Editing Malcolm Hardee

{{Short description|English comedian (1950–2005)}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox comedian
| name    = Malcolm Hardee
| image    = MalcolmHardee1995.jpg
| imagesize  =
| caption   = Hardee in 1995, outside his childhood home in [[Lewisham]]
| pseudonym  =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1950|1|5}}
| birth_place = [[Lewisham]], London, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2005|1|31|1950|1|5}}
| death_place = [[Rotherhithe]], London, England
| medium   = Stand-up
| active   = Mid-1970s–2005
| genre    = [[Physical comedy]], [[Surreal humour]]
| subject   = [[Current events]]
| notable_work= Autobiography: ''I Stole Freddie Mercury's Birthday Cake'', [[The Greatest Show on Legs]].
| signature  =
| website   = {{url|malcolmhardee.co.uk}}
| emmyawards =
| britishcomedyawards =
}}

'''Malcolm Hardee''' (5 January 1950 – 31 January 2005)<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/obituaries/story/0,,1405432,00.html|title= Obituary: Malcolm Hardee| work=The Guardian | location=London | first=William | last=Cook | date=4 February 2005 | access-date=12 May 2010}}</ref> was an English comedian and [[comedy club]] proprietor.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1408261,00.html|title= Guardian, 8 February 2005 | work=The Guardian | location=London | date=8 February 2005 | access-date=12 May 2010 | first=Alex | last=Games}}</ref>

His high reputation among his peers rests on his outrageous [[publicity stunt]]s and on the help and advice he gave to successful British [[Alternative comedy|alternative comedians]] early in their careers, acting as "godfather to a generation of comic talent in the 1980s".<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news
 |title=Alternative comedy pioneer drowns on way home from his floating pub
 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/04/nhard04.xml
 |date=5 February 2005
 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph
 |location=London
 |first=Andrew
 |last=Haldenby
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313082632/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2005%2F02%2F04%2Fnhard04.xml
 |archive-date=13 March 2007
 |access-date=2 July 2012
}}</ref> Fellow comic [[Robert Newman (comedian)|Rob Newman]] called him "a hilarious, [[Anarchism|anarchic]], [[living legend (person)|living legend]]; a millennial [[Falstaff]]",<ref name="ISFMBC front quotes">Hardee, Malcolm: "I Stole Freddie Mercury's Birthday Cake" (pub Ebury Press, 1996), pre-title page</ref> while [[Stewart Lee]] wrote that "Malcolm Hardee is a natural clown who in any decent country would be a national institution"<ref name="ISFMBC front quotes" /> and [[Arthur Smith (comedian)|Arthur Smith]] described him as "a South London [[Rabelais]]"<ref name="ISFMBC front quotes" /> and claimed that "everything about Malcolm, apart from his stand-up act, was original".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/features/feature.php/6717 |work=The Stage |date=1 March 2005 |title=Letter to a Young Comedian |access-date=2 July 2012}}</ref>

Hardee was also a compère and talent-spotting booker at his own clubs, particularly The Tunnel Club in [[Greenwich]], [[List of sub-regions used in the London Plan|South East London]], which gave early exposure to up-and-coming comedians during the early years of British alternative comedy.<ref name="Independent obit">{{cite news |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article13691.ece |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130420223646/http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article13691.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 April 2013 |title=Malcolm Hardee |work=The Independent |location=London |date=5 February 2005 |access-date=12 May 2010 }}</ref> In his [[obituary]], ''[[The Times]]'' opined that "throughout his life he maintained a fearlessness and an indifference to consequences"<ref name="Times">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article511345.ece|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524004056/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article511345.ece|archivedate=24 May 2011|title=Malcolm Hardee|work= The Times |location=London |date=7 February 2005|first=David |last=Byers}}</ref> and one journalist claimed: "To say that he has no shame is to drastically exaggerate the amount of shame that he has".<ref name="Times" /> In a publicity quote printed in Hardee's autobiography ''I Stole Freddie Mercury's Birthday Cake'', Arthur Smith wrote that Hardee had "led his life as though for the perfect autobiography and now he has paid himself the compliment of writing it."<ref name="ISFMBC front quotes" />

== Early life ==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Malcolm Hardee autobiography.jpg|thumb|Hardee's 1996 autobiography]] -->
Hardee was born in [[Lewisham]], South East London, near the [[River Thames]], and came from a long line of [[lightermen]]<ref name="Telegraph" /> who earned their living on [[tugs]] pulling [[barges]] on the river. He was 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]]<ref name="Guardian" /> and was educated at three South East London schools – [[St Stephen]]'s [[Church of England]] primary, [[Colfe's School]], and [[Sedgehill School|Sedgehill]] [[Comprehensive school|comprehensive]].<ref name="Guardian" />

Expelled from the latter two schools he drifted into petty crime:<ref name="Guardian" /> stealing [[Coca-Cola]] from a local bottling plant, burgling a pawnbrokers<ref name="Chortle">{{cite web |url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2005/02/02/3494/malcolm_hardee_dies|title= news page on UK comedy industry website Chortle, 2 February 2005}}</ref> and setting fire to a [[Sunday school]] piano because he wanted to see "holy smoke".<ref name="Times" /> He served prison sentences for [[cheque fraud]], burglary and escaping custody;<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4230789.stm|work= BBC News | date=2 February 2005 | access-date=6 January 2010 |title=Comedian's body found in Thames}}</ref> in 1967, he escaped from [[Gaynes Hall]] [[Borstal]] dressed as a [[monk]].<ref name="Times" /><ref name="Scotsman">{{cite news
  |url=http://news.scotsman.com/obituaries.cfm?id=146002005
  |title= Malcolm Hardee, Stand-up comedian
  |location=Edinburgh
  |newspaper=[[The Scotsman]]
  |first=Alasdair  |last=Steven
  |date=8 February 2005
}}</ref> He also had [[convictions]] for arson and once infamously stole a [[Rolls-Royce (car)|Rolls-Royce]]<ref name="Telegraph" /> which he believed belonged to British cabinet minister [[Peter Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester|Peter Walker]]. (Walker later wrote to Hardee after reading about this widely reported story and denied it had been his car.)<ref>Hardee, Malcolm: "I Stole Freddie Mercury's Birthday Cake" (pub Ebury Press, 1996), page 65</ref>

Hardee 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"<ref name="BBC" /> and "Prison is like [[mime]] or [[juggling]] – a tragic waste of time".<ref name="Guardian" />

== Acts and stunts ==

After coming out of prison in 1977 or 1978 (sources vary), Hardee joined Martin Soan's [[The Greatest Show on Legs]] – at the time, a one-man adult [[Punch and Judy]] act.<ref name="Guardian" /> Revamped as a [[Surreal humor|surreal]] [[Sketch comedy|sketch]] group, The Greatest Show on Legs became a regular at the Tramshed venue in [[Woolwich]], alongside the likes of [[Rik Mayall]] and [[Ade Edmondson]].<ref name="Chortle" /> Soon afterwards, in 1979, [[The Comedy Store, London|The Comedy Store]] opened in [[Soho]] and The Greatest Show on Legs became regulars there, too.<ref name="Times" /> Their breakthrough came in 1982, when they performed their Naked Balloon Dance on [[Chris Tarrant]]'s anarchic late-night TV show ''[[O.T.T. (television series)|O.T.T.]]''<ref name="Telegraph" />

In 1987, as one of his many publicity stunts, Hardee stood for [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] in the famous [[1987 Greenwich by-election]], as the "[[Rainbow Dream Ticket]], Beer, Fags & [[Skittles (game)|Skittles]] Party" candidate, polling 174 votes.<ref name="Guardian" /> He stood again in the 1992 election in order to publicise his comedy club because the election rules allowed him a free mailshot to all registered voters in the [[constituency]].<ref name="Telegraph" />

Hardee regularly appeared in his own shows at the [[Edinburgh Fringe]]. The Greatest Show on Legs debuted there in 1982.<ref name=Venables170711>
{{cite web |title=How Comedy Captured the Edinburgh Fringe: Part 3 |last=Venables |first=Ben |publisher=[[The Skinny (magazine)|The Skinny]] |url=http://www.theskinny.co.uk/comedy/opinion/how-comedy-captured-the-edinburgh-fringe-part-3 |date=6 June 2017 |access-date=13 October 2017}}
</ref> 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.<ref name="Borkowski">{{cite news |author=Mark Borkowski |url=https://www.theguardian.com/edinburghfestival2001/story/0,,529703,00.html|title=Weird is not enough |work=The-Guardian |date= 30 July 2001 | location=London}}</ref><ref>''[[The Oldie]]'' – issue 192 – March 2005</ref><ref name=Venables170711/> 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.<ref name="Scotsman" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://media.guardian.co.uk/columnists/story/0,,1280093,00.html|title= PR stunts: an expert's guide| work=The Guardian | location=London | first=Mark | last=Borkowski | date=10 August 2004 | access-date=12 May 2010}}</ref> At the Fringe in 1996, ''[[The Independent]]'' reported that he attempted to sabotage American [[ventriloquist]] [[David Strassman]]'s Edinburgh show by [[Kidnapping|abducting]] 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.<ref>Wareham, Mark: "Legends of the Comedy Terrorist", Independent, 21 August 1996</ref>

[[File:HardeeGlastonbury2003.jpg|left|thumb|Hardee at the [[Glastonbury Festival 2013|2003 Glastonbury Festival]]]]
Perhaps the most-quoted anecdote concerning Hardee was that, on 9 October 1986<ref name="FunnyTalk">ed Driver, Jim: "Funny Talk" (pub The Do-Not Press, 1995), pages 123–127</ref> his house was searched by the police – who were looking for crumbs – two days after<ref name="FunnyTalk" /> he and others stole [[Freddie Mercury]]'s £4,000<ref name="Telegraph" /> 40th birthday cake. No crumbs were found at the house as he had already by then donated the cake to a local [[nursing home]].<ref name="Guardian" /><ref name="FunnyTalk" /> He used this incident as the title of his 1996 autobiography ''I Stole Freddie Mercury's Birthday Cake'' which he wrote with John Fleming. In another encounter with the police, Hardee was once questioned by [[Special Branch (Metropolitan Police)|Special Branch]] officers after being found on the balcony outside government minister [[Michael Heseltine]]'s hotel room, wearing nothing but a pair of socks and a leather coat containing £5,200 in cash and a pack of pornographic playing cards. He had mistaken the room for that of a friend.<ref name="flemingblog">{{cite web|url=http://thejohnfleming.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/the-weird-daily-life-of-comedian-malcolm-hardee-and-after/ |title=The weird daily life of comedian Malcolm Hardee – and after &#124; SO IT GOES – John Fleming's blog |publisher=Thejohnfleming.wordpress.com |date=18 January 2011 |access-date=2012-01-23}}</ref>

Collaborator John Fleming said of him that "At home, he occasionally put a live goldfish in his mouth to get attention – I saw him do it twice. It was often said of Malcolm, with a lot of justification, that he never had a stage act – his life was his act."<ref name="flemingblog" />

In his autobiography, Hardee claimed he was the first to attempt the '[[firecracker|banger]]-up-the-[[buttocks|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 (firework)|Roman Candle]]) was clenched between the buttocks and lit to a recording of [[Ethel Merman]] singing "[[There's No Business Like Show Business]]".<ref>Hardee, Malcolm: "I Stole Freddie Mercury's Birthday Cake" (pub Ebury Press, 1996), page 160</ref>

The claim for which Hardee was arguably best known throughout his performing life was that he was said to have "the biggest bollocks in show business"<ref name="Independent obit" /><ref name="Time Out Munnery">{{cite web|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/comedy/features/2486/Simon_Munnery_on_Malcolm_Hardee.html|title=Simon Munnery on Malcolm Hardee|work=Time Out|date=12 January 2007|access-date=26 December 2007|archive-date=7 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007192849/http://www.timeout.com/london/comedy/features/2486/Simon_Munnery_on_Malcolm_Hardee.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and he became renowned for a rarely performed but vividly unforgettable act in which he would use his own [[spectacles]] atop his [[genitals]] to create a unique visual [[Impressionist (entertainment)|impression]] of [[French President]] [[Charles de Gaulle]] with his [[testicles]] representing the politician's cheeks; this act pre-dated the Australian show ''[[Puppetry of the Penis]]'' by several years.<ref name="Guardian" /><ref name="Telegraph" />

Hardee rarely appeared on television, though he did play minor roles in six ''[[The Comic Strip|Comic Strip]]'' TV films and one episode in the first series of ''[[The Black Adder|Blackadder]]''.<ref name="Guardian" />

== Clubs ==
Hardee was also renowned as a talent spotter and owner of clubs which gave vital early exposure to up-and-coming comedians<ref name="Independent obit" /> including [[Charlie Chuck]], [[Alan Davies]], [[Harry Enfield]], [[Harry Hill]], [[Paul Merton]], [[Vic Reeves]], [[Frank Skinner]], [[Johnny Vegas]]<ref name="Standard">{{cite web |url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-16342292-details/Comedian+found+dead/article.do;jsessionid=Y32pG1KcL1WdPxwK2wx5PsbTX1nYj6wPnQsLrtQGc1VSQqkChJ60!1557838166!-1407319225!7001!-1|title= London Evening Standard, 3 February 2005|date= 3 December 2015}}</ref> and [[Jo Brand]], with whom he had a two-year affair<ref name="Telegraph" /><ref name="Standard" /> and whom he persuaded to become a comedian.<ref name="Scotsman" /> He hosted the first-ever outing of the [[new circus]] group [[Ra-Ra Zoo]], who performed comedy mime to a, for once, silenced audience. He also worked for a time as the manager of [[Jerry Sadowitz]]<ref name="Guardian" /> and was an occasional promoter and tour manager for his friend and neighbour [[Jools Holland]].<ref name="Guardian" />

His most infamous venue<ref name="Time Out Munnery" /> was The Tunnel Club, which he opened in 1984<ref name="Independent obit" /> 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",<ref name="Times" /> but 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. According to [[Stewart Lee]], he would often insult comedians after they had finished their acts while also simultaneously praising them, as a way of protecting their dignity. Lee notes that after his first gig he did for him, Hardee said "That was Stewart Lee. Started off well, got worse, by the end he was shit".<ref>{{cite web |title=Stewart Lee Improvised Around Industry Prejudice To Make His Name&#124;The Breakdown with Jamali Maddix |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHfnCpH4-Oo  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/AHfnCpH4-Oo| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|website=YouTube | date=22 January 2019 |access-date=14 February 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> 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."<ref name="Times" />

[[File:Up the Creek comedy club, London SE10.jpg|left|thumb|Up The Creek comedy club, Greenwich, 2011]]
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 [[Heckler|heckling]].<ref name="Time Out Munnery" /> When the club became established, it attracted groups of men apparently from the suburb of  [[Eltham]] who Hardee referred to as 'Herberts'. They  were usually drunk and attending the Tunnel club as it offered after hours drinks on a Sunday night, a rarity back then. They usually ended the evening by fighting, fortunately usually between themselves, leaving everybody else as spectators. 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!".<ref name="Times" /> [[Julian Clary]] together with Fanny the Wonder dog were surprising hits at such evenings.

The Tunnel closed in 1988<ref name="Independent obit" /> and, in 1991, Hardee opened the [[Up the Creek (comedy club)|Up The Creek]] comedy club in Creek Road, Greenwich.<ref name="Guardian" /> In an upstairs bar at the club was a [[mural]] commissioned by Hardee as a [[parody]] of [[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s ''[[The Last Supper (Leonardo)|The Last Supper]]''. It showed Hardee as Christ with Jo Brand, [[Julian Clary]] and other famous British comedians as the [[Twelve Apostles|Disciples]] including [[Ben Elton]] as [[Judas Iscariot]].<ref name="Chortle Inquest">{{cite web |url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2005/06/20/790/he_died_with_a_beer_in_his_hand?PHPSESSID=304|title= report on UK comedy industry website Chortle, 20 July 2005}}</ref><ref name="Times Last Supper">{{cite web|url=http://timesonline.typepad.com/faith/2008/01/the-latest-last.html|title=Photo of Hardee's 'Last Supper' in The Times Online, 8 January 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015201936/http://timesonline.typepad.com/faith/2008/01/the-latest-last.html|archive-date=15 October 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
[[File:Up_The_Creek,_Christmas_1990.jpg|thumb]]
In 2001,<ref name="Telegraph obit">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/04//db0402.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/02/04/ixportal.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313094748/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2005%2F02%2F04%2F%2Fdb0402.xml&sSheet=%2Fportal%2F2005%2F02%2F04%2Fixportal.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 March 2007|title=Daily Telegraph obituary, 4 February 2005|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|access-date=12 May 2010|first=Andrew|last=Haldenby}}</ref> after he sold his percentage in Up The Creek, Hardee took over a floating [[pub]], The Wibbley Wobbley, on a converted Rhine pleasure cruiser in [[Greenland Dock]], [[Rotherhithe]], by the River Thames.<ref name="Telegraph obit" />

== Death and legacy ==
[[File:FuneralWreaths.jpg|thumb|Wreaths at Hardee's funeral]]
On 2 February 2005, Hardee's body was recovered from Greenland Dock, after he was reported missing from The Wibbley Wobbley on 31 January; he had been last seen late-night on 30 January. A post-mortem soon confirmed he had drowned. In an inquest at [[Southwark]] [[Coroner's Court]] on 20 July, Coroner John Sampson recorded a verdict of accidental death. It had been assumed in several reports of his death that, while trying to make his way home by [[dinghy]] from The Wibbley Wobbley to his houseboat ''The Sea Sovereign'' just fifteen yards away<ref name="Telegraph" /> across Greenland Dock, Hardee had lost his balance and drowned while drunk. But the Coroner found that, whilst attempting to access ''The Sea Sovereign'' from the quayside, Hardee had fallen into the dock while drunk.<ref name="LifeStyleExtra">{{cite web|url=http://www.lifestyleextra.com/ShowStory.asp?story=JG2015528B&news_headline=drowned_comic_was_still_clutching_his_beer|title=LifeStyleExtra, 20 July 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713204434/http://www.lifestyleextra.com/ShowStory.asp?story=JG2015528B&news_headline=drowned_comic_was_still_clutching_his_beer|archive-date=13 July 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

[[File:HackneyAdWikipedia.gif|left|thumb|Flyer for 2006 memorial show]]
Police constable Martin Spirito told the court that, on 2 February: "The search commenced at 10:00{{nbsp}}am. At 10:24{{nbsp}}am one of the officers came up and said he had found a lifeless body. I followed the officer's line down. Six metres down I saw a white male. The male had a bottle of beer clenched in his right hand." Police sergeant Roy Dawson, in charge of overseeing the dive, told the court: "The bottle was held in his right hand. It fell from his hand on the ascent."<ref name="LifeStyleExtra" />

Hardee's date of death is usually said to be 31 January, although Coroner John Sampson said, "He was last seen on the quayside outside the Wibbly Wobbly public house at about 6{{nbsp}}am on Sunday January 30".<ref name="LifeStyleExtra" />

About 700 people attended his funeral at [[St Alfege's Church]] in Greenwich. Jo Brand, Arthur Smith, Stewart Lee and his son Frank Hardee all delivered eulogies, and the musician [[Jools Holland]] played the piano.<ref>[http://www.malcolmhardee.co.uk/CentreFrameFuneral.html Order of Service at the Funeral of Malcolm Hardee], retrieved 15 February 2011</ref> He was [[cremated]] at [[Hither Green]] in South East London.

In June 2005, there were two tribute shows<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/withcomicintent.shtml|title= BBC Radio 4 recording of one Glastonbury tribute: With Comic Intent, transmitted 28 June 2005}}</ref> at the [[Glastonbury Festival]]; in July, a [[BBC Radio 4]] documentary tribute;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/withoutapaddle.shtml|title= Without a Paddle, transmitted 5 July 2005}}</ref> and, in August, two tribute shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. There were five-hour tribute shows at the [[Hackney Empire]] theatre in London on 5 February 2006<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/shows/misc_live_shows/m/1972/malcolm_hardee_tribute_show/review/|title= review on UK comedy industry website Chortle, February 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article727888.ece |title=TITLE |work=The Times |location=London |first=Dominic |last=Maxwell |date=7 February 2006 |access-date=12 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517053842/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article727888.ece |archive-date=17 May 2011 }}</ref> and 28 January 2007 to commemorate the anniversary of his death.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/shows/misc_live_shows/m/15055/malcolm_hardee_charity_cabaret_2007/review/|title= review on UK comedy industry website Chortle, 28 January 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/comedy/article1303169.ece |title=TITLE |work=The Times |location=London |first=Dominic |last=Maxwell |date=30 January 2007 |access-date=12 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517053506/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/comedy/article1303169.ece |archive-date=17 May 2011 }}</ref>

== The Annual Malcolm Hardee Awards (2005–present) ==
'''The Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality''' are awards given annually at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival "for comic originality of thought or performance".<ref name="MH site">{{cite web |url=http://www.malcolmhardee.co.uk/award|title= official Malcolm Hardee Award page, retrieved 26 August 2008}}</ref><ref>[https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2019/08/06/43886/malcolm_hardee_awards_make_a_comeback Chortle - Malcolm Hardee Awards Make a Comeback]</ref> Previous winners:

* 2005 – [[Reggie Watts]]<ref name="Irish Independent Award">{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/arts/and-now-for-something-completely--different-1091538.html|work= Irish Independent |access-date=15 June 2008 | date=28 September 2007 |title=And now for something completely different}}</ref>
* 2006 – No award presented
* 2007 – Doktor Cocacolamcdonalds<ref name="MH 2008 Award Winners">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7577789.stm|work= BBC News| date=23 August 2008 | access-date=6 January 2010 | first=Kevin | last=Young | title=Stand-up Aczel wins comedy award}}</ref>
* 2008 – [[Edward Aczel]] (nominees: Aindreas de Staic, The Fringe Box Office, [[Peter Buckley Hill]], Otto Kuhnle)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2008/06/02/6853/in_malcs_memory|title=In Malc's memory: New Fringe award set up|publisher=Chortle.co.uk|date=2 June 2008|access-date=2008-06-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Wolf|first=Ian|url=http://www.sitcom.co.uk/news/news.php?story=000457|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909110839/http://www.sitcom.co.uk/news/news.php?story=000457|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 September 2012|title=News – New Fringe award dedicated to Malcolm Hardee|publisher=British Sitcom Guide|date=2 June 2008|access-date=2008-06-02}}</ref>
* 2009 – Otto Kuhnle<ref name="2009 Awards">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8226733.stm|title=Schaffer scoops best stunt award|work=BBC News|date=29 August 2009|access-date=29 August 2009 | first=Angie | last=Brown}}</ref> (nominees: Three Gaga Heads, [[Tim Key]], [[Joey Page]], [[Toby Williams (comedian)|George Ryegold]])
* 2010 – [[Robert White (comedian)|Robert White]]<ref name="STV News">{{cite news |url=http://entertainment.stv.tv/edinburgh-festivals/interviews/194394-bo-burnham-wins-malcolm-hardee-award-and-set-to-make-millions/|work= STV News |title=Bo Burnham Wins Malcolm Hardee Award and Set to Make Millions|date=28 August 2010|access-date=28 August 2010}}</ref> (nominees: [[Doctor Brown]], [[Bo Burnham]], [[Lewis Schaffer]], [[Bob Slayer]])
* 2011 – Johnny Sorrow (nominees: Doctor Brown, James Hamilton, Bob Slayer)
* 2012 – [[The Rubberbandits]] (nominees: James Hamilton, [[Simon Munnery]])<ref name="2012 nominees">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-19374887|title= Cunning Stunt nominees| access-date=8 September 2012 | work=BBC News | date=25 August 2012}}</ref>
* 2013 – [[Adrienne Truscott]] (nominees: Ursula Burns, [[Red Bastard]])
* 2014 – Candy Gigi (nominees The Birdmann, Michael Brunström)
* 2015 – [[Michael Brunström]] (nominees: [[Richard Gadd]], The Story Beast, Mr Twonkey/[[Paul Vickers (musician)|Paul Vickers]])
* 2016 – Mr Twonkey/[[Paul Vickers (musician)|Paul Vickers]]<ref name="auto">{{cite web|last=Fringe|first=Edinburgh|url=https://www.edfringe.com/media/award-winners#Malcolm//|title=2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Award Winners|publisher=[[Edinburgh Fringe]]|date=30 August 2016|access-date=30 August 2016}}</ref> (nominees The Baby (in ''Come Look at The Baby''), Foxdog Studios, [[Arthur Smith (comedian)|Arthur Smith]])<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|last=Wolf|first=Ian|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/2016/features/malcolm_hardee_awards_shortlist//|title=Malcolm Hardee Awards 2016 shortlist|publisher=[[British Comedy Awards]]|date=22 August 2016|access-date=22 August 2016}}</ref>
* 2017 – [[Terry Alderton]] (nominees: [[Rob Kemp]], [[Elf Lyons]], Mark Dean Quinn.<ref name="auto2"/><ref name="auto3"/><ref name="auto4"/>
* 2018 - no award presented
* 2019 - [[Julia Masli]] & The Duncan Brothers: LEGS (nominees Charles Quarterman, Jimmy Slim and Lewis Blomfield, [[Joz Norris]], President Obonjo, Sean Morley)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/live/news/5471/malcolm_hardee_awards_2019/ | title=Malcolm Hardee Awards 2019 results | website=[[British Comedy Guide]] | date=24 August 2019 }}</ref>
* 2020 - (No Award made/ No Edinburgh Fringe because of the Covid pandemic)
* 2021 - (No Award made/ No Edinburgh Fringe because of the Covid pandemic)
* 2022 - The Flop: A Band of Idiots (nominee: Mr Chonkers)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/news/7003/2022-hardee-awards-winners/ | title=2022 Malcolm Hardee Awards winners revealed | website=[[British Comedy Guide]] | date=27 August 2022 }}</ref>
* 2023 - [[Phil Ellis]] (nominees: Stephen Catling, Ivor Dembina, Mark Silcox)<ref name="hardee2023">{{cite web |title=Malcolm Hardee Awards Winners And Shortlist Revealed |url=https://www.beyondthejoke.co.uk/content/13890/julia-masli-award |website=Beyond The Joke |access-date=28 August 2023 |language=en |date=27 August 2023}}</ref>
* 2024 - Mark Dean Quinn (nominees: Vinay Sagar, the Duncan Brothers; Elliot Wengler; Garry Starr; Nate Kitch; Paulina Lenoir; Neil Davidson)<ref name="Hardees 2024">{{cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/news/8027/hardees-winners-2024/|title=Malcolm Hardee Awards 2024 results|publisher=British Comedy Guide|date=24 August 2024|access-date=25 August 2024}}</ref>

'''The Malcolm Hardee Cunning Stunt Award''' is given for the best Fringe publicity stunt of the year. Previous winners:

* 2008 – Gill Smith, awarded retrospectively in 2009, for nominating herself for a Malcolm Hardee award and putting "Malcolm Hardee Award Nominee" on her posters<ref name=scoop2009>{{cite news|title=Best Publicity Stunt at the Edinburgh Fringe|url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0906/S00153.htm|access-date=22 January 2013|newspaper=Scoop (New Zealand)|date=15 June 2009}}</ref> 
* 2009 – [[Lewis Schaffer]], after convincing several publications he was sponsoring the [[Edinburgh Comedy Awards]] (or "Lewies") for the modest sum of £99<ref name="2009 Awards" /> (nominees: [[Shed Simove]], Oliver Moore, [[Jennifer Warren]] and Charlotte Jo Hanbury)
* 2010 – [[Stewart Lee]], for successfully encouraging people to vote for little-known Japanese act [[Frank Chickens]] in a poll for best fringe performer<ref name="BBC News 2010">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11113607|work= BBC News |access-date=28 August 2010 | date=27 August 2010 |title=Stewart Lee wins Malcolm Hardee Fringe stunt prize}}</ref> (nominees: Manos The Greek, [[Arthur Smith (comedian)|Arthur Smith]])
* 2011 – [[Kunt and the Gang]] and Bob Slayer, for getting fans to put stickers depicting penises on the posters of rival acts (nominees: [[Tim FitzHigham]], Sanderson Jones)<ref name="2011 nominees">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-14631265|title= Cunning Stunt nominees| access-date=3 September 2011 | work=BBC News | date=23 August 2011}}</ref>
* 2012 – [[Stuart Goldsmith]], for YouTube videos about the censorship of his show ''Prick''<ref>{{cite news|title=Stuart Goldsmith wins Cunning Stunt award|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-19374887|newspaper=BBC News|date=25 August 2012}}</ref> (nominees [[Nathan Cassidy]], [[Chris Dangerfield (comedian)|Chris Dangerfield]])
* 2013 – [[Barry Ferns]], for printing fake copies of ''[[Broadway Baby]]'' which gave his show 6-out-of-5 star reviews and reported that his show had been nominated for the [[Edinburgh Comedy Awards|Fosters Comedy Awards]], in both the main category and the newcomer category.<ref name="2013 Hardee Awards">{{cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/2013/features/malcolm_hardee_awards_2013_results/|title=Adrienne Truscott and Barry Ferns win Malcolm Hardee Awards 2013|publisher=[[British Comedy Awards]]|date=24 August 2013|access-date=30 July 2016}}</ref> (nominees: [[Richard Herring]], [[Lewis Schaffer]], Gareth Morinan)
* 2014 – Christian Talbot, for using his 12-year-old daughter Kate to go up to strangers, looking sad, asking them, "Have you seen my daddy?", and if they said "No" she would hand out flyers to them.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/2014/features/malcolm_hardee_awards_2014/|title=Malcolm Hardee Award Winners 2014|publisher=[[British Comedy Awards]]|date=23 August 2014|access-date=30 July 2016}}</ref> (nominees Luke McQueen, Mark Dean Quinn)
* 2015 – [[Matt Roper]], for hacking into the [[Facebook]] account of Malcolm Hardee judge [[Kate Copstick]] and posting fake messages "bigging himself up".<ref>{{cite web|last=Wolf|first=Ian|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/2015/features/malcolm_hardee_awards_2015/|title=2015 Malcolm Hardee Award winners announced|publisher=[[British Comedy Awards]]|date=29 August 2015|access-date=30 July 2016}}</ref> (nominees Miss Behave, Abigoliah Schamaun)
* 2016 – Becky Fury, for claiming on her flyer she was a 'Last Minute Comedy finalist' - implying it was for the last minute.com awards when, in fact, it was for a Hertfordshire comedy club contest <ref name="auto" /> (nominees: Richard Gadd, Arthur Smith) <ref name="auto1" />
* 2017 – Mark Dean Quinn, for putting other acts' stars and quotes on his own flyers and thus undermining the 'star' system.<ref name="auto" /> (nominees Damian Kingsley, Martha McBrier)<ref name="auto2"/><ref name="auto3"/><ref name="auto4"/>
* 2018 - no award presented
* 2019 - West End Producer, for using quotes from the names of normal people with the same names as reviewers. (nominees: Jimmy Slim & Lewis Blomfield, E4 and BBC Studios)
* 2020 - (No Award made/ No Edinburgh Fringe because of the Covid pandemic)
* 2021 - [[Will Mars]], for mirroring the Dave TV channel's 'Dave's [[Joke Of The Fringe]]' (not awarded in 2021) by announcing that the '(Some guy called) Dave Joke of the Fringe 2021' was won by Masai Graham... The winner was chosen by a random member of the public called Dave whom Mars found by walking up the Royal Mile in Edinburgh.
* 2022 - [[Ivor Dembina]], for his reaction to the Edinburgh bin collection strike, promoting the growing piles of uncollected rubbish as performance art.
* 2023 - (nominees: Batsu!, Lee Kyle, Tom Mayhew)<ref name=hardee2023 />
* 2024 - [[Thom Tuck]], for performing a show which took place at a different location and a different time every day, giving out cryptic clues giving details to when and where each performance took place. (Nominees: [[Huge Davies]]; [[Luke Rollason]]; Tim Reeves)<ref name="Hardees 2024"/>

'''The Malcolm Hardee 'Act Most Likely to Make a Million Quid' Award''' was started in 2010. In 2024, the name of the award was changed to ''''Act That Should Make a Million Quid' Award'''.

* 2010 – [[Bo Burnham]]<ref name="BBC News 2010" /> (nominee: [[Greg Davies]])
* 2011 – Benet Brandreth (nominee: [[Josh Widdicombe]])
* 2012 – [[Trevor Noah]] (nominees: Tim FitzHigham, The Rubberbandits)<ref name="2012 nominees" />
* 2013 – No award presented
* 2014 – [[Luisa Omielan]] (nominees: Peter Buckley Hill (would have won '''The Malcolm Hardee 'Act Least Likely to Win a Million Quid' Award'''))
* 2015 – [[Laurence Owen (composer)|Laurence Owen]] (nominees Sarah Callaghan, Phil Ellis, [[Al Porter]])
* 2016 - 'The Baby' <ref name="auto" /> (nominees Foxdog Studios, Al Porter, Arthur Smith; The Baby was added in by the judges after the nominations were first announced)<ref name="auto1" />
* 2017 - Rob Kemp (nominee: Al Porter)<ref name="auto2">{{cite web|last=Wolf|first=Ian|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/live/news/2750/malcolm_hardee_awards_2017///|title=Malcolm Hardee Awards 2017 results|publisher=[[British Comedy Guide]]|date=26 August 2017|access-date=31 August 2017}}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{cite web|last=Glynn|first=Polly|url=http://www.theskinny.co.uk/festivals/edinburgh-fringe/comedy/malcolm-hardee-awards-get-riotous-finale|title=Malcolm Hardee Awards 2017 results|publisher=[[The Skinny arts magazine]]|date=28 August 2017|access-date=31 August 2017}}</ref><ref name="auto4">{{cite web|last=Bennett|first=Steve|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2017/08/26/37708/terry_alderton_scoops_malcolm_hardee_award///|title=Terry Alderton scoops Malcolm Hardee award|publisher=[[Chortle]]|date=25 August 2017|access-date=31 August 2017}}</ref>
* 2018 - no award presented
* 2019 - President Obonjo  (Nominees Candy Gigi, [[Catherine Cohen]], [[Sophie Duker]] and [[Tom Crosbie]])
* 2020 - (No Award made/ No Edinburgh Fringe because of the Covid pandemic)
* 2021 - (No Award made/ No Edinburgh Fringe because of the Covid pandemic)
* 2022 - [[Jerry Sadowitz]]
* 2023 - [[Julia Masli]] (nominees: Sam Campbell, Larry Owens, Seymour Mace, Natalie Perlin<ref name=hardee2023 />
* 2024 - Garry Starr (nominees: [[Finlay Christie (comedian)|Finlay Christie]]; [[Dylan Mulvaney]])<ref name="Hardees 2024"/>

'''The Malcolm Hardee 'Pound of Flesh' Award''' was given in 2013 to an act which created "the kind of publicity money cannot – and perhaps should not – buy"

* 2013 – Gareth Ellis (and Richard Rose), for faking a story that they had been attacked in the street following bad reviews, which involved Rose punching Ellis so he got a [[black eye]].<ref name="2013 Hardee Awards" />

'''The Malcolm Hardee FirstMinute Award''' was given in 2016, to the show with the funniest first minute (to spoof the Edinburgh Comedy Awards that year being sponsored by lastminute.com).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/2016/features/malcolm_hardee_awards_2016/ | title=Mr Twonkey, Becky Fury and a baby win Malcolm Hardee Awards | website=[[British Comedy Guide]] | date=27 August 2016 }}</ref>

* 2016 - Cat Call, performed by [[Cally Beaton]] and [[Catherine Bohart]]

== Writing ==
* ''I Stole Freddie Mercury's Birthday Cake'' (autobiography; co-writer John Fleming) Fourth Estate, 1996. {{ISBN|1-85702-385-4}}.
* ''Sit-Down Comedy'' (anthology, ed Malcolm Hardee & John Fleming) Ebury Press/Random House, 2003. {{ISBN|0-09-188924-3}}.

Hardee also wrote a number of [[Column (newspaper)|columns]] in comedy magazines in which he gave tips and told [[anecdotes]] about life as a comic.

== References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=35em}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.malcolmhardee.co.uk/ His website: obituaries, tributes and newspaper articles]
* [http://www.sitdowncomedy.co.uk/ Sit Down Comedy website]
* {{YouTube|gdN5TmsmNXg|Celebration of Hardee's life}}
* {{IMDb name|0362072|Malcolm Hardee}}

{{Authority control}}

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