We’ve heard a lot of people saying how they’ve “missed out” on tickets to see Tim on his magnificent UK orchestra arena tour this year. Well we’ve got some good news for you: you haven’t!
If you’ve been seeing “Sold out” or “Tickets unavailable” on ticketing websites that’s simply because that particular company doesn’t have any of their ticket allocation left, but there are plenty out there that still do! In fact, we’ve put together a nice list of links from where you can still buy tickets, to make your purchasing a lot less painful!
And if none of these links are providing you with the tickets you seek, ring the venue’s box office (phone numbers are on the gigs page) and they should be able to point you in the direction of some!
If you have, feel free to give yourself a pat on the back. Please enjoy the trailer below as your reward.
If you haven’t, why not? It’s out a week on Monday! Oh, it’s because you haven’t seen enough teasers, is it? Well the trailer below might just whet your appetite enough to go and order it then.
Terry Stiasny recorded a piece about Matilda, A Musical last week and it is scheduled to go out today, Weds 17 November at 5pm on the PM Programme – Radio 4. There is no mention of it on that BBC site as yet but you’ll be able to listen live via that link, if you wish, or later using iPlayer, once it’s aired, if you miss it or wish to confirm the item was included before tuning in.
EDIT: Our apologies: This item was re-scheduled at the last minute (how very dare they!) and is now due to air on the PM Programme tomorrow Thursday 18th November, at the same time and will therefore be available on iPlayer after that. (I’d say “fingers crossed” but we don’t hold with all that around these parts do we? Anyway it’s damned uncomfortable!)
In addition to that, according to a BBC Press Office release, Tim will be interviewed about Matilda, A Musical by Claudia Winkleman, during The New Radio 2 Arts Show on Friday 19th November at 10pm.
The BBC Press Office says: “Claudia also speaks to Australian comedian, musician and composer Tim Minchin. Tim has written the music and lyrics to Matilda: A Musical, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s forthcoming production of Roald Dahl’s magical story about a little girl with extraordinary powers; a favourite novel for children across the world since it was first published in 1988.”
There has already been a great response to the show, which began previewing last week, on the 9th November, with many loving it so much that they immediately booked to see it again! Later today the RSC will be adding some vox pops, recorded with audience members as they left the theatre,to the Matilda A Musical website. EDIT: The direct link to these vids is here.
As part of the preparation for his upcoming Arena Orchestra Tour Tim will be performing two intimate warm up gigs at The Junction, Cambridge on the 23rd and 24th of November 2010.
Tickets are £15.00 and can be booked via the Box Office on: 01223 511 511 or here via The Junction Website.
This is an opportunity to see Tim perform his brand new songs and some of our old favourites with his band: Pete and Brad – obviously chosen for their looks as well as their musicianship…
So, Universal launched a competition earlier for people to make trailers for the forthcoming UK release of ‘Ready For This?’ on DVD and Blu-ray. Well the time has come to announce the winner as chosen by Tim, from the three videos with the most views!
And the winner is Victoria Crewe-Turrell who won with this fabulous entry!
Tim has narrated a 15 minute animated short film, by Shaun Tan and Passion Pictures Australia, called The Lost Thing. It is based on the acclaimed picture book by multi award winning author and illustrator Shaun Tan. It is a modern fable about a boy who discovers a bizarre looking creature on the beach. He realises that is is lost and tries to find out where it belongs or who owns it, only to be met with indifference from everyone else. A synopsis, trailer and more about the book, film directors, cast and crew can be found here.
The Lost Thing will be available, in Australia, 10th November 2010 via Madman. The DVD is region free, however, so it can be played on PAL-compatible DVD players worldwide.
A few videos for your enjoyment: Interspersed with short clips from the film, Shaun Tan talks about his story, the themes and the creation of the film. In the first he talks about Tim, as the narrator, with footage of Tim during a voice record session.
The Lost Thing has already won a string of awards:
Annecy Int. Animation Festival (France, June 2010): The Annecy Crystal (Best Short Film) * Sydney Film Festival (Australia, June 2010): Yoram Gross Animation Award* Palm Springs Int. Festival of Short Films (USA, June 2010): Second Place for Best Animated Short Anima Mundi (Brazil, July 2010): Best Soundtrack Melbourne Int. Film Festival (Australia, July/Aug. 2010): Grand Prix for Best Short* Australian Effects and Animation Festival (Australia, August 2010) : Best Short Film
2010 Qantm Desktop CREATE:Awards (Australia, September 2010) : Creative of the Year, and Best Animation Image en Vues (Canada/Qubec, October 2010): Winner Best Film by the Public Anaheim International Film Festival (USA, October 2010): Best Animation Short Film Australian Screen Sound Guild Award (Australia, October 2010) for “Best Achievement in Sound in an Animated Film”. ANIMACOR 2010 International Short Film Competition (Spain, November 2010) FIRST PRIZE and also the THE SPECIAL AWARD OF CHILDREN TO THE BEST SHORT FILM Austin Film Festival (USA, November 2010) – Animated Short Jury Award Chicago International Childrens Film Festival (USA, November 2010) – 1st Prize Animated Short & Best Film By an Emerging Director. Screen Music Awards (Australia, November 2010): Best Music in a Short Film
*Academy Accredited Awards
Samsung AFI (Australian Film Institute) Nomination: Best Animated Short Film
(Australian Film Institute (Australia, awards announced December 2010) Inside Film Awards Nomination (Australia, September 2010): Best Animated Short Film Academy Awards (2011) (Oscar) Nomination: Best Animated Short Film
I can’t believe it’s here. Tomorrow evening I’ll be sitting in a full dress rehearsal of the RSC’s “Matilda – a Musical”… and by Tuesday the public (including some of you) will be there too. It’s a weird feeling. Especially when my brain is also occupied by the niggling sensation of having an unfinished arena spectacular to attend to. Regardless, I am incredibly excited that we’ve (nearly!) made it. I’ve never worked so hard on a piece and I’ve never enjoyed the journey so much.
The RSC has made a video with a little teaser of one of the songs intercut with footage of the kids in rehearsals and a tired and unshaven me talking like an imbecile about my writing. The song is called “When I Grow Up” and is the first thing I wrote, back in May 2009. The audio you hear in the vid is actually the very demo that I showed Dennis (Kelly) and Matthew (Warchus) and Chris (Nightingale) that month.
Two things I feel I should say:
1. The show is generally not this “pop”. This is the pop peak, so to pop speak.
2. You should hear the kids sing it. Man, you really should.
So we’re hearing all your pleas for Tim to come to America on a daily basis but now is the time to make your voice really count!
We’ve taken control of Tim’s page on eventful.com because Tim wants to find out where you want him to play for when he gets his arse in gear to do an American tour. Be sure to “demand” Tim in all the towns you’d be willing to trek to so that we can get a fuller picture of where the best potential places to go would be. Just click the widget below to get started!
Things to note:
this is just research and doesn’t confirm a forthcoming US tour.
if you’re not in the US, feel free to use this anyway; it’s not like we can stop you!
Please do not post your requests as comments unless you’ve already demanded Tim using the widget as they cannot be counted.
Tomorrow evening Tim and Alexei Sayle join Dave Gorman on Genius to discuss and try out various inventions and schemes pitched by members of the studio audience.
To whet your appetites, here’s the preview clip: Alexei Sayle dances, whilst Tim jams with ‘John’ who is demonstrating ‘harmonica dentures’…what else?
Apologies to those outside the UK who may not be able to view this clip because it is via the BBC.
So that’s: Genius with Dave Gorman
Monday 25 October
10:00pm – 10:30pm
BBC2
Do check for regional differences and the programme will be available on BBC iPlayer, here, shortly after it airs.
Tim’s second live UK DVD, Ready for This? was filmed in front of a justifiably enthusiastic audience during a sell-out, 3-night run at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo, in London.
In this spectacular show, Tim confronts the pressing issues of the day: environmentalism, rationalism, prejudice(ism) and his amour de boobs(ism). The universal human experiences of love, truth… ginger body hair and um… dancing bears?…are all there to enlighten us and make us giggle.
Ready For This? features: Prejudice, If I Didn’t Have You, Bears Don’t Dig On Dancing, Canvas Bags, Confessions, White Wine In The Sun, the acclaimed nine minute beat poem; Storm and many more.
The DVD comes with an exclusive 28-page ‘Songbook‘ of, often handwritten and annotated, lyrics and with some photos from the tour. The show is also available on Blu-ray but the songbook is not available with that format.
Extras on both formats include: the animated internet sensation Pope Song, an interview and performance of 5 Poofs and 2 Pianos from Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and a music video: Google Street View, made for TheBig Fat Quiz of the Year, 2009.
Here, for your delectation is a lovely clip from the show: Tim singing ‘If I Didn’t Have You’ in a in a pair of delightfully uncomfortable, yet stylish, skinny jeans and featuring a particularly fine example of the, now world famous ‘Wiggle’…oh yes.
Ready For This? will be available on DVD, Blu-ray and iTunes from29th November 2010.
Psstt! We’ll be announcing an exciting competition in relation to this release, very soon, so keep an eye on this site from time to time…just one eye…no need to overdo it.
EDIT: To answer a couple of questions that are already popping up:
This is a new recording for the UK DVD but it is the same show as Ready For This? recorded at the Enmore in Sydney and released in Australia already. There are brand new ‘talky bits’ and ‘If You Really Loved Me’ replaces ‘You Tube Lament’ – this is reflected in the ‘Songbook’. The Extras are…extra too.
For those not based in the UK, if you cannot order via the link then it will be available from this site and other retailers who ship worldwide, at some point.
You can’t say Tim doesn’t listen. After lots of you were requesting Tim stop over at Tasmania on his last two Australian tours, we can finally reveal that he will be doing just that in March!
On the 21st March, Tim will be playing at Wrest Point Entertainment Centre in Hobart with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra! So not only do you get to see Tim, but you don’t get to miss out on the utterly unique orchestra tour. I bet you’re pleased about that.
Tickets go on general sale from the TSO website on 25th October, which, incidentally is also the same day that tickets for the second Perth show, which we wrote about previously, go on general sale too, from Ticketmaster.
Tim said: “I requested that the beer-can portrait of my head be donated to the National Autistic Society. It’s a quirky art work which took a lot of effort and hours to create and, depending when and under what circumstances I die, could be of value to a collector. The National Autistic Society is a wonderful charity and I do hope flogging it will make them some cash.”
So, I think what we all have to bear in mind is that if, at-some-point, Tim is the unfortunate victim of a tragic, beer can related accident, the irony alone will probably cause the value of this piece to shoot right up…hmm…worth a bid now?
The piece, measures 1m x 1.5m, and was created from over 3,500 empty Foster’s lager cans and took more than 70 hours to piece together.
You can see this portrait, some shots showing its scale and the detail, bid for it and learn a little more about the work of The National Autistic Society right here.
All proceeds go to this great charity. So if your wall can take it or even if it can’t do, do a bid.
Did you know that ‘Matilda: A Musical‘, that thing what Tim wrote the music and lyrics for, is opening in less than a month? It opens on the 9th November at the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon and there are still plenty of tickets available, including for the reduced price previews until the 13th November! Snap them up here whilst you still can!
If you’ve not yet been convinced to buy tickets, why not visit the behind the scenes section of the Matilda website and read up on some of the blogs and watch the videos. I reckon the Q and A with Mrs Wormwood will certainly give you plenty of reason to book a seat or two!
Now, some very exciting news for those aged 13-18! If you’re not of this age group, either stop reading or continue on and prepare to be jealous.
Spinebreakers have launched a competition for you to win two tickets to see ‘Matilda: A Musical’. To enter, you need to write some song lyrics for either Miss Honey, Matilda or Miss Trunchbull, which will be judged by none other than our Tim himself! For more details, visit the Spinebreakers website. Good luck!
Tim will be appearing on 8 Out of 10 Cats this Friday 8th October on Channel 4 (and Channel 4HD for those of you with an unhealthy interest in celebrity pores and follicles) at 10pm.
Jimmy Carr hosts, of course and Tim will be on Jason Manford’s team alongside Jack Osbourne with Holly Walsh and Uri Geller on the opposing team, captained by Sean Lock.
The show will be available shortly after airing on 4oD.
So all you crazy cats who’ve expressed a preference for opinion poll based comedy and Tim, this is the programme for you!
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