A former taxi driver who now performs as a statue man in Leeds has opened up about the "mixed opinions" he's received and the “difficult aspects of the job”.
A statue man, or a ‘living statue, is a performer who poses as a statue or a mannequin. Fred Revolution covers himself in green paint and stands by his prop of ‘floating’ statues with ambient music playing.
Fred was performing his act in Briggate, Leeds city centre, on Thursday, February 8. The 41-year-old has opened up about his seven-year journey of becoming a “statue-guy”.
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“The most difficult aspect of the job is to get the show in and out, it takes a long time,” said Fred. It takes Fred 30 minutes to smear the green paint all over himself – and 45 minutes to remove it at the end of the day.
He travels all the way around the country in different cities from his home in Wigan. Then once he’s found an appropriate place to park up, he’s got to lug his massive prop of two actual statues and speaker system to where he wants to perform.
His statues are coloured purple and blue – the latter is sat in a meditative position and can ascend and descend when Fred presses a button.
'Mixed opinions'
Fred said: “I’m a ‘statue-guy’ and this is general street theatre. It’s what it’s all about. I physically run this show, it took me almost two years to device and to physically build it. I travel around to many places. I’ve been doing this for seven years. I used to be a taxi driver.
“I’m actually a magician by trade but I decided to expand and become a statue-guy. I used my magic background to make the statue, as she [the blue statue] actually rises up and down. So many people ask me if they’re real people and the answer is, ‘No, they’re not!’ They’re actual statues. I don’t want to deceive people and tell them they are.
“I get very mixed opinions. They say ‘Look at him, here’s a green man!’ My family and friends fully support it, they know my background as being magician so they’re pleased, they fully support what I do.”
On perfecting the skill for standing still for such long periods, Fred says it all comes down to “meditation”. He said: “It took a long time to master.
“It’s all about focus and relaxation and mediation. I don’t practice at home, I practice in the street. Before I started, I practiced briefly but when you’ve been doing it for so long – seven years, it really does become second nature.”
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