The Iceman

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.