Mr. Cool Ice

Mr. Geissen: You want to be called 'Ice', why 'Ice'?

Mr. Ice: That's right, because it's my name which I actually use now. (cut) Because Mr. Cool always somehow seemed very… cool to me and since I dig Vanilla Ice I added the 'Ice'.

Mr. Geissen: Please turn around… a very interesting part of your body is your back and it says: MR COOL ICE!!! Why?

Mr. Ice: I just wanted to represent something (cut) I wanted something which is mine, something because a lot of people wear brands or represent things which are, well, I'd say it's just put-on.

Voice-over: Thomas Steinberger aka Mr. Cool Ice loves public appearances. In the pedestrian zone and on tv. The 33 year old man from Mainz got his body in shape for that reason, and had his own logo tattooed [on himself]. A t-shirt shop helped him with the design.

T-Shirt guy (named Josef): He came into the shop, all casual, approached me, came straight to the point and, well, then we did it together and it was actually funny. It first seemed a bit crazy, having to design a tattoo in Corel Draw, since we usually only do t-shirts, but since it was for Ice – who we already know for quite some time, right?

Mr. Ice: I made up the name myself, so it's mine, patent-registered on me, mmmh, so I basically started here – by myself, Frank wasn't there – to design the skull. (cut) The logo originated from the fact that I wanted to have a skull… you know, on the jackets, too, back then when the tattoos weren't… uuh, uhhhm somehow, not to be realized in the near future and stuff… and I really wanted the skull. So, but they only had 'Heavy Metal' skulls everywhere but they're aggressive to me. That's a direction I didn't wanna follow. So that's why.. we did it at the t-shirt shop, took it from a skeleton, changed the glasses… that means removed the eyes, put in glasses, added veins, brought out the teeth – really brought them out for the smile, so it would fit the name… he shouldn't be aggressive, maybe a bit (? I don't understand that word, at all) but also the peace maker type.

T-Shirt guy: We designed his business cards together, for example…

Mr. Ice: I want people to ask, to think about it, if it's true; that's why it says on the top: Mr Lover Lover… below I put Mr. Sex because that's my motto, that I love sex. 'just cool and geil ('geil' is a stupid word which is basically used in the sense of 'cool, awesome', but also means 'horny')', that is for the stupid people who always think they have to put me in categories, which doesn't work anyway.

Voice-over: He already spent 4000€ on his tattoos – according to Ice this investment in his body was worth it. Actually he only wanted to have a few jackets printed – the thing with the tattoos was more or less coincidence.

Mr. Ice: I didn't really decide on it, I was … I accompanied a buddy who always wanted a tattoo – who by the way hasn't got one to this day – and uhm… was taken by surprise by the tattoo artist, who said: 'so, your appointment is in two weeks' and I was 'uhm uh…' … yeah, and the problem is, after your first one … not necessarily, but.. you get addicted. A tattoo is something you'll have your whole life. You should put a lot of thought in it and know if you just do it on a whim or because everybody else does it or to express something, how do I want to express it, where, on what body… I say, I'm Mr. Cool Ice, that's my name, my thing and won't ruin it, because… it's my whole body, it's my person and where I don't get away with it, I'm out of place anyway, because I don't want to be there.

Voice: Are there moments when you wish you didn't have any tattoos?

Mr. Ice: No.

Voice: Never?

Mr. Ice: As soon as I get up and see myself in the mirror, no. Some might say it's narcissistic, but as I say to myself, to do something like that you have to be a bit narcissistic.

Voice-over: Mr. Cool Ice – he's used that name for 13 years and for 5 years now it's also on his body.

Mr. Cool Ice: (sentence I don't understand) Even without tattoos, because some say I only got the tattoos to draw attention to myself… so, a long time ago, I had longer hair and stuff, but I was as crazy as I am now, because a lot of people only see craziness in the tattoos or the name, but that's not true. Maybe I changed on the outside, but my character and way of thought, towards other people or regarding my life, that never changed.

Voice-over: in contrast to the colorful shows on tv, Ice prefers tidiness, discipline and housekeeping at home.

Mr. Ice: So, it always looks very clean. And down here, there's nothing hidden, all the cleaning supplies you see.. yeah, it's very very very very clean. At my place it's clean, clean, clean! In my bathroom, worse than a woman… there's everything you need, toothbrush… toothbrush for visitors, very important, because I hate visiting other places and there's no toothbrush. And no matter how drunk, you should have a deodorant. not just for yourself, but for the others too. A toilet should also be as clean as it is down here. To all guys: sit, don't stand. Because everybody who cleans up himself, knows how… talk show

woman: Mr. Cool Ice will be very happy to appear here on stage, because he describes himself as a male minx. hellooooo~ random blah blah, blonde woman sitting beside him: you're ugly! – Mr. Ice: That's relative, isn't it. – blonde: horrible, horrible. say, what do you have here… talk show woman: what exactly is it a real minx does in your opinion?

Mr. ice: A minx is for me… a woman who stands her ground (and something more which I can't translate) – 'geil', dirty, arrogant but with style and she maybe doesn't have that. (cut) I'm not a womanizer, I'm not macho, I'm not a sexbomb, I always say I enjoy ladies. and the other way round. And I don't mean women have to do all the chores, that would be too boring and I myself already clean up enough and like it… Sex is very important to me, not on top of the list, but in second place and very big. because if it doesn't work sexually, even if the character or the whole person is great, it won't work out. Because I'm a cheerful and above all sexual person… I don't mean I have to have one-night stands, or only half a year or a relationship forever, the only thing I can say for sure is that I don't want to marry. I always say, my philosophy concerning marriage and getting children is: getting married with 90, getting two children and dying with 120. Fidelity! Fidelity is very important, but basically… things you don't want, don't do to other people and let others live… don't smother. For God's sake. The longest relationship was three years. I was faithful in every relationship. So, I had relationships, well, you can't call them relationships, I enjoyed ladies I wasn't together with… and that (… I think he says something which means three at the same time… but not in the foursome sense. ahem.) but you have to be honest…

Voice: How many ladies have you enjoyed so far? Mr. Ice: Well. That's something I usually negate when people ask me. I always say, I love the ladies and then… stupid gesture (this guy really doesn't make sense sometimes.)

voice-over: His body is his everything, so Ice works out regularly, five times a week.

Mr. Ice: Fitness is awesome. totally brilliant and I recommend it to everyone, yeah, I'm against drugs of all kinds… well, I do drink alcohol sometimes, sometimes one over the eight, but when it comes to cigarettes, pills, heroin, and so on – no. I already work out for a couple of years and some might say, hey, you should have a really grandiose body by now, but since I don't take drugs and partly worked out at home for a while, it's all natural. And it'll stay this way. And well, I need it. During the years I worked out at home, I missed something. That's maybe something like a drug, like people always say…