EDINBURGHERS: please note: There is a 99% chance there will be a show in Edinburgh in April 2011, we just haven’t managed to lock in the date. If you’re nervous about missing out, feel free to come to Glasgow!
AUSTRALIANS: hold your horses – dates for Feb/March tour will be announced soon.
IRELANDERS: no dates but I’d like to.
AMERICANS: no dates planned yet – sorrynessness.
CANADIANS: no dates but I’ll see you in a week or two to make amends.
ROW-IANS: um.
MARTIANS: I’ll be there in 2020.
I will performing with the amazing Heritage Orchestra, conducted by the brilliant Jules Buckley.
It is going to be the biggest, stupidest, rockingest live comedy gig ever in the whole universe. There’ll be songs you may have heard before being performed as you’ve never heard them. And there’ll be songs you’ve never heard before because they don’t exist yet: they’ll be brand spanking new and written for this project.
As you can see, www.timminchin.com has had a midlife crisis and gone and got a brow lift and some buttock implants. And bought a custom Triumph and a video camera and is about to set off on a roadtrip through the Andes carrying nothing but a backpack full memories and an HTML tent. And is having an affair with this bit of totty: angry-feet.com. Disgusting.
But deep down, it’s the same old site. Have a poke around, see if you can’t talk some sense into it.
Wossy II
Innocent, or poised feline ready to spring?
I’m on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross again next week, BBC1 10.35pm, 2nd July. How very fun. Not sure what I’ll be doing – chatting to the big man about Matilda and my December tour, I imagine, maybe having a go on the piano, remember this malarkey:
and
"meow"
Also chatting to Wossy on that night are Robin Williams and Elle Macpherson. The Radio Times blurb is here.
Tour Dates Imminent
Some sneaky info about my very-soon-to-be-announced tour:
There will be few dates but many tickets.
There will be songs you know but not as you know them and there’ll be some new songs that are so new I ain’t writ em yet.
The UK shows are mostly in December, the Australian shows more like Feb/March.
The UK dates will be announced late next week, and tickets will be offered first via an email-out.
So if you are not yet on me ol’ mailing list, join it now here and you’ll get a day or two to buy tickets before the philistines who prefer spam-free inboxes to front rows.
Apology to the peoples of The United States of The Americas
I know, I know, you’ve heard it all before. But I want to again humbly apologise to you wondrous Americans for my failure to perform any US dates this year. I would get down on my knees, but I don’t want to get oil on my trousers. Huh. This musical I’m writing has rather overtaken my life, as have things like babies and radio shows and stuff. I am yet again trying to plan some choice dates in 2011, and am looking forward to apologising even more vociferously when they also fall through. And I apologise for using an ‘s’ in the word apologise. But that’s just the way it goze.
Finally, at the risk of repeating myself, you can book for Matilda here, and Canadian dates here.
Tim is venturing to slightly warmer climes next month for a bit of a busman’s holiday.
He’s heading to both the Montreal and Toronto Just For Laughs festivals for all you lovely people in east Canada, and those in other parts of Canada and America who fancy travelling. Currently there are two appearances confirmed in Toronto and four in Montreal, details of which can be found on the gigs page. There may still be more added to these so keep your eyes on the aforementioned gig page and Facebook just in case.
Look after him for us, won’t you? Don’t want him being trampled by a stray moose now…
Edit: More Toronto shows announced and boy are you lucky ducks! On the 8th, 9th and 10th Tim will be doing a double headliner with none other than Bo Burnham! If you like your comedy musical, then you won’t want to miss this show!
If you pre-order Tim’s new DVD “Ready For This?” from HMV.com before 1st June 2010 you get a chance to purchase tickets to any of the upcoming UK tour dates before anyone else.
The UK recording of ‘Ready for This?’ is due to be released on DVD, 15th November 2010. It will be available from all good retailers and it can be pre-ordered online at the usual places and hopefully some unusual ones as well. It will also be available from the shop on this site here…eventually.
It will contain a songbook, just as the Australian version did, but whether it will be the same or something different is still to be confirmed. As more information becomes available it will be posted here. This is the same show as the Australian release but recorded in London for the UK audience and those dedicated worldwide types who would like both versions.
The blurb on Play.com says: “Filmed live at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo, London, this massive show contains Minchin’s unique take on musical comedy, spanning topics such as his love of boobs and banging on about rationalism whilst playing the piano rather nicely in a pair of uncomfortably tight jeans.”
I would say this is a fair assessment but it could have been written: “Filmed live, in front of an appropriately excitable crowd, at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo, London, this spectacular show features Minchin’s massive hair, accompanying his expressive eyes, naked feet and unique take on musical comedy: spawning topics such as rationalism, environmentalism, prejudice(ism) and his amour de boobs(ism). He plays the piano, always nicely and oftentimes wildly and excitingly, whilst looking athletic, in a pair of delightfully uncomfortable skinny jeans.”
and this might be why I don’t get to write the blurb…
Tim can now claim to be the rock and roll megastar he’s always wanted to be now that he’s appearing at Sonisphere alongside rock legends Iron Maiden, Slayer, Mötley Crüe, Alice Cooper and Alice In Chains.
He’ll be performing in the Bohemia tent as part of the Bohemian Hilarity line-up, along with the excellent Andrew O’Neill, Sean Hughes and Jarred Christmas, who will be the compère.
The festival takes place between 30th July and 1st August at Knebworth Park, near Stevenage. Weekend tickets start at £132.50 and are available to purchase here.
Tim has written and stars in a brand new comedy for BBC Radio 2. The forthcoming sitcom pilot is called ‘Strings’ and will be broadcast on 8th May 10 – 10.30pm.
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The BBC blurb describes it thusly:
Tim Minchin plays Jonny, lead singer of rock band Perspex, who’s left everything behind him in Australia in pursuit of fame.
Blasting onto the music scene with their hit single ‘Shag With The Stereo On’, Perspex are on the cusp of becoming famous. A garrulous Glaswegian A&R man will make sure of that. But Jonny is haunted by a terrible suspicion that he’s not emotionally unstable enough to be a proper star.
A chance encounter with Verity, the beautiful lead singer of Christian pop band, In-X-Chelseas, ignites Jonny’s interest. Worlds apart but undeniably drawn to each other, will their connection lead Jonny to redemption, or supply him with the suffering he craves to create great rock?
‘Strings’ contains original songs written by Tim Minchin and performed by Perspex. It also stars Peter Serafinowicz, Will Adamsdale, Rosalie Craig, Emily Watson Howes, Dan Antopolski, Lizzie Roper and Lewis McLeod.
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As it’s being broadcast on the BBC, it will be available on BBC iPlayer either live or for seven days after it’s aired. If you want to check what time it’s airing, local to you, you could look here.
Tip:Try looking forward to this in a state of excited anticipation…
Tickets go on sale today for the eagerly anticipated Matilda, A Musical and can be booked online at The RSC’s Matilda Musical Site or by calling the RSC Ticket Hotline on 0844 800 1110. £5 tickets are available for 16 – 25 year olds and there’s a Children go Half Price offer for families for Mon – Fri evening performances and all matinees.
As if that wasn’t exciting enough, the RSC have a series of interviews featuring Tim and the writer Dennis Kelly! You can watch them via the link above or below:
Tim will be standing up for human rights at The Lyceum Theatre, London, on Monday 7 June 2010 at 7.30 pm. It will be an evening of comedy and music in support of legal action charity Reprieve
Tim joins many other top comedians to celebrate ten years of Reprieve’s vital work on death row and Guantánamo Bay in a unique stand-up show: Rory Bremner, Stewart Lee, Robin Ince, Kevin Eldon, Shappi Khorsandi, Isy Suttie, Andy Zaltzman, plus special guests. Hosted by Alistair Barrie and Clive Stafford Smith.
Reprieve Director Clive Stafford Smith: “Our work tends to be serious and saddening at times. Learning to laugh in the face of adversity is an important skill to possess when faced with the most daunting circumstances – these comedians help us see the silly side of the grimmest of situations. This is a rare chance to see some of the smartest comics on the circuit today, performing for a really great cause!”
Just a nice short note to say that Tim will be appearing at this year’s Guardian Hay Festival, which takes place in Hay-On-Wye, Wales.
Tim will be performing on the 31st May, with tickets for his show going on sale to Friends of Hay at midnight tonight and to the general public at midnight on Tuesday. The festival box office number is 01497 822629 and online ticket sales can be found here.
Other confirmed acts and authors include Phillip Pullman, Bill Bryson, Rob Brydon, Laura Marling and Brian May, so why not stay and enjoy more of the festival?
If you’re a fan of Tim’s on Facebook (and if you’re not, the only excuse is that you’re not on Facebook, and who’s not on Facebook these days?) then you’ll probably already know that we have an exclusive Easter Monday treat for you, and boy what a treat it is!
The producer of ITV’s Comedy Cuts, Rohan Acharya, has kindly allowed us to upload to YouTube, for your viewing pleasure, the video for ‘If You Really Loved Me’, which is taken from the forthcoming series of the said ITV programme.
Do you like abandoned warehouses, dancing and men in tailcoats? If so, this video might just make your day!
You’ve not heard much about Matilda, the musical for which Tim is writing the music and lyrics, have you? Well allow me to furnish you with some details.
The musical will run from 9th November 2010 to 30th January 2011 at The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, with previews between the 9th and 13th November. Audio-described performances, for the vision impaired, are on the 11th and 29th January and captioned performances for the hard of hearing are on the 15th and 21st January. A comprehensive list of performance dates and times can be found here.
Tickets will be available to buy from 21st April (put it in your diaries so that you don’t forget), priced between £8 and £56 depending on what day you see it, and which seats you book. More details, including individual band prices, can be found here.
You know you’re really looking forward to it and, well, if you don’t, why not? It’s going to be ace!
The announcements for festival season begin: Camp Bestival is 30th July – 1st August 2010 at Lulworth Castle in Dorset.
Tim will be performing as part of the Jestival Sessions on Friday 30th.
The great comedy line up for Jestival also includes: Rufus Hound, Jim Jefferies, Marcus Brigstocke, Andrew Maxwell, Andre Vincent, Tiernan Douieb, Carl Donnelly, Craig Campbell, Mitch Benn, Rob Rouse, Matt Kirshen and Tim Fitzhigham!
You know how on Tuesday we mentioned that Sam Leach’s portrait of Tim was one of the finalists for the Archibald Prize, one of Australia’s most prestigious art awards? Well, it’s only gone and won!
Leach said he approached Tim to do a portrait, “primarily because I really like his style of comedy,” as well as seeing parallels between the pair’s lives.
“The topics he deals with – social commentary, the appeal to reason over religion and that kind of thing – tie in with my work.
“But in a funny way I also see my career reflected in his. His career is much bigger than mine but we became successful in our fields almost simultaneously and our first and second children were also born about the same time.”
He continued, “It was very important for me to get the toes in because he performs with bare feet and I was very happy with them.”
Tim gave this statement about his portrait: “What I like about my portrait is that it’s clear young Samuel has really put some effort into it. I particularly like how he made my lounge room floor look so clean – this will please my mother – and I’m seriously considering buying a print.”
Click the thumbnail to see the full prize-winning portrait.
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