So last Sunday’s live broadcast of Tim Minchin vs the SSO was marred by gremlins in the speakers (no, not Gizmo; he wouldn’t hurt a fly and besides, he’s a mogwai) – a more technical explanation of which can be found here along with an apology from the ABC for the problems.
Well, the good news is that it will be broadcast again this Sunday; same time and same place as last time (8:30pm, ABC2). This time, though, they’ve rounded up the Stripe and his gang and are holding them in cages so that this showing will go out glitch-free!
The call for inviting your elderly relatives over to watch this still stands. Hopefully they’ll enjoy it more now that they’ll be able to hear Tim!
There have been quite a few requests from you Americans for Tim to come to Chicago, which would make today your lucky day!
Tim has been confirmed as part of the line up of this year’s Just for Laughs festival in Chicago! He’ll be playing a huge five nights at the Lincoln Hall between 14th and 18th June, with each show starting at 10pm. This will be the longest run of shows Tim has done in America apart from his off-broadway run in New York in early 2008, just in case you’re the type of person who likes useless trivia.
The shows look to go on sale on Saturday at 10am via eTix on the venue’s website.
I won’t add any more razzle dazzle or all that jazz, but suffice to say, you’ll definitely be wanting to getting your bear paws on these tickets! (… sorry)
UPDATE: We’ve just heard there’s an Internet pre-sale, Friday April 1st at 10am for one day only. You can access this advance ticketing goodness via the Just For Laughs, Chicago website here and the password is “laughs”.
Shell x
Re: Pre-sale problems: In case you have not seen the comments by Linzy or me here or on Facebook – they are aware of the problem and are working on fixing it. We will let you know as soon as we hear anything helpful. Sx
They seem to be on sale here ok.
Some are finding ‘laughs’ works, others ‘witty’. We suggest you try both.
Shell x
The Royal Shakespeare Company have confirmed that their world premiere production of Roald Dahl’s Matilda, A Musical, is to transfer to London’s West End in autumn 2011, for an open-ended run.
Tickets will go on sale in May when further exciting details of the venue, performance dates and casting will also be announced.
In case any of you have yet to notice the pretty tab at the top of the page we’d like to point you to the sparkly new Matildapage on this very website. It will give you the the story so far as well as videos and handy links, including to the dedicated Matilda, A Musical website where you can sign up for future news directly from the RSC and to the Matilda sub-forum on Tim’s official fansite if you’re keen and a little bit naughty…
UPDATE: For those watching the ABC2 broadcast, the audio problem in the first half was caused by the delayed ABC transmission. The second half is being broadcast live and there’ll be no problems. Linzy x
This is starting off as a reminder for you lucky Australians. Tim will be on your televisions tomorrow night at 8:30pm, with the Sydney Symphony, performing his latest show live from the Sydney Opera House! Mind you, he will only be on your television if you’re tuned into ABC2 so make sure that you are! And in case you missed it, we did a post about this, with a few more details in, here.
And as if you Aussies weren’t lucky enough, afterwards, ABC2 will be showing Rhian Skirving’s doco, Rock n Roll Nerd, about Tim’s rise from obscurity. Should be interesting to compare and contrast the two!
Oh, and Tim would really appreciate it if you could refrain from uploading clips from the live broadcast to YouTube etc as it goes against the spirit of watching this unique event, and also, you may have seen Tim recently tweet, “comedy = surprise,” so clips up whilst he is still touring the show can ruin that factor for those yet to see it.
Besides which, the double CD that was recorded in Manchester, with all the songs from the show on it, will be unleashed in a few days, both here and on iTunes. Oh, and there should be a DVD due by the end of the year too.
If you’re planning to rock your socks* off in a field this summer then you may fancy joining Tim at Reading or Leeds Festivals, where he’ll be performing on the Alternative Stage. Both festivals take place 26th-28th August 2011.
The official line-up announcements began this evening, with tickets on-sale now from a variety of ticket agencies, all accessible via these links: Reading 2011 tickets Leeds 2011 tickets
So pick your festival, grab your tickets and just think, whilst you are excitedly packing your festival essentials this August: wellies, sun-hat, *spare socks, loo roll, torch… Tim will be packing his: eyeliner, Van der Graaf Generator, thongs**, flauntingly skinny jeans and a piano.
Go forth and fest!
** Aussie for flop-flops. What?
EDIT: We can now confirm that Tim will be at Leeds on the Saturday and Reading on the Sunday.
New Yorkers! If you missed out on tickets for one of the Gramercy Theatre shows, or you just can’t get an elegant sufficiency of Tim goodness with only one or two shows, then you’ll be delighted to discover that another date’s been added for you.
Tim will be performing at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York on Monday 2nd May 2011.
Doors open 8pm with Showtime at 9pm.
Tickets go on sale on Friday, 18th March, at 12 Noon EDT, are priced at US $29.10 including Fees and will be available from Ticketmaster.
There’s also a presale on Wednesday, 16th March, at 12 Noon EDT for American Express card holders.
These US shows will be an exciting blend of brand new songs with a few well loved classics. Tim will be joined on stage by his grand piano, iconic dance moves, wildly teased hair, gently calmed eyebrows, infeasibly skinny jeans, natural aplomb and his enormous…sense of occasion.
UPDATE: For those watching the ABC2 broadcast, the audio problem in the first half was caused by the delayed ABC transmission. The second half is being broadcast live and there’ll be no problems. Linzy x
Tickets are well and truly sold out for Tim’s remaining orchestra gigs in Australia but if you haven’t been fortunate enough to get yourself a ticket to one of the shows then it’s not going to be the end of the world, especially if you’ve got a large television!
On the 27th March, Tim’s final concert of this tour, with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and from none other than the Sydney Opera House, will be broadcast live to the nation on ABC2 from 8:30pm!
It’s not the first time ABC2 have done live broadcasts, with previous ones including Shakespeare plays, operas and musicals but this one looks set to be something else entirely, as people who’ve already seen the show will know!
There’s a short trailer for it on the ABC website here, though if you’ve got tickets for a show, it contains loads of spoilers! You have been warned! Also, there’s a bit more information on the show here.
And, of course, a little something from Tim about it all: “It is an incredible honour to be playing with the Sydney Symphony and such a huge thrill to perform in the Opera House. That people will be able to watch the show live from their lounge rooms fills me with dread and excitement, and will fill the switchboards of right-wing radio djs with calls from the outraged. I can’t wait.”
You’ll all be inviting your elderly relatives over to watch this won’t you? There’s nothing like a live show for spreading the joy of Tim!
About two months ago, Tim appeared on the UK TV channel Dave, on Robert Llewelyn’s Carpool. There were two minor issues with this:
Not everyone could watch it, whether it was because they lived abroad or simply didn’t have Freeview in the UK.
It was only ten or so minutes long due to their being two guests on the half hour episode (the other being David Baddiel).
The good news is, both of these problems have now been rectified with this – the release of Tim’s interview uncut on Robert Llewelyn’s Carpool podcast!
So, if you’ve ever wanted to see how sexy Tim looks in a pair of three-quarter length trousers or hear an interview that’s a bit different to the rest then you’re going to love this!
The YouTube video is embedded below, but here are links to iTunes and LlewTube, where you can download yourself a copy to watch whenever you want.
A few days ago, we told you that you could buy Shaun Tan’s ‘The Lost Thing’, which is narrated by Tim, on iTunes for a measly £1.49.
Australians, you also have the option of buying it on DVD, which includes a cute 48 page hardback book, exclusive to the DVD release (non-Aussies, you can import it; it’s region-free)!
Have you been waiting for a reason to purchase this lovely animation, before shelling out your hard-earned money? Well try this one out for size!
‘The Lost Thing’ has won the Oscar for Best Animated Short!
The film was an outsider for the award and beat off competition from the favourite, Pixar’s ‘Day & Night’, as well as the other nominees, ‘The Gruffalo’, ‘Let’s Pollute’ and ‘Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage’.
In his acceptance speech, Tan pointed out the irony of the film being noticed, given its subject of things that don’t get noticed and also said that the award should really go to the cast and crew behind the film, including Tim!
Tim had this to say about it all: “As many of you will know, Shaun Tan’s “The Lost Thing” won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Excuse me while I gush: I’m incredibly excited for Shaun. He’s an amazing, lovely, wondrous and wonderful man. His dedication to his work is an inspiration, and the fact that I was offered the chance to play my tiny role in this film is a profound honour. I love his work and can’t wait to see what he does next.”
Here’s the trailer again, so you can see exactly what all the fuss is about!
On the 30th March 2011 Tim will be hosting the snappily titled 25th Melbourne International Comedy Festival Opening Night Comedy All Stars Supershow… *pants* – no the other definition: v. pants:To breathe rapidly in short gasps, as after exertion or attempting to announce an overly long show title.
This is the Comedy Festival’s 25th birthday bash, with some of the world’s best comedians taking to the stage. Tim’ll be performing and they put him in charge!
You can still get tickets here for this – we know, madness!
Remember how he opened the Gala in 2007?
The Gala will be shown on channel Ten, as in previous years, so we’ll announce the date it will air as soon as we know.
Last month Shaun Tan’s 15 minute animation, The Lost Thing, based on the children’s book of the same name, was Oscar nominated in the Animated Short Film category! Tim plays the part of the narrator and you can view some videos about the making of it here, including footage of Tim during a voice record session.
Maybe you’d like a chance to see it before the winners are announced at the awards ceremony, on the 27th February in Los Angeles. If so you have a couple of options:
If you live in or near London, the Curzon Cinema in Soho is screening the 2011 Oscar Nominated Shorts this weekend. The Animation Nominees are scheduled for midday on Saturday 26th February. Visit the Curzon website for details for online booking.
or
You can purchase the film to play on your Laptop or iPad or iPod or iPhone on iTunes, iDeal if you feel so iNclined…hmm (Priced at just at £1.49)
Talking of iTunes, ‘Ready For This? Live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall’ is now available from iTunes in Australia here.
Aussies! You can still request ‘The Fence’ on Triple J” in the following ways:
Have you been sat around, waiting for Tim to release a recording of his new, fancy, orchestra show? You’ll like this then!
At the end of March, Tim will be releasing a recording of the show he did with The Heritage Orchestra at Manchester Arena on both CD and iTunes! (Don’t worry, we’ll remind you of this closer to the time).
Lucky Australians who are seeing him live in the next couple of months will be able to pick up a copy before anyone else at the merch stand!
I’m sure some of you are thinking, “I’ve already got a copy of the o2 one; why’s he releasing it again?”. Well here’s why: the o2 recording was a limited run, so congratulations if you managed to get yourself a copy!
It’s also worth pointing out that this release will feature only the songs and not the talky bits, making it perfect for your mp3 player!
You’ll be getting a copy once it’s released, won’t you? Don’t make me use the puppy-dog eyes…
Are you going to be in London for the Royal Wedding? Are you looking for something to do after the lovely couple, Prince William and Kate Middleton, have tied the knot? Then you might like to head on over to this little do.
Or, alternatively, if you’d rather gouge your own eyeballs out and eat them raw than hear another word about the whole bloody affair, then you might like to go to this as the perfect antidote to it all!
Or, you know, if you just quite like Tim and would like to see him in London with The Heritage Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall but didn’t like the ticket choice left on the 28th April (or you want to go again), then you’re going to like this!
Ahem… drum roll please.
A second date has been added at the Royal Albert Hall, in London, with The Heritage Orchestra on the 29th April 2011! Tickets are on sale now from the Royal Albert Hall website and TicketZone. Tickets should also be available from Ticketmaster, SeeTickets and TicketLine in due course.
Most of these sites still have tickets left for the first date too, if for some inexplicable reason you fancy coming along to both shows. Oh, and tickets are still available for orchestra shows in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Sheffield and Liverpool through those links and via the gigs page if you can’t get down to London.
So yesterday we brought you Tim’s lovely new ‘Lullaby’ performed with part of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, which aired on Ben Elton’s Live from Planet Earth.
Well the next day, Tim performed a cover of the Crowded House classic ‘Better Be Home Soon’, on Adam Hills in Gordon St Tonight on ABC1, so it seems only fair that we share that performance with you too:
Have you been sat around, waiting for Tim to release a recording of his new, fancy, orchestra show? You’ll like this then!
Are you going to be in London for the Royal Wedding? Are you looking for something to do after the lovely couple, Prince William and Kate Middleton, have tied the knot? Then you might like to head on over to this little do.
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