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The weird and wonderful world of Ivor Cutler

Poet, songwriter and humorist, the eccentric Ivor Cutler shot to fame as Buster Bloodvessel in The Beatles’ film Magical Mystery Tour. His lovable eccentricity appealed to audiences on the BBC’s Home Service and then delighted a younger generation of listeners on John Peel’s radio programme, where he was accompanied by fellow poet Phyllis King with whom he had a 40 year romance, centred largely around cups of tea and trips to the zoo.

Ivor's idiosyncrasies were seen as amusing, but in later life he began to show signs of the dementia that would engulf him. Aware of his degeneration, he told Piers Plowright (who had produced him for Radio 3) 'My mind has been broken into’. He often communicated by means of sticky labels, printed with ‘Cutlerisms’ - and we wanted to take a closer look at some of these zany statements...

12 Cutlerisms by the late, great surrealist thinker

Celebrating some of the quirky characteristics of this cult figure, we invite you to delve into his surreal world with a selection of the choicest Cutlerisms...

1. Changing your pants is like taking a clean plate

2. Never knowingly understood

3. True happiness is a hypocrite

4. Befriend a bacterium

5. I want my mammy

6. The Squire on the hippopotamus is equal to the son of the other two squires

7. Slightly inperfect

8. How to be. Climb inside a dot and shut the door. Leave yourself outside

9. Add 15 inches to your stride and save 4% of insects

10. To remove this label take it off

11. Silence and Space [are] the dark flowers of creativity

12. No!

Ivor once reported for duties at the BBC studios with a boiled egg taped to his head, giving no explanation.

Did you know?

Cutler hated loud noises and was a member of the Noise Abatement Society.

He despised being called Ivor by strangers and would often retort "it's Mr Cutler to you, I don't believe we've been introduced".

When once quizzed for directions to the Royal Academy of Arts by tourists, he reportedly pointed towards the venue and replied "it's about 200 yards in that direction", "or 8000 miles that way" pointing in the opposite direction.

Cutler devised the name Buster Bloodvessel for his character in the Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour.

Cutler had a toilet paper dispenser that dispatched the roll from an image of Margaret Thatcher's mouth.

He so despised air-conditioning that whilst on tour with Van Morrison, Ivor fled his acclimatised hotel room and was later found wrapped in a blanket at the waiting room of the nearest train station.