for tonight’s UK lottery game.
My numbers do not come up.
Welcome to reality, John.
… CONTINUED HERE …
… CONTINUED FROM DIARY No 26 …
SUNDAY 19th JULY
Writer/performer Ariane Sherine‘s hugely-talented 9-year-old daughter sent me a song which she had composed about eggs.
MONDAY 20th JULY
Apropos nothing, I was reminded today that, when I worked at Thames Television in London, one of the executives had the job title Head of Further Education and Religion, abbreviated on memos etc – rather appropriately – as Head of FEAR.
TUESDAY 21st JULY
As anyone who wisely reads every posting of this blog knows, I was recently in hospital because my calcium level was very high and my kidney function was very low. The doctors still do not know why.
Back in June, I mentioned in a blog that, when I brush my teeth, I have always cleared my mouth by drinking water straight from the tap – and, in the recent hot weather, was drinking a lot of water from the tap. I wondered if the high calcium level in my body could be due to this drinking from the tap which had developed a (possibly calcium) deposit on it.
Today, my friend and executrix Lynn caught up with reading that blog and commented:
Tap water is far safer and cheaper and better for you than any bottled water – but the only drinking water in the house is the kitchen sink tap.
A discarded sock with duck motif – I may soak it in vinegar and/or lemon juice…
If you are really not trusting even the tap water then boil it, let it cool and bottle it – that is assuming your kettle is scale free?!
Scale is what is clinging to the tap in your photograph and that can be removed with a limescale cleaner – although a cloth/old sock soaked in vinegar or lemon juice and wound around the tap overnight works just as well.
The kitchen tap is a direct feed to outside and is as pure as it can be, whereas all the other taps are fed through the house system and often from a tank in the attic full of…
Well, perhaps we won’t think about that.
WEDNESDAY 22nd JULY
The UK comedy circuit is currently, temporarily dead because of the coronavirus pandemic – live venues are closed.
The BBC has now announced it is on “a mission to kickstart live stand-up again” with “a new stand-up series designed to support grassroots comedy talent”.
The unique and original President Obonjo…
Given that, last year, BBC Studios attempted to rip-off President Obonjo’s long-running unique circuit comedy act with a claim that no-one in BBC Studios had ever heard of said unique act that had been successfully playing the circuit for ten years and had got 4-star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe…
…and, given that a BBC Studios producer told comedy critic Kate Copstick that they “don’t have much to do with live comedy” and that live circuit comedians are “not nearly as important as they think they are”…
…it will be interesting to see how this change of thinking works in practice.
The line-up for these six half-hour shows has not yet been announced. It will be interesting to see if the BBC peoples it with genuinely talented new-to-TV live circuit comics or the same old rosta of familiar TV comics they already have drinks and expenses-paid meals with.
Is that bullshit I smell in the air?
More refreshingly, I got an email from The Iceman, the very amiable and surprisingly sane man I first met when he auditioned for The Last Resort With Jonathan Ross – ooh! – a century ago..
Since then, The Iceman has long-taken to creating fine art and re-styled himself as ‘The Artist formerly known as the IceMan’ (AIM).
Today’s email read:
The Iceman (AIM) has self-launched into Space. The Duck is the same duck previously referenced by myself/yourself in previous Blogs [from a hotel in Southampton!].
Both The Iceman and Duck survive in space through connection to the Ice-Block and previous intense mind training exercises on Earth.
THURSDAY 23rd JULY
Jonathan Ross – a man who actually cares about new talent
Following on from the BBC’s alleged search for alleged new comedy talent, ITV have now announced an upcoming series with Jonathan Ross which will “showcase the very best new talents performing in a recreation of the vibe and atmosphere of a small comedy venue, all filmed within COVID guidelines.”
There is actually some chance of finding genuine new talent here, as it’s the energetic and enthusiastic Jonathan as opposed to the lazy, uninterested BBC…
“This new series,” the publicity says, “will see him get behind fresh new comedians on the cusp of their big break, offering them a stage upon which to make people laugh.”
Meanwhile, The Iceman emailed me his paintings of comedians Stewart Lee and Mike Myers, both fans of his.
Stewart Lee (centre) interviewing The Iceman (bottom right) on Resonance FM radio
Mike Myers (left), a fan of The Iceman, having his mind expanded by The Iceman’s performance
FRIDAY 24th JULY
From today, everyone going into a shop or supermarket will have to wear a face mask in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus. There is the distant threat of a £100 fine for anyone not wearing a mask.
The London Evening Standard reported a man had walked naked down Oxford Street wearing nothing but a mask (covering his genitals).
Meanwhile, The Iceman sent me multiple photos of multiple happy buyers of his art.
A delighted buyer (right) of one of The Iceman’s ice-citing paintings is congratulated by the artist.
“The happiest buyer,” The Iceman told me, “is Tobias with a poster of 42 of my ice blocks. It has increased hugely in value since his purchase date.”
Tobias, left, yet another delighted member of the public who invested in a valuable Iceman artwork.
SATURDAY 25th JULY
Unrelated to this barrage of self-publicity from The Iceman, I coincidentally went into my local Iceland supermarket this afternoon.
100% of the customers were wearing face masks.
0% of the five staff were wearing masks – one at the checkout, two wandering around filling shelves and two having a close-up conversation beside the checkout man.
Apparently shop staff are not required under the government regulations to wear masks. I can’t help but feel the government has not thought it through and this rather undercuts the purpose of wearing masks in shops.
Seeing that the staff don’t actually need to wear masks for any public safety reason will discourage people from wearing masks in shops.
When smoking was banned in pubs, I didn’t think that would work but it did because the pub risked getting fined, not the punters.
Later in the day, I received another email from The Iceman:
Here’s today’s painting.
It is a diagram in space explaining the significance of The Iceman’s ice block. It is self-explanatory.
The Neowice comet is aiming for the Block.
He also sent a self-portrait photo (below) of the artist “as he prepares his canvas by balancing it on his head prior to painting to ensure the concept is properly absorbed in advance.”
… CONTINUED HERE …
Filed under Art, Comedy, Eccentrics, Humor, Humour, Uncategorized
Art lover Maddie Coombe invests in another great artwork
Almost a week ago, this blog reported the shock news that, measured by sales of his paintings during his lifetime, The Artist formerly known as the IceMan (AIM) had sold three times as many paintings as Vincent van Gogh.
Further startling news reached my Inbox today – The Iceman/AIM has now sold another painting (numbered RFH 28) based on the block of ice he melted in the foyer of London’s Royal Festival Hall during Stewart Lee’s Austerity Binge: At Last! The 1981 Show which was held there in (yes it was) 2011.
The purchaser of the new painting, once again, is discerning art appreciator Maddie Coombe. AIM tells me the picture shows “the Iceman using superhuman strength to lift the Big Block.”
He tells me that “Mia Ritchie still thinks it could have been painted by a three-year-old.”
Mia Ritchie is a top netball player who, AIM tells me, “plays for England and has a robust and see-through attitude to art.”
Perhaps even more newsworthy is The Iceman/AIM’s revelation of his painting of the increasingly prestigious but sadly dead comedy legend Malcolm Hardee.
Late comedy legend Malcolm Hardee pisses on a penguin while The Iceman bravely performs at The Tunnel Palladium
“It is a picture of me,” says AIM, “at Malcolm’s famous Tunnel Palladium venue. Malcolm is pissing on The Iceman’s penguin…
“I think it was to distract the audience and save The Iceman’s life when things got riotously confrontational. He was aiming for my stuffed and sweet small penguin – my iceistant – who had innocently exacerbated hostility in some sections of the audience.
“The Iceman’s performance art seemed to unintentionally provoke the well-known hackles of the Greenwich audience. A minority in the famous Tunnel audience, though, did appreciate The Iceman’s art and even understood it and were even entertained by more than one ice block
“Do not be fooled by the irate standing spectators in the painting – nor by the flying beer glass – The Iceman had much fear but put his art first – even before his personal well-being.
“Another famous Iceman block at the Tunnel Palladium was a LIQUID one – the block melted on a summer evening in a traffic jam in Blackwall Tunnel. The bus driver was neither amused by The Iceman’s icequipment nor by the puddles ensuing from the melting block. He did not realise the privilege of seeing the warm-up process. The passengers were slightly more appreciative – in fact, they were a more empathetic crowd than the actual Tunnel fraternity.”
There is a video on YouTube of The Iceman almost – but not quite – performing at the Hackney Empire in London during a Malcolm Hardee tribute show in January 2007.
The Artist formerly known as The Iceman: a brush with fame
I have blogged before about the comic performance artist legend that is The Iceman. The last couple of times he has cropped up, it has been as a fine artist (I use the words loosely) not a performance artist. As a stage performer, he has been described as:
“…a living saint” (Stewart Lee)
“…incredible” (Mike Myers)
“A figure of mythic proportions” (Independent)
“inexplicable” (The Stage)
“shit!” (Chris Tarrant)
“brilliant” (Simon Munnery)
“truly a performance artist” (Jo Brand)
AIM’s painting of Jo Brand (left) understanding The Iceman
He sent me an email this morning asking if I wanted to write another blog about him because he feels my blog-writing style has “sort of subtle undercurrents where sarcasm meets genteelness” and, where he is involved, has “a mixture of awe, bafflement and sneaking respect.”
Those are his words.
He added: “I think you should keep it short and pithy. Do you do short blogs? As my sales increase I am going to keep you very busy indeed so, for your own sanity, it should be more like a news flash.”
Eddie Izzard/Iceard (left) upstaged/icestaged by The Iceman
The Iceman – who now prefers to be called AIM (the Artist formally known as the Ice Man) – measures his fine art success against van Gogh’s sales of his art during his lifetime.
He told me that, yesterday, he “nearly tripled/then quadrupled/then quintupled van Gogh’s sales record… but, in the end, I just tripled it as the buyer couldn’t stretch to it…”
‘It’ being an “confidential but significant” sum.
Buyer Maddie Coombe overawed in the presence of the AIM
He sent me photographs of the buyer – “discerning collector” and dramatist Maddie Coombe – who topped an offer by another buyer who desperately tried to muscle-in on the art purchase.
Ms Coombe says: “I bought a very colourful and bold piece of the Iceman’s work. I loved it because of its colour, composition and bold brush strokes. I will keep it forever as a memory of the time I have spent being his colleague – a man unlike any other!”
Comedian Stewart Lee (right) and poet John Dowie carrying The Iceman’s props with pride – a specific and vivid memory.
The Iceman says: “The sale was a formal business agreement born of an authentic appreciation of AIM’s art/oil paintings in a secret contemporary art gallery south of Bath – It’s in a valley.”
Explaining the slight element of mystery involved, he explains: “Being a cult figure I can’t be too transparent with anything,” and adds: “AIM is now painting not from photos but from specific and vivid memories insice the ex-Iceman’s head, resulting in even more icetraordinary imagices.
“One gallery visitor,” he tells me, “was heard to say It looks like it’s painted by a three year old which, of course I thought was a huge compliment.”
AIM’s most recent painting – Stand-up comedian, activist and author Mark Thomas (right) gets the political message of The Iceman’s ice block at the Duke of Wellington’s public house many years ago
SO IT GOES - John Fleming's blog 