Shows
2021-07-1508 min
2021-07-1302 min
2021-07-1302 min
The NEARLY SHOWInterview with Chris Meade/Ifso by Cindy Oswin - Part 4Asemic art, diagnosed with bowel cancer, trying to come to terms with mortality, humdrumming and the repercussionists
2021-07-0631 min
The NEARLY SHOWInterview with Chris Meade/Ifso by Cindy Oswin - Part 3Setting up if;book uk, exploring digital possibilities for literature, These Associations at Tate Modern, becoming a Nearlyologist...
2021-07-0619 min
The NEARLY SHOWInterview with Chris Meade/Ifso by Cindy Oswin - Part 2From Sheffield to Birmingham Imagination Services - Meet the Decade Day, Silence Project etc in Brum llbraries - becoming Director of the Poetry Society, the Twerlies sitcom, Booktrust and fundraising for Bookstart, Friendly Literature Organisations...
2021-07-0623 min
The NEARLY SHOWInterview with Chris Meade/Ifso by Cindy Oswin - Part 1Chris tells the story of his working life in half hour-ish chunks.
Part one: from childhood in Hampstead to creative days in Sheffield.
2021-07-0622 min
The NEARLY SHOWTHE NEARLY SHOW NowFutureThenChris Ifso on the future, future of the book, a nude man and radical pensioner Betty Spital. There's also a shanty for modern workers and a jingle about now.
2021-06-1610 min
The NEARLY SHOWDads - Radio SheffieldFeature made in 1983 for Radio Sheffield's Dave Sheasby, featuring my dad and many others. Made weeks before Joe was born.
2021-06-1327 min
The NEARLY SHOWGreatestHitIn the olden days everything was ok
In the now howl out against the new
Re-do the hokeypokeycokey
Stick your left hand in and out of the cliche stew
Let’s take what glows and fizzes in this instant
And diss it disparage it piss on it
Take your comfort zone and plant a flag in it
Saying this is the real thing, this is the greatest hit
2021-05-1800 min
2021-05-1111 min
The NEARLY SHOWHumdrumming - The Starting Point for a work of NearlyographyHumdrumming - The Starting Point for a work of Nearlyography by Chris Ifso
2021-05-1107 min
The NEARLY SHOWShantyI sing the shanty of fish gutters
Nappy changers, silent shoppers
Sing the shanty of shelf stackers
Office cleaners, packet trackers
Fact checkers & Home schooolers
Shop assistants, bankers, jewellers,
Traindrivers and trainees
Makers of pornography
Deliveroos and postvan drivers
The dedicated and the scivers,
Those who work in every weather
Those who don’t quite get it together
I sing the shanty of all workers
In suits in skirts in burkas
Musicians, dancers,2 actors
Farmers, fixers up of tractors
Sing the rhythm of their labours
Pumping power generators
Clicks of keyboard pings & apps
Beats that make em swing and tap,
Dr...
2021-03-0501 min
The NEARLY SHOWAll Shall Be Well Shall Be WellA new song, thanks to Julian of Norwich for the chorus. Image available to buy from https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/National
ALL SHALL BE WELL SHALL BE WELL
All shall be well shall be well
And all manner of things shall be well
Clear us clear us clear us clear us
Clear the air the ice the flame
Burn all traces from our bodies
Till not a speck remains
I'm not one for necromancy
We need a vaccine for the soul
Body brain and planet reeling
as we head towards the big black hole
All shall be well shall be...
2021-02-2104 min
The NEARLY SHOWTHE NEARLYSHOW: Humdrumming On Chemo in Lockdown. 6. This episode: Typing, Zooming, Reading Aloud.Chris Ifso continues to document his experience of chemotherapy in lockdown and this time reads two (lighter) bits of life-writing - diary entries and a short piece about his grandmother.
2021-02-1609 min
2021-02-0503 min
The NEARLY SHOWTHE NEARLY SHOW - Remembering & Regrouping. Mags, Hums & DrumsThe Nearly Show with Chris Ifso writer and nearlyologist, experiencing chemo in lockdown. An upbeat episode about newsagents and hums and stuff. Feeling good today in the midst of these hard times for all. Much love.
2021-01-2908 min
The NEARLY SHOWAnthem to the Pentangulous PrinceI'm in a zoom songwriting group which recently discussed prog rock and its complex time signatures - which led to me to make this psychedelic snippet which I dedicate to my mate Nick with whom I dropped acid and attended Yes concerts back in the day -weird but happy times!
ANTHEM TO THE PENTANGULOUS PRINCE
We talked all night long
Can’t remember why
What we said went wrong
We were far too high
Acid in our blood
Things looked very wild
Saw the dawn arise
Felt the inner child
This boy with long hair
Hanging down his face
Playing ai...
2021-01-2702 min
The NEARLY SHOWHumdrumming again - faster versionThey open up my belly
Take out a fist of pain
Scrape me out and staple me
Back together again
Scan me for impurities
Attach me to a plastic drip
Infusing all my innards
I’m floating like a ship
On a medicated ocean
In a drug-induced tempest
To the island of my body
Where I writhe and rest
See no means to climb
Or claim this monolith of flesh
Everything is out of reach
This tiny room
this slightest breath….
In the endurances
The hope of clearances
The love of families
The wondering when the ending is
The tapping on t...
2021-01-2003 min
The NEARLY SHOWTHE NEARLY SHOW - Three Typewriters, No Chemo, One Song. Chemo in Lockdown 4.Podcast on all things nearlyological, and now exploring the experience of chemo in lockdown as I recover (hopefully) from an op for bowel cancer. Fuelled by steroids, I've found this time creative and exploratory as well as bloody hard.
2021-01-1512 min
The NEARLY SHOWTHE NEARLY SHOW - Dry Older Love On Steroids. Chemo in Lockdown 3The third of my chats re my experience of chemotjherapy in lockdown. You can see a video of this on the Chris Ifso channel on YouTube and at www.nearlyology.net.
2021-01-0309 min
The NEARLY SHOWWhere The Wild Things WentWHERE THE WILD THINGS WENT
New Year’ s Eve in Lockdown 2020
There aint never been a moment
quite like this before.
That’s true of any day of course
But perhaps this one
just a little bit more.
By the time the local cafes
have re-opened
He should be ready to hang out in them again.
He’s been doing chemotherapy
for the past 4 months
And in a month or two it’ll be
coming to an end
When the time is up
When the air is clear
When the drugs wear off
When we can face the fear
Where the shit...
2021-01-0305 min
The NEARLY SHOWNearly Show: Repair Shop, Hums, Drums & Good FriendsLove and thanks to Jorg Dubin and John Gough and all those I've worked and played with on creative projects, from our school happening in 1969 to The Birmingham Humline in 1992 and now Humdrumming with Dreaming Methods on chemo in lockdown. This podcast contains thoughts and feelings about my treatment for bowel cancer. You can also watch it on the Chris Ifso Youtube channel.
2020-11-3016 min
The NEARLY SHOWNearly Show On Humdrumming - Chemo In LockdownChris Ifso, Writer & Doctor of Nearlyology talks frankly about cancer and creativity, stoicism, therapy and art, dance improv on Zoom, hope, utopianism, drumming on my body and singing through closed lips.
See the video version on the Chris Ifso channel on YouTube
2020-11-0620 minThe NEARLY SHOWHumdrumming Song- 23:10:2020, 10.33HUMDRUMMING
They open up my belly
Take out a fist of pain
Scrape me out and staple me
Back together again
Scan me for impurities
Attach me to a plastic drip
Infusing all my innards
I’m floating like a ship
On a medicated ocean
In a drug-induced tempest
To the island of my body
Where I writhe and rest
See no means to climb
Or claim this monolith of flesh
Everything is out of reach
This tiny room
this slightest breath….
In the endurances
The hope of clearances
The love of families
The wondering when the ending is
The tapp...
2020-11-0603 min
The NEARLY SHOWMagazineMAGAZINE
When we print our magazine
With a letters page and horoscope
Editorial on the theme
Of building empathy and hope
With a cartoon on the back
About a cat and mouse and cop
Colour spread of marching crowds
chanting all this hate must stop
When we print our magazine
Headline shouting from the newsstand:
Make things fair and free and whole again
Find the funds to plant the trees
To freeze the water at the poles and then
A green new deal explained
In a supplement within
Relationships reframed,
For him and her and in between
When we print...
2020-08-3100 min
The NEARLY SHOWTHE NEARLY SHOW: What Really HasFirst thoughts on some bad health news. I'm a bit mean about alternative therapies in this - sorry - just not my scene, though the issue gets me thinking. Lots of gratitude to lovely family and friends though. Many nearlies thrown up suddenly.
2020-06-1900 min
The NEARLY SHOWTHE NEARLY SHOW: What Didn't Quite & Things with guest presenter Sue ThomasSue Thomas is a novelist and digital innovator, author of Technobiophilia. Here she interviews Chris Ifso in depth about Nearlyology,
5.02: Characters in the novel,
11.23: Plotting and trimming,
13.46: The role of music in the book,
17.00: Nearlyness and Virtuality;
25.21: Nearly Process,
26.49: Self publishing and Beyond.
34.20: What's Next.
2020-06-0800 min
The NEARLY SHOWEverybody's Doing ZoomDOING ZOOM
Everybody wears a mask
Everybody feels the fear
Everybody's distancing
Everybody's very near
Everybody’s aching for a touch
For a whatsapp, kiss or text
No-one knows what's going on
No-one knows what happens next
Everybody's in the same boat
Everybody's in the front room
Everybody's in the same strange
Everybody's doing zoom
Everybody sees the news
Everybody sighs and curses
Everybody’s bingeing fleabag
Everybody claps the nurses
Everybody’s hair is so long
Everybody longs for someone
Everybody loves the birdsong
Everbody’s putting pounds on
Everybody's in the same boat
Everybody's in the front room
Everybod...
2020-05-2700 min
The NEARLY SHOWTHE NEARLY SHOW: NearlyArts for LockdownDr Chris Ifso outlines his manifesto for the Nearly Arts at a time of DIstancing - based on a performance lecture delivered at the Schmiede 2019 maker festival in Hallein, Austria. How to nearly/write/dance/sing and make our own nearlyculture in isolation.
2020-05-1100 min
The NEARLY SHOWTHE NEARLY SHOW: Nearlyology & DistancingDr Chris Ifso explains how Nearlyology might help us cope with lockdown and social distancing. Song: 'Here's the Thing' by Chris & The Ifso. Find out more at www.nearlyology.com
2020-05-1000 min
The NEARLY SHOWTHE NEARLY SHOW: What Didn't Quite - These AssociationsChris Ifso reads an exerpt from his novel 'WHAT DIDN'T QUITE' which is on sale at Amazon as Kindle and paperback. This passage is set at Tate Turbine Hall in the midst of Tino Sehgal's artwork of 2012, 'These Associations'.
2020-05-0800 min
The NEARLY SHOWTHE NEARLY SHOW: Creepy Old MenOn Nearly touching, sexual distancing and exploring your inner creepiness. Interview with Beate and Mathis of Luhmen d'Arc, organisers of sex positive events include a workshop on "Creepy Old Men"
2020-05-0400 min
The NEARLY SHOWTHE NEARLY SHOW Podcast: Cindy's Nearly Trysts & WorksActor Cindy Oswin tells all about her Nearlies with drum legend Max Roach, actor and womanizer Warren Beattie, Mark Rylance, Her Majesty, Sitcoms & Nudity
2020-05-0400 min
The NEARLY SHOWTHE NEARLY SHOW Podcast: Othering & Discovering - On Growing Nearly OldChris Ifso, writer and Nearlyologist, talks about travelling in a campervan, reading Maggie Nelson's The Argonauts, visiting Leonardo's house and thinking about time, dance, pain, desire and other things too. Music: True Story by Chris & The Ifso
2020-05-0400 min
The NEARLY SHOWThe NEARLY SHOW Podcast 1: Bill & The Nearly DadsIn this first trial podcast, Chris Ifso Doctor of Nearlyology, talks to Bill about the two dads he nearly had. They discuss masculinity, age, feminism and fatherhood, reveal secrets of masturbation interruptus and condoms in the sock drawer. Music: Nearlyology & In The Nearly. Please 'like' and leave comments below. For more info go to www.nearlyology.net
2018-09-1200 min