Latest news with #JimMoir
Times
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Jim Moir: I like talking about teabags
Jim Moir, the comedian also known as Vic Reeves, will be in conversation with Hugo Rifkind at this year's Fringe by the Sea festival. What will he talk about? Moir gives us a sneak peak into how life as a painter has let him live on his own terms. And what else you should catch at the festival on the east Scottish coast. On one of his childhood holidays to Scotland, Moir climbed up the Scott Monument in Edinburgh with his grandfather. At the top, the older man pointed across Princes Street to the Jenners department store in its Victorian glory: 'I was born there, you know.' There's a good chance Moir will talk about art, comedy, wildlife and his childhood camping trips in Scotland (mostly to Loch Lomond and Kirkcudbright) at Fringe by the Sea. It depends on where Rifkind, and the audience, will take the conversation. 'I'll talk about anything,' he says from his home in Kent, birds chirping loudly in his garden. 'I like talking about teabags and stuff like that. I'm quite a connoisseur about tea. I say put milk in last because it has to be the exact right colour for me — it should look almost like coffee — and it either has to be Tippy Assam loose leaf tea or Yorkshire teabags. Or you can ask me about birds all day long because I know what I'm talking about.' (Top tip: if you're going to the show, ask him to do an eider duck impression — he nails it.) • Jim Moir: 'I'll only do a TV show if it's about birds and art' A benign brain tumour left Moir deaf in one ear and, although he can still hear pretty well, he can't always locate the source of noises. 'I always ask Nancy [his wife] where that sound is coming from. Even in the house, if she's calling me I can't always tell if she's upstairs or downstairs,' he says. Now 66, Moir had had enough of the entertainment world. But he is happiest when painting in his studio at the foot of the garden or out birdwatching with his wife, so Sky Arts's offer of Painting Birds with Jim and Nancy Moir was impossible to resist. 'I could be retired but I don't think I ever will,' he says. 'I'm just doing what I like doing and making a living out of it so everything's great.' He actually makes more money from his paintings than he ever did from television — which tells you a lot about the nature of broadcasting and the public appetite for his works. His puffin prints sell particularly well and he currently has an exhibition called Dawn to Dusk at the Lady Lever Art Gallery Liverpool. One of the rooms of his show is dedicated to crepuscular birds, which are active at dawn and dusk. But for all the paintings of blackbirds, crows and curlews in his portfolio, it's not all ornithological. A lot of Moir's work embodies his peculiarly funny way of looking at life — the lens that helped make The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, Vic Reeves Big Night Out and Shooting Stars so special (and, to some, so baffling). • Jim Moir: 'I stopped wanting to play Vic Reeves' For £950 you can own the watercolour The Thirsty Walker (a tap coming out of the tip of a shoe) and a Pox Clinic poster fetches a similar price. One watercolour is of a dazed-looking Matt Damon, his mouth all smudged with lipstick after kissing someone, while Hot Dinghy Punch Up depicts a two-person scuffle in a boat. Of course it does. Moir's been quoted in the past as saying that his comedy career was something of a distraction from art but that's not entirely accurate. It was more a 'diversion from painting — I'd say I saw the kind of comedy I was doing as art anyway', he argues. 'I didn't really think of it like stand-up or being a comedian, more a new way of showing abstract art. I still do.' And will he take the opportunity to see some comedy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe while he's back in Scotland — not all that far from the birthplace of his granddad? Unlikely. As he puts it: 'I'd rather see a bunch of gannets than a bunch of comedians.' Aug 10, noon, The Big Top, £22.50 How did we manage without Joe Wicks's YouTube PE sessions during lockdown? The Body Coach continues to inspire thousands to take care of their bodies through healthy heating (via his bestselling cookbooks) and, of course, his jovial way of encouraging people to move more. In this session he'll be chatting about his life and 1, 11.30am, The Big Top, £20 Fancy listening in on some top-level showbiz gossip? Christopher Biggins — the panto dame and past winner of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here — joins forces with the Bafta-winning actress Patricia Hodge for a chinwag in aid of Leuchie House, the East Lothian centre that provides respite care for people living with neurological conditions. A limited number of post-show meet-and-greet tickets are 5, 5pm, Lodge Stage, £20/£50 • Christopher Biggins: Joan Collins was mad at me for months Fringe by the Sea, Aug 1-10, North Berwick,
Daily Mirror
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Vic Reeves reveals he's quit TV for good as he shares major career change
Vic Reeves - real name Jim Moir - has revealed in an exclusive chat with The Mirror that he's given up TV for good and plans to spend his time dedicated to a different passion Vic Reeves was a comedy sensation when he burst on to our TV screens in the 1990s. Alongside his equally funny sidekick, Bob Mortimer, his surrealist humour had the nation howling. But after a career spanning nearly 30 years, he has quit showbiz to devote his life to countryside walks and painting. It may seem like a dramatic career move, but Vic, 66 – who now uses his real name, Jim Moir – says stage show Vic Reeves Big Night Out was intended to be a work of art. He says: 'I stopped doing comedy years ago now. Me and Bob don't have to go on TV to enjoy that chemistry together. When I started doing Big Night Out, I considered it an art project really, not a comedy. It ended up being that. 'All the work that goes around the production, being famous. I just never really liked being on TV that much. 'The last Vic and Bob was 2017, so that was the last time we did a comedy show.' But despite turning his back on celebrity, he is never idle. Jim, who lives in Kent with his wife Nancy, 50, says: 'I get up every morning very early, go into the studio, paint, and go out for a walk in the afternoon. I like that a lot better.' He credits his early childhood experiences in Hurworth, near Darlington, Co Durham, for inspiring his love of nature. And his fascination with the countryside bleeds into his artwork, which often features paintings of birds. Speaking ahead of his latest exhibition, called Knot Twister Prologue, he recalls: 'There were no laptops when I was a kid. I was outdoors, out in nature all the time.' 'When I was out walking with Nancy 20 years ago, I kept saying 'there is that bird', and I would describe it in detail, and so she wanted to learn about it. 'It gives you a reason to go out, but it is more random than train spotting because you do not know what you are going to see. It is a great excuse to be out there in nature. I never get sick of it. I love it. Knot Twister Prologue launches on May 16 at the Biscuit Factory as part of The Late Shows, Newcastle and Gateshead's celebration of after-hours culture, with special evening access from 6pm to 10.30pm. All works are for sale. It runs until July 16.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jim Moir showcasing exclusive artwork in national first at Lady Lever Art Gallery
The Lady Lever Art Gallery will present an exclusive range of artwork by Jim Moir in a new exhibition, Dawn to Dusk: Birds by Jim Moir, Known to millions by his stage name Vic Reeves, the artist is known for his exquisite paintings of British birds. Around 45 will be on display with some of the paintings created exclusively for the exhibition. This will be the first time that the artist's paintings are displayed in a national gallery, with most works available for purchase. READ MORE: Marks & Spencer's £22.50 'trending' sweatshirt in a 'lovely colour for summer' READ MORE: Primark's 'stepping up' with 'Mamma Mia' homeware that's 'giving Oliver Bonas' Although most will know Jim for his comedy, he has produced art all his life, admitting: "All I ever did as a child was paint." He was immersed in the art world as a child, regularly attending craft fairs and galleries with his parents. He achieved his first taste of success at the age of ten, winning a competition on a cornflakes box by painting a combine harvester. He went on to study at art school. After his father gifted him a set of very heavy binoculars from the Second World War, he became more interested in watching the birds from afar. Jim said: 'It's an honour to be exhibiting at Lady Lever; a truly unique gallery that's brimming with masterpieces. The process of working with the team at National Museums Liverpool has been a greatly enjoyable one and I'm very much looking forward to sharing the finished exhibition with visitors.' Dave Moffat, assistant curator of decorative Art at National Museums Liverpool, said: "Moir's paintings are unmistakably his; his passion for birds is visible in every brushstroke, along with his knowledge of each species. "He studies each bird before painting it, allowing him to capture their character and quirks with his own unique blend of precision and wonder. The exhibition presents a joyful and imaginative study of British birds." From garden birds to seabirds, Dawn to Dusk celebrates the magic and majesty of many of the UK's most-loved feathered friends, inviting us to appreciate their brilliance and importance through the beauty of paint. Dawn to Dusk: Birds by Jim Moir will run from Saturday, June 14, to Sunday November 2.
BBC News
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Jim Moir's bird paintings to go on show in Port Sunlight art gallery
The artist Jim Moir, also known for his comedy under the stage name Vic Reeves, will be displaying his paintings of birds at an art gallery on Dawn to Dusk: Birds exhibition, which will feature about 45 of his works, will run at the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight Village, Wirral, from 14 June to 2 Leeds-born artist grew up in Darlington where he became interested in bird-watching after his father gave him a set of binoculars from World War said: "It's an honour to be exhibiting at Lady Lever - a truly unique gallery that's brimming with masterpieces." Dave Moffat from National Museums Liverpool said: "Moir's paintings are unmistakably his - his passion for birds is visible in every brushstroke, along with his knowledge of each species."He studies each bird before painting it, allowing him to capture their character and quirks with his own unique blend of precision and wonder," he added. The artist was joined by his wife when they presented the series Painting Birds with Jim and Nancy Moir for Sky Arts in recent works have also been displayed in Newcastle and Lady Lever Art Gallery is dedicated to the memory of the wife of Victorian soap manufacturer William Lever, who built houses for his factory workers at Port Sunlight. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
