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!
It’s the news that so many of you have been waiting for, especially if you haven’t been following the accompanying production blog, about the forthcoming ‘Storm’ movie. Drumroll please…
The premiere of the animated version of what some see as the skeptics’ anthem will be Saturday 16th October 2010 at the London Hilton Metropole, from 8pm ’til late and recently, tickets have been made available for £22.50 from here. The night will include special guests, chat, music, and, most importantly and obviously, the world premiere of the animated poem ‘Storm’.
Until now, tickets had only been available to people attending The Amazing Meeting (TAM) London, a two day skeptic conference that Tim will also be a part of, as well as Stephen Fry, Richard Dawkins, Alan Moore, Robin Ince and Graham Linehan, amongst others. I could tell you what Tim’s doing, but then I’d have to kill you or face a severe telling off, but suffice to say, it will be brilliant. Tickets for the conference can be bought here.
Do come to at least one of them; it’ll be fun.
And for those wondering, the animation will be heading to a few movie festivals before it gets uploaded to YouTube for the whole world to see. To stay informed of dates, be sure to keep an eye on the production blog.
So my efforts to accumulate a workable level of fitness with which to attack the Royal Parks Half Marathon next Sunday have been undermined, predictably, by an unpleasant and uninvited autumnal cold. I’ve not been for so much as a jog for a fortnight. ‘Snot a problem. Coughing equally so.
However, I’ve said I’ll run the bloody thing, and (pending pneumonia or the unscheduled amputation of one of my primary limbs) run the bloody thing I shall.
I have to admit that the possibility of beating the time of my dear friend and nemesis, Mark Watson is now under an even gloomier cloud of doubt, but I’ve certainly not given up on the idea. Whatever the result, having a cold may be twisted to my advantage: if I beat his time, I’ll be an heroic stoic; if I don’t, I’ll have an excuse.
Either way, this will be my last proper plea for sponsorship. The whole point of this nonsense (aside from my masochistic tendencies) is to raise money for The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts. More info and the chance to donate can be found here.
And thank you so very much for your generous donations so far. I aimed to raise £2k+, and it’s looking good.
xx
Correction to the previous News item for those in or around Perth, Australia:
Our apologies: there is indeed a second Orchestra Tour show in Perth on Saturday March 5th as follows:
Tim Minchin vs the West Australian Symphony Orchestra at
Pioneer Women’s Memorial – Kings Park & Botanic Garden
BUT we were given the wrong on-sale date to announce. It is now being rescheduled and to avoid further confusion, a mailout will be sent when the new on-sale date is announced, with all the information you need. Do make sure you are signed up to the mailing list.
Sorry for any confusion or frustration this may have caused you. We know just how you feel!
If you’re not an Australian look away now as this is another post announcing another extra date for Tim’s Australian tour.
Australians, well aren’t you lucky ducks? Especially those of you living in or around the Adelaide area as Tim has announced a third date with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra at the Festival Theatre on Thursday 10th March.
Don’t go and disappear to book your tickets for this new show now as they’ll be going on sale on Thursday (16th Sep) at 9am from the same place as the other Adelaide dates.
As many of you know, I’m running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in London on October 10th to raise money for the Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts. (The Prince in question is Charles, Prince of Wales and heir to the English throne, not the tiny, funky artist formerly known as the artist formerly know as Prince. And luckily Charlie doesn’t have too much to do with the run, else he might suggest a homeopathic training schedule involving the maintenance of near to absolute stasis.)
If you can afford a couple of minutes to go here and sponsor me, the kids and I would be most grateful. Seriously, even one or two quid would be hugely appreciated. And remember to leave a comment mocking my pain in advance.
I initially pledged that I would try to run the bloody thing in under two hours, but unfortunately my dear friend and nemesis, Mark Watson, ran his recent half marathon in 1:50, so I’ve had to up my game and have now set my sights on 1hr 45mins. If I beat the sickeningly weedy novelist’s time, he will donate £150 to Children and the Arts… and if I fail, I’ll donate the same to his mob. If you too have gambler’s bones, feel free to use the “comments” box to pledge an extra donation if I hit my target. Nothing like a bit of jeopardy.
There’s more information on the run and the charity on the donations page.
Well this is something you won’t hear on ‘Songs Of Praise’, even this fine Sunday evening.
Remember back in April, when Tim and animator, Fraser Davidson, unleashed The Pope Song video on to YouTube? And you know how it’s had over half a million views since? And you know how lots of you were requesting that it was released as an mp3?
Well, to coincide with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the UK later this week, Tim has decided to let you have the mp3 as a free download; once the Pope disappears from the UK, this download will too, so get it while it’s hot like (imaginary) hell-fires!
We’d also like to point out, that the wonderful members of Angry (Feet) have been able to download this already for the past couple of days because that’s the kind of benefit you get from joining up!
EDIT: Due to popular demand Tim will leave this song up for you to download even though Benny has now left these shores.
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