Tim Minchin Articles/Reviews

[Taz]

I saw Amadeus on opening night - Tim is fantastic as Mozart!

He brings in his comedic talents for the first half which is to be expected. In the second half his talent surges and he pulls off a dramatic performance brilliantly.

So good that I am seeing it again on the 14th.

[awaywithfairies]

There's a Tim Minchin interview and song available for download at the Dig! TV website.

http://www.abc.net.au/dig/tv/

[Alisso]

He's on tonight's show at 9pm, if you've got ABC2.

[Danisa]

Is it just me or does anyone else find those interviewers incredibly frustrating?

And sucks to the fact that comedians can't get decent work here too

[Alisso]

Originally Posted by Danisa

Is it just me or does anyone else find those interviewers incredibly frustrating?

And sucks to the fact that comedians can't get decent work here too

Her questions were too long and rambling and she talked over him when he tried to answer

Tim made a good point about population numbers making a big difference to the amount of work available for comedians.

I still want Tim and Eddie to get a variety show. I originally thought Eddie should host, but having seen Tim host Laugha this year, I think he'd make an excellent host too *G* If somewhat of a quirky one *g* That way we can keep them both in the country and regularly on our screens

I'd rather watch a theoretical variety show like that than some of the stuff that passes for "comedy" on Australian tv at the moment.

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http://thespinzine.squarespace.com/j...n-so-rock.html

The following interview with

Tim Minchin is to appear in my publication about satire next year. Here it is for you now because you've been good, you lucky mothers.
Winner of the Perrier Best Newcomer Award at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival and creator of the cabaret smashes Dark Side and So Rock talked to Darlene Taylor about funny stuff, fat kids and his tragic thing for Sting.
Darlene: Hi Tim, thanks for joining me in the studio, well, cheers for sort of being in my bedroom in Melbourne. It’s incumbent on me to mention one of the most exciting snippets of information I discovered about you while paddling the web. “I love Sting” is the quote I found on the ABC’s site. As a thirty-something female, I am proud to declare that “Sting rocks”. Why did you use the word “tragic” in the sentence prior to your declaration of love?
Tim Minchin: Geez, I said that? I do love Sting, and defend my right to do so because he’s got one of the most beautiful voices in the industry, and he plays with amazing musos. As you know, I promote the notion that I’m a slightly uncool, middle-class, wannabe rock star, and in that context, a love of Sting is part of the “tragedy”, I guess.
Darlene: You’ve been in many quality theatre and television productions during your career including The Tempest and Comedy Inc. Why did you decide to let your parents down and become a comic?
Tim Minchin: I was an extra on Comedy Inc . I’d forgotten about that. As mentioned, I tend to exploit the failed rock star thing in my comedy, but actually what I am is an actor/ musician who took a long time to realise how to put all the bits together. In hindsight, I guess my strengths have always been songwriting and performing. The comedic side was always there but I didn’t think to focus on it. Looking back, the path I’ve taken seems so obvious. My folks have never been “stage parents”, but they never stopped me doing what I wanted. They, of course, wanted me to get a vocational degree to “fall back on”, but they love what I’m doing now.
Darlene : Your work covers a range of topics including religion, the environment, marriage and an obnoxious stockbroker with a girlfriend possibly named Darlene. The writer Fiona Scott-Norman has argued that, “The comedians I like are the ones who have something to say. I don’t much mind what it is as long you’re passionate. Laughter is one of the most amazing tools for social change in the world; you can change how people think if you can make them laugh.” What do you think about Scott-Norman’s analysis and how important do you think it is for humour to be about something more than having a giggle?
Tim Minchin: If Fiona said it…it’s bound to be so, in my experience. I suppose Fiona and (Eddie Perfect) and I could all write huge bloody essays on this question. We’ve certainly had big discussions about it. I think I probably think something along the lines of:
Individual comedy acts change people in tiny increments. It’s the cumulative impact of all (socially aware) art that can create more open minds
There are of course exceptions to this. Sometimes an audience member’s thinking can be “radicalised” by watching one act/hearing one song/seeing one painting. I think this mostly happens in young people. That is, teenagers in their philosophically formative stages
I think laughing at the stuff that worries us is empowering and cathartic. There’s nothing at all wrong with laughter for laughter’s sake (i.e. without any intent to change audience beliefs). However, there’s always a subtext, even if it was not intended
Personally, all I try to do is say things I think about in an “interesting” way in the hope that people might mull over them a little. I don’t have a clear political agenda; however, I admire those who do. Trouble is if I start writing material about the fleeting minutiae of Aussie politics, it’s not going to entertain or inform my audiences in London eighteen months later
Darlene: When I put the following quote to Eddie Perfect, he used a word that my postmodern friends like to reclaim; however, as I’m an old-fashioned feminist, I’m warning you to watch your potty mouth. Is Tom Lehrer a “cunt” due to the following statement which appeared in an article in The Sydney Morning Herald, and how would you respond to his declaration?
Audiences like to think that satire is doing something. But, in fact, it is mostly to leave themselves satisfied. Satisfied rather than angry, which is what they should be.
Tim Minchin: Did Ed say Tom Lehrer’s a cunt? Hilarious. Since I’ve been in the UK, I’ve noticed no one uses that word over here. I pine for the insouciant fondness with which Australians bandy it about. However, I’m not totally clear on what old Tom is saying there. I don’t want people to leave my show angry. I want them to leave thinking, “…that nice young man sure could play the piano well and we really had a good laugh”, and then I want them to wake up the next day unconsciously a tiny bit less conservative than they were the day before. I want to sneak my thoughts in under the cover of my music and comedy. Although, I suppose if you can make people laugh and get all fired up about a political issue at the same time, then you’re kicking arse. For me, it’s more “slowly slowly eat the elephant”. Or is it “softly softly catchy monkey”? One of those two.
Darlene: Do you think artists with a political element to their work inevitably preach to the converted?
Tim Minchin: Yes, inevitably. But that doesn’t really matter. It’s nice to have one’s beliefs affirmed while you’re being entertained. And there’s always the chance…you might change a few minds.
I feel squeamish about the implication of the word “converted” in this sense. It suggests that an artist is someone who has earned the right to “convert”. Which of course we all think we have. Cunts (Sorry).
Darlene: To contradict my last question, I enjoy your work a lot, but I find the song “Fat Children” a tad preachy and full of simplistic conclusions about why many kids are obese. Should satire really be aimed at bigger targets than parents who might be doing it tough? (That’s my “I want a job on Today Tonight” question)
Tim Minchin: Oh damn, I don’t want you not to like it. A lot of people really love that song. Especially health workers and teachers who see how bad diet negatively affects their charges. I’ve also had positive feedback from a couple of seriously large people.
People are obese because they eat too much bad food. That’s a truism and it’s this that I’m trying to capture in being “simplistic”. The question of why people eat too much food is infinitely complex, but is kind of moot because I’m not saying being big is a problem. I’m saying overfeeding one’s kids is abusive.
There’s a whole other element of course: specifically, the correlation between obesity and lower socio-economic status, which is what you’re referring to I guess (“doing it tough”). Sure, I can see that it can be hard to find the time and money to prepare good food and get your kids to exercise. But a soccer ball costs less than an Xbox and a lot of the people in the world who let their kids get fat drive huge fuel-guzzling cars and have a TV in every room. It’s actually knowledge that’s lacking.
Regardless, it’s a significant and growing problem that people in the “West” overfeed their little kids. Sure, they’re not a “big” target (mean pun by the way), but I don’t think my job is to slay giants the whole time. Audiences turn off if all you ever do is address the latest global Goliath. Obesity is a serious issue, and I’m deliberately being a bit shockingly judgmental in that song. We are overconsumers. We are greedy. We watch too much television. We don’t exercise enough. We are bringing up lazy, sugar-addicted people who won’t be able to redress their bad habits as adults and they’ll have health and self-esteem problems as a result.
But more than anything, it’s just another subject about which to write, and another subject to which people can react. As I say, I have no specific agenda.
And yes, it’s pretty preachy, but I guess I’m trying to see if there’s humour and impact in saying this stuff in a way that has become taboo. That is, without hiding behind euphemism. Obviously you think not, but I’m slowly learning to deal with the inevitability (of) not pleasing everyone all the time. Being able to take criticism is an ongoing challenge of mine, as indicated by the length of this answer. You spend your whole life trying to be liked, and then land in an industry where every now and then you’ll inevitably be hated.
My big problem with the song - and I have problems with a lot of my work - is that I hate the thought of people with weight problems sitting in my audience feeling bullied, and I get that that may happen. As a result, I tend not to do it live very often.
Darlene : “Peace Anthem for Palestine” is a fun song that celebrates a behaviour two warring groups have in common. That is, not eating pigs. Please discuss whether you have received any negative feedback about the use of the word “Palestine”.
Tim Minchin: Never had protests about using Palestine. I usually refer to Israel in my intro, but not always. One reviewer said he found it about as funny as a suicide bomber. I took that to mean he didn’t find it funny, but maybe I misjudged his sense of humour. Mostly people love it. It’s my favourite tune to play, and it accurately reflects my feelings about religious conflict.
Darlene: There have been criticisms in the past about the Melbourne Comedy Festival’s refusal to include performers who crack jokes about Islam. Songs like “Ten Foot Cock and a Few Hundred Virgins” suggest you’re an equal opportunity taker of the piss. What topics do you regard as off-limits given the current political climate and what do you think about comics who kick the boot into Christians but leave other faiths untouched?
Tim Minchin: All religion should always be a target. There’s never a time when religion should be off-limits to satirists. It’s one of the biggest, most powerful and influential forces in the world, and it’s ridiculous and damaging hypocrisy needs to be pointed out over and over again. It’s just a matter of finding ways to do it that are interesting. Obviously the positive attributes of religion are substantial too, but talking about them is not in my job description.
Darlene: Finally, please tell me a bit about Tim and what the future holds for him (sheer poetry).
Tim Minchin: Living in London now. Baby due in ten days*. Opened on the West End last Sunday (went very well, yay!). Just recorded a special for Radio Two. Filming some television for the BBC. Canvas Bags film clip next week involving forty extras and dancers plus a marching band, wind machine and shopping trolleys. UK tour in January. Australian tour in March. It’s all very busy and very exciting.
*Tim’s wife gave birth to a daughter on 24 November

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http://www.thewest.com.au/default.as...ontentID=23159

WA comic stars at US festival


9th March 2007, 10:00 WST





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Perth’s Tim Minchin has won a prestigious award at the American comedy festival which launched the careers of top comedians Jack Black and Ray Romano.

Minchin’s solo show won Best Alternative Comedy Act at the HBO US Comedy Arts Festival in the ski resort of Aspen, Colorado.

The buzz around Minchin was huge, with Hollywood agents and producers circling him and one of the biggest newspapers in the US calling him “the clear break-out star of the festival”.

Minchin’s first international breakthrough came in 2005 when he won best newcomer award at the Edinburgh Fringe festival.

Now based in London with his wife Sarah and baby daughter Violet, Minchin had interrupted his first tour of Britain to attend the Aspen event as one of only two international performers invited by the comedy festival organisers.

He returns to Australia next week for a national tour which includes a night in Perth at His Majesty’s Theatre on April 14.

Described in The Los Angeles Times as a quirky Australian comedian-singer-pianist, Minchin took the stage at Aspen’s late-night Fat City Lounge in long undertaker’s coat, mascara and bare feet.

“He wowed the crowd with brilliantly inventive and strange comic songs,” the paper said.
STEPHEN BEVIS ARTS EDITOR

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http://www.theage.com.au/news/comedy...366479419.html

Comedy's rocket man is reaching for the TV stars
Daniel Ziffer
April 7, 2007


Comedian Tim Minchin, who has been described as an extraordinarily charismatic performer, has attracted intense interest in the UK.
Photo: Marco del Grande



COMEDIAN Tim Minchin has a rocket marked "fame" strapped to his backside.
At the 2005 Edinburgh Festival he won the Perrier Best Newcomer award, and the Festival Directors' Award from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Last year he was nominated for the Barry Award, the top local gong, and at last month's US Comedy Arts Festival, run by powerful broadcaster HBO, he won Best Alternative act.
Oh, and the LA Times called him the "clear breakout star" of the heavyweight event.
"This whole last year's been like that," he said. "You wake up and find yourself somewhere else, doing something else. It's very exciting."
Minchin's musical comedy has attracted intense interest in the UK, with the Perth-born performer moving his young family to London to take advantage of opportunities. "The head of comedy at BBC's a bit of a fan and we're trying … whether it be the right idea for my own show or for me to contribute to someone else's."
A TV show later this year, most likely airing in September, would boost Minchin's UK profile. The top-rating program on flagship channel BBC One reaches 10 million people a week. On weekday evenings, the number of viewers ranges from 4 million to 6 million.
"If I did this show … by the time I got to my autumn tour I'd be playing 2000-seater (theatres) instead of 400-seaters," he said.
"It's so amazing that my instinct is to go 'yes, I'll do that' but because all of a sudden the options are quite broad … it's more sensible for me to sit back."
Festival director Susan Provan said she hoped this wouldn't be Minchin's last local show in the near future.
"Unfortunately it might be. The thing about becoming really successful is that you can do bigger venues and don't have to come for so long," she said.
Minchin's burgeoning UK career was a reflection of his talent, she said. "He's just one of those extraordinarily charismatic performers … there's no one else like him over there doing the things he does."
So F**king Rock is a mix of the urbane and the profane, merging his award-winning 2005 and 2006 performances into one show. Age reviewer Cameron Woodhead last year said Minchin didn't so much play the piano as "attack it kung-fu style". "High praise creates high expectations, and Minchin doesn't disappoint," he wrote.
Minchin says he is unlikely to be starring in Melbourne for a while after the festival, but is not looking to burn out or fade away. "I've no desire to have a short, sharp career," he said.
FIVE HOT PICKS

MARK WATSON — I'M WORRIED THAT I'M STARTING TO HATE ALMOST EVERYONE IN THE WORLD Brilliantly funny Welshman who can do no wrong.
SAMMY J — CYCLONE Disaster-themed show, awarded at the Fringe Festival.
GERARD McCULLOCH Rove's right-hand man does straight gags.
CLAIRE HOOPER — SHOW GIRL Nominated for "best newcomer" last year. Fresh show.
STEPHEN K AMOS — MORE OF ME Unstoppable British champion of stand-up. Cheap at the price.

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http://www.theage.com.au/news/arts-r...180613398.html

Tim Minchin
Tim Hunter, Reviewer
April 24, 2007



Yes, this is clever comedy, but at times it's too clever.

Minchin is a thinking person's comedian.
Photo: Simon Schluter


GenreCabaret, Musical, ComedyLocationRMIT Capitol TheatreAddress113 Swanston St, MelbourneDate17 April 2007 to 29 April 2007Tickets$24/$22Phone Bookings1300 660 013Online Bookingswww.comedyfestival.com.auDetailsTue - Sat 7pm, Sun 6pm

• VIDEO: Tim Minchin - So F**king Rock

COMEDY FESTIVAL REVIEW
***½
Tim Minchin is a thinking person's comedian. He's intelligent, self-aware and ironic, and uses big words. He may be post-modern, but even that concept seems outdated for such a "now" performer. Part Goth, part New Age guy, and part satirist, he's also more than a little self-absorbed. Yes, this is clever comedy, but at times it's too clever.
Whatever else he is, Minchin is an accomplished musician and songwriter, and sings songs about being a middle-class rock nerd, his dark side, and conservation, all with his tongue firmly in his cheek. His attempts at "political content", including a peace anthem for the Middle East, happily and deliberately display his lack of awareness of anything outside his immediate circle of reference.
The thing is, that's his act. Whether it's the real Tim Minchin or his stage persona doesn't really matter. There's enough charm on show for him to get away with it.

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http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts-revi...788008860.html

Tim Minchin: So Rock
Benito Di Fonzo
April 30, 2007


A little bit Mozart, a little bit Chaplin.
Tim Minchin
Photo: Marco Del Grande


GenreCabaret, ComedyLocationThe StudioAddressSydney Opera House, SydneyDate1 May 2007 to 13 May 2007Tickets$20-$30 plus booking fees.Phone Bookings02 9250 7111Online Bookingswww.sydneyoperahouse.com
Preview
After winning a string of awards across three continents, the barefoot, big-haired, faux-failed rock star and comedian Tim Minchin is careful not to let it all go to his head. "I take my mental health seriously," says the 32-year-old Perth-born, London-based performer, who is as famous for his eccentric stage look as for his comic songs.
"Very early on I identified in myself a need for affirmation. I realised ... I was happy when people were clapping me and telling me I was talented and not particularly happy when they weren't. I always thought that unhealthy."
While Minchin realises he would be "churlish" not to appreciate his normal, middle-class upbringing, there were times he felt the inability to tap into some deep angst was holding back his career as a musician, because his songs were considered too comic by record labels. It was only in 2003, when he combined his satirical skills, musicianship and acting prowess, into his first one-man show, Naval, that he received the affirmation he sought in the form of a Green Room Award nomination.
"I'd start writing songs about some broken heart and end up writing a song called Who's The Fellow This Week Bitch?," says Minchin. "I'd take the stupider approach to it.
"It wasn't so much that I changed direction as went into a different industry with the same material."
Minchin's suspicion that he was onto something was confirmed when his 2005 show Dark Side won the festival director's awards at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and best comedy newcomer award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. His new show, So Rock, recently won three Green Room awards in Melbourne: best song, best cabaret artist and best cabaret show."I don't think about competitions any more," he says, "because I've had my little win."
So Rock once more combines Minchin's musical, comedic and acting skills, even adding performance poetry to the mix.
"When I first started I really wanted to write Beat poetry, but then again I didn't want to write serious Beat poetry. I was very inspired by Mike Myers in So I Married An Axe Murderer."
While his Beat epic Perineum Millennium may owe a debt to Myers, the besuited grand-pianist persona owes a debt to Mozart, whom he played in Perth Theatre Company's production of Amadeus in 2006.
"I wanted to look funky and interesting, but in hindsight it's a tip of the hat to the stereotypical mad composer. In other ways, it's a very old vaudevillian tradition. I'm also a bit Charlie Chaplin's the Little Tramp; bare feet, shuffling physical comedy."
Despite his eccentric stage persona, Minchin insists he's a nice, normal, even "boring," person. "I'm married to the girl I lost my virginity to," he says.
Perhaps it's this combination of weirdness and approachability that has driven his success. "One of the things I'm excited about is that after all these years of doing all different things, the thing that's brought me something of a career, which I doubted I would ever really have, is the most 'me' thing I've ever done."
Not that he takes his success for granted. "I'm scared that I won't be able to get happy without doing something to get me high, which is why people take drugs and ruin their marriages. I want to have a family like I was brought up in."