NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Malcolm Hardee

Malcolm Hardee (born Lewisham, London, January 5, 1950 – died London, January 31, 2005)^[1] was an anarchic English comedian, author, club proprietor, compère and "amateur sensationalist"^[2] whose high reputation among his peers rests on his outrageous publicity stunts and on the help and advice he gave to successful British alternative comedians early in their careers as "godfather to a generation of comic talent in the 1980s".^[3]. It has been said by his friend and fellow comedian Arthur Smith that "Everything about Malcolm apart from his stand-up act was original"^[4]. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 582 pixelsFull resolution (2804 Ã— 2040 pixel, file size: 584 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photo of Malcolm Hardee taken by John Fleming (www. ... is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lewisham is a district in south-east London, England and the principal settlement of the London Borough of Lewisham. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... St Olavs, Rotherhithes Norwegian church. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Richard Pryor hits the money line A stand-up comedian or stand-up comic is someone that performs in comedy clubs, usually reciting a fast paced succession of amusing stories, short jokes and one-liners, typically called a monologue. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... Jim Bowen (born James Brown-Whittaker in Padiham, Burnley, Lancashire, August 20, 1937) is an English stand-up comedian and TV personality. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Jo Brand (born Josephine Grace Brand 3 May 1957, Hastings, East Sussex) is an English comedienne. ... Jenny Eclair (born Jenny Clare Hargreaves on 16 March 1960 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) is a comedian, actress and novelist, working in the United Kingdom. ... Ricky Grover is a British actor. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Dr Matthew Hall (born October 1, 1964), better known as Harry Roy Hill, is a British stand-up comedian and author who has graduated to being a star of British television by way of a BBC radio series Harry Hills Fruit Corner. ... Paul Merton (born Paul Martin 9 July 1957[1]) is an English actor, deadpan comedian and writer, who is best known as a panellist on the BBC TV show Have I Got News for You and Radio 4s Just a Minute, as well as Channel 4s Whose Line... Al Murray (born May 10, 1968) is an English comedian best known for his stand-up persona, the Pub Landlord, a stereotypical xenophobic public house licensee, and indeed earlier in his career he performed in pubs as though it were genuinely his gaff. Murray has toured with other comedians (including... James Jim Roderick Moir, more commonly known by the pseudonym Vic Reeves, (born January 24, 1959) is an English comedian, best known for his double act with Bob Mortimer (see Vic and Bob). ... Sadowitz with cards Jerry Sadowitz (sometimes billed as Gerry Sadowitz), (born 4 June 1961) is a Scottish card magician and stand-up comic. ... Jim Tavare is an English stand-up comedian and musician. ... Johnny Vegas (born Michael Joseph Pennington on September 11, 1971 in St. ... Lewisham is a district in south-east London, England and the principal settlement of the London Borough of Lewisham. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Anarchist redirects here. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... A Master of Ceremonies or MC (sometimes spelled emcee), sometimes called a compere or an MJ for microphone jockey, is the host of an official public or private staged event or other performance. ... The media itself often stage stunts for movies and television shows. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Arthur Smith Arthur Smith (born Brian Smith in 1954) is an English alternative comedian and writer. ...

Early life

Hardee came from a long line of River Thames lightermen^[5] - who earned their living on tugs pulling barges. The eldest son of Frank and Joan Hardee, he spent his first two years in an orphanage while his mother was in hospital with tuberculosis^[6]. He was educated at three South East London schools - St Stephen's Church of England primary, Colfe's School, and Sedgehill comprehensive.^[7] This article is about the River Thames in southern England. ... Lighterman riding the current under Tower Bridge, circa 1928 Lightermen were workers who transferred goods between ships and quays, aboard flat-bottomed barges called lighters. ... // The first orphanages, called orphanotrophia, were founded in the 1st century amid various alternative means of orphan support. ... Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or TuBerculosis) is a common and deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ... South East London is an area of London, England. ... Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was one of the first seven deacons chosen by the early church, according to the Acts of the Apostles (vi. ... The Church of England logo since 1998 The Church of England is the officially established Christian church[1] in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... Logo of Colfes School Colfeâ€™s is a co-educational independent day school in Lee, London. ... Sedgehill Secondary School is a large mixed gender school in south-east London in England. ... A Comprehensive school is a type of school providing secondary level education in England or Wales. ...

Expelled from all three, he drifted into petty crime^[8] - stealing Coke from a local bottling plant, burgling a pawnbrokers^[9] and setting fire to a Sunday school piano because he wanted to see 'holy smoke'^[10]. He served prison sentences for cheque fraud, burglary and escaping custody^[11]. In 1967, he escaped from Gaynes Hall Borstal dressed as a monk^[12]^[13]. He also had convictions for arson and once infamously stole a Rolls Royce^[14] which he believed belonged to British Cabinet Minister Peter Walker. (Walker later wrote to Hardee after reading about this widely-reported story and denied it had been his car.) The wave shape (known as the dynamic ribbon device) present on all Coca-Cola cans throughout the world derives from the contour of the original Coca-Cola bottles. ... Burglars attempted to break into an apartment by pulling away the lock. ... Modern pawnbroker storefront. ... Sunday school, Indians and whites. ... Check (or cheque) fraud refers to a category of criminal acts that involve making the unlawful use of one or more check or checking accounts in order to illegally acquire or borrow funds that do not exist within the account balance or account-holders legal ownership. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... In the United Kingdom, a borstal was a juvenile detention centre or reformatory, an institution of the criminal justice system, intended to reform delinquent male youths aged between about 16 and 21. ... St. ... The Skyline Parkway Motel in Afton, Virginia after an arson fire on July 9, 2004. ... Rolls-Royce car may refer to vehicles produced by: Rolls-Royce Limited (1906-1973) Rolls-Royce Motors (1973-2003), which was owned by Vickers between 1980 and 1998, and after that by Volkswagen. ... Alternate meanings in cabinet (disambiguation) A Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. ... Peter Edward Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester, MBE PC (born March 25, 1932) was Conservative MP for Worcester between March 1961 and April 1992, and the founder of the Tory Reform Group. ...

He decided to turn to showbusiness as a way of staying out of trouble, saying: "There are only two things you can do when you come out of prison and you want immediate employment. You can either be a minicab driver or you can go into showbusiness."^[15] and "Prison is like mime or juggling - a tragic waste of time"^[16]. This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ... In the United Kingdom, the term minicab is often used to refer to a cheap and unregulated taxi service. ... For mime as an art form, see mime artist. ... Juggling is a form of skillful, often artful, object manipulation. ...

The Acts & Stunts

After coming out of prison in 1977 or 1978 (sources vary), Hardee joined Martin Soan's Greatest Show On Legs - at the time, a one-man adult Punch and Judy act^[17]. Revamped as a surreal sketch group, The Greatest Show on Legs became a regular at the Tramshed in Woolwich, alongside the likes of Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson^[18]. Soon afterwards, in 1979, The Comedy Store opened in Soho, and The Greatest Show on Legs became regulars there, too^[19]. Their breakthrough came in 1981, when they performed their naked balloon dance on Chris Tarrant's TV show OTT^[20]. Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... A traditional Punch and Judy booth. ... , Woolwich town hall dates from when this was a borough in its own right. ... Richard Michael Rik Mayall (born 7 March 1958) is an English comedian and actor. ... Adrian Edmondson Adrian Edmondson (sometimes credited as Ade Edmondson, born 24 January 1957 in Bradford, Yorkshire, Britain) is a British actor, comedian, director, and writer who gained fame as Vyvyan in The Young Ones in the early 1980s. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... This article is about the club in the United States; there is also a Comedy Store in London. ... Cast-iron architecture in Greene Street SoHo is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... Christopher John Tarrant OBE (born 10 October 1946, Reading, Berkshire) is an English radio broadcaster, television presenter and war lord, now best known for hosting the TV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. // Tarrant was educated at the Kings School, Worcester (1960-4) where he excelled at... Ott is a record producer who has worked with SinÃ©ad OConnor, Embrace, The Orb, and Brian Eno, but has achieved greater recognition since 2002 for his own psychedelic dub tracks, and his collaborations with Simon Posford (Hallucinogen / Shpongle). ...

Hardee regularly appeared in his own shows at the Edinburgh Fringe and arguably his most infamous confirmed stunt there was in 1983 when, performing at The Circuit venue - a series of three adjoining tents in a construction site with a different show in each tent - he became annoyed by what he regarded as excessive noise emanating nightly from Eric Bogosian's neighbouring performance tent. Hardee obtained a nearby tractor and, entirely naked, drove it across Bogosian's stage during his performance.^[21]^[22] Rivalling this stunt in Fringe infamy, in 1989, Hardee and Arthur Smith wrote a rave 5-star review of Hardee's own Fringe show and successfully managed to get it printed in The Scotsman under the byline of the influential newspaper's comedy critic.^[23]^[24]^[25] A street performer on the Royal Mile, with volunteer (2004). ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... Eric Bogosian Eric Bogosian (born on April 24, 1953) is an American actor, playwright, monologist, and novelist. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... The Scotsmans offices in Edinburgh The Scotsman is a Scottish national newspaper, published in Edinburgh. ...

At the Fringe in 1996, The Independent reported that he attempted to sabotage American ventriloquist David Strassman's Edinburgh show by kidnapping the act's hi-tech dummy. holding it to ransom and sending it back to Strassman piece by piece in return for hard cash. The plan failed.^[26] Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... For other uses, see The Independent (disambiguation). ... Ventriloquism is an act of deception in which a person (ventriloquist) manipulates his or her voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere. ... David Strassman with Chuck Wood David Strassman (born: 1957) is a performer, who is best known for his ventriloquism acts with the characters and Chuck Wood. ... The term ransom refers to the practice of holding a prisoner to extort money or property extorted to secure their release, or to the sum of money involved. ...

In his autobiography, Hardee claimed he was the first to attempt the 'banger-up-the-bum' routine, later perfected and performed by Greatest Show on Legs co-star Chris Lynam, in which a firework (occasionally a three-stage Roman Candle) was clenched between the buttocks and lit to a recording of Ethel Merman singing There's No Business Like Show Business^[27]. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Ethel Merman (January 16, 1908 â€“ February 15, 1984) was a Tony Award winning star of stage and film musicals, well known for her powerful voice and vocal range. ... Perhaps one of the most famous, and recognizable, show-tunes ever is Theres No Business Like Show Business. This Irving Berlin marvel was written for Annie Get Your Gun and has two reprises within the show. ...

Hardee later became renowned for a rarely performed but vividly unforgettable act in which he would use his own genitals to create a unique impression of French President Charles de Gaulle^[28]^[29]^[30]; this act pre-dated the Australian show Puppetry of the Penis by several years. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Puppetry of the Penis is a performance show that first started in 1997 as a live show by Simon Morley and David Friendy Friend at the 1998 Melbourne International Comedy Festival in Australia. ...

One journalist said of Hardee: "To say that he has no shame, is to drastically exaggerate the amount of shame that he has". This neatly summed the man up; whenever or whatever Hardee did, either as a comedian or as an interruption to other comedians, he preferred to do it naked.^[31].

The Clubs

Though an accomplished comic, Hardee was arguably a better compere and was best known for being the owner of clubs which gave vital and early exposure to up and coming comedians including Charlie Chuck, Alan Davies, Harry Enfield, Harry Hill, Paul Merton, Vic Reeves, Frank Skinner, Johnny Vegas^[32] and Jo Brand, with whom he had a two-year affair^[33]^[34] and whom he persuaded to become a comedian^[35]; he also worked for a time as the manager of Jerry Sadowitz^[36], and was an occasional promoter and tour manager for his friend and neighbour, Jools Holland^[37]. Charlie Chuck is the stage name of British comic David Kear, who started his career as a drummer with various bands in the 1970s and 1980s, including The Amazing Bavarian Stompers with whom he performed on an edition of the childrens series Tiswas in 1981. ... Alan Davies (born 6 March 1966) is an English comedian and actor best known for starring as Jonathan Creek on the popular TV mystery series of the same name. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Dr Matthew Hall (born October 1, 1964), better known as Harry Roy Hill, is a British stand-up comedian and author who has graduated to being a star of British television by way of a BBC radio series Harry Hills Fruit Corner. ... Paul Merton (born Paul Martin 9 July 1957[1]) is an English actor, deadpan comedian and writer, who is best known as a panellist on the BBC TV show Have I Got News for You and Radio 4s Just a Minute, as well as Channel 4s Whose Line... James Jim Roderick Moir, more commonly known by the pseudonym Vic Reeves, (born January 24, 1959) is an English comedian, best known for his double act with Bob Mortimer (see Vic and Bob). ... Christopher Graham Collins, aka Frank Skinner (born 28 January 1957 is an English writer and comedian. ... Johnny Vegas (born Michael Joseph Pennington on September 11, 1971 in St. ... Jo Brand (born Josephine Grace Brand 3 May 1957, Hastings, East Sussex) is an English comedienne. ... Sadowitz with cards Jerry Sadowitz (sometimes billed as Gerry Sadowitz), (born 4 June 1961) is a Scottish card magician and stand-up comic. ... Julian Miles Holland, OBE, DL (born 24 January 1958 in Blackheath, South East London) is an English virtuoso pianist, bandleader, television presenter, architectural eccentric and pop music enthusiast. ...

His most infamous venue was The Tunnel Club which he opened in 1984 next to the southern exit from the Blackwall Tunnel in Greenwich, south-east London). He would sometimes introduce inexperienced stand-ups to audiences with the nerve-jangling line: "This next act's probably a bit shit". However, once their performance was finished, he would often comfort those he thought showed promise with backstage words of encouragement and urge them to try again. His advice to comics who were concerned that a joke might be offensive to an audience was: “If you think it’s funny, then fuck ’em.”^[38]. This article is about the year. ... The Blackwall Tunnel is the name given to a pair of road tunnels underneath the River Thames in east London, linking the London Borough of Greenwich with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. ... This page is about Greenwich in England. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

At his weekly Sunday Night at the Tunnel Palladium shows, sometimes even experienced and accomplished comedians failed to complete a whole set against the unforgiving crowd and razor-sharp heckling. It was at the Tunnel Club that comedian Jim Tavare once began his act with the unwise opener, "Hello, I'm a schizophrenic" - to be met with the lightning rejoinder from a heckler in that night's audience, "Well, you can both fuck off then!"^[39]. Jim Tavare is an English stand-up comedian and musician. ...

In 1991, Hardee opened Up The Creek comedy club in Creek Road, Greenwich^[40] and later, after he sold his percentage in Up The Creek, he opened his own pub The Wibbley Wobbley on a converted barge in Rotherhithe. Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Self propelled barge carrying bulk crushed stone A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. ... St Olavs, Rotherhithes Norwegian church. ...

Standing for Parliament

In 1987 he stood for Parliament in the famous Greenwich by-election, 1987, as the Rainbow Dream Ticket Beer, Fags & Skittles Party candidate polling 174 votes^[41]. He then stood again in the 1992 election in order to publicise his comedy club just to gain a free mail shot to all those registered voters in the consistuency.^[42] The Greenwich by-election of 1987 was a closely fought contest often credited with boosting the SDP-Liberal Alliance shortly before the 1987 UK general election. ... Vote For Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket is a minor United Kingdom political party which advocates the abolition of parliament in favour of devolution to city states and decision-making by referendum. ...

Television

Hardee rarely appeared on television, though he did play minor roles in six Comic Strip film projects and one episode in the first series of Blackadder^[43]. This article is about the comic strip, the sequential art form as published in newspapers and on the Internet. ... For other uses, see Blackadder (disambiguation). ...

Writings

On September 5, 1986 Hardee's house was searched by the police - who were looking for crumbs, after he and others stole Freddie Mercury's £4,000^[44] 40th birthday cake. No crumbs were found at the house as he had already by then donated the cake to a local nursing home.^[45] No charges were pressed. is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 â€“ 24 November 1991) was a British musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Queen (inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001). ...

He used this incident as the title of his autobiography I Stole Freddie Mercury's Birthday Cake which he wrote with John Fleming in 1996. In 2003, also with Fleming, he co-edited an anthology of mostly non-comic writing by 19 stand-up comedians, called Sit-Down Comedy. He also wrote columns in comedy magazines in which he gave tips and told anecdotes about life as a comic. He was fond of collecting put-downs used by comedians as a way of curtailing hecklers.

His death

On 2 February 2005, Hardee's body was recovered from Greenland Dock in Rotherhithe, by the River Thames after he was reported missing from his barge on January 31. A post-mortem soon confirmed he had drowned. It seems likely that he fell drunk, into the water on the way back to his houseboat "The Sea Sovereign" (20 feet) from The Wibbley Wobbley, which was moored nearby. About 700 people attended his funeral at St Alfege's Church in Greenwich - and perhaps fittingly, it was one of the few funerals ever to get rave reviews the following day in both the Daily Telegraph and Sun newspapers. He was cremated at Hither Green in south-east London. is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... St. ... Hither Green is part of the London Borough of Lewisham. ...

In June 2005, there were two tribute shows^[46] at the Glastonbury Festival; in July, a BBC Radio 4 documentary tribute^[47]; and, in August, two tribute shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. There were five-hour tribute shows at the Hackney Empire theatre in London on 5th February 2006^[48]^[49] and 28th January 2007^[50]^[51] to commemorate the anniversary of his death. The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or Glasto, is the largest[1] greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world. ... Hackney Empire The Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, Hackney. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

Others' comments

Miles Kington, writing in The Oldie said "I saw Malcolm perform several times and when he was good he was very good and when he was drunk he was not so good, and sometimes naked, which didn't always make it funnier, but even when it didn't quite work I envied the danger he brought to the act. I could never do anything like that. I could never, as he is reputed to have done, get a tractor and drive it (also naked) into the tent of a rival comedian who was making too much noise."^[52]

Books

References

^ Guardian, 4th February 2005.
^ Guardian, 8th February 2005.
^ Daily Telegraph, 5th February 2005.
^ The Stage, 1st March 2005.
^ Daily Telegraph, 5th February 2005.
^ Guardian, 4th February 2005.
^ Guardian, 4th February 2005.
^ Guardian, 4th February 2005.
^ UK comedy industry website Chortle, 2nd February 2005.
^ The Times (London), 7th February 2005.
^ BBC News, 2nd February 2005.
^ Scotsman, 8th February 2005.
^ The Times (London), 7th February 2005.
^ Daily Telegraph, 5th February 2005.
^ BBC News, 2nd February 2005.
^ Guardian, 4th February 2005.
^ Guardian, 4th February 2005.
^ UK comedy industry website Chortle, 2nd February 2005.
^ The Times (London), 7th February 2005.
^ Daily Telegraph, 5th February 2005.
^ The Times (London), 7th February 2005.
^ Guardian, 4th February 2005.
^ Scotsman, 8th February 2005.
^ The Stage, 8th February 2005.
^ Guardian, 3rd February 2005.
^ Wareham, Mark: "Legends of the Comedy Terrorist", Independent, 21st August 1996
^ Hardee, Malcolm: "I Stole Freddie Mercury's Birthday Cake" (1996), page 160
^ BBC News, 2nd February 2005.
^ Guardian, 4th February 2005.
^ Daily Telegraph, 5th February 2005.
^ The Times (London), 7th February 2005.
^ London Evening Standard, 3rd February 2005.
^ Daily Telegraph, 5th February 2005.
^ London Evening Standard, 3rd February 2005.
^ Scotsman, 8th February 2005.
^ Guardian, 4th February 2005.
^ Guardian, 4th February 2005.
^ The Times (London), 7th February 2005.
^ The Times (London), 7th February 2005.
^ Guardian, 4th February 2005.
^ Guardian, 4th February 2005.
^ Daily Telegraph, 5th February 2005.
^ Guardian, 4th February 2005.
^ Daily Telegraph, 5th February 2005.
^ Guardian, 4th February 2005.
^ BBC Radio 4 recording of one Glastonbury tribute: With Comic Intent, transmitted 28th June 2005.
^ Without a Paddle, transmitted 5th July 2005.
^ review on UK comedy industry website Chortle, February 2006.
^ review in The Times (London), 7th February 2006.
^ review on UK comedy industry website Chortle, 28th January 2007.
^ review in The Times (London), 30th January 2007.
^ The Oldie - issue 192 - March 2005

The Oldie is a unique monthly magazine â€“ a haven for fun, good sense and quality writing in a media obsessed with celebrity and yoof. The magazine was launched in 1992 by Richard Ingrams, who for 23 years was the editor of Private Eye, and is now published monthly. ...

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