Comedy… with a dark side too

Tim Minchin is a very funny man. He’s also a sickeningly talented musician. Rather than have two – I suspect – very successful careers, he’s merged the two. This hasn’t bought him as much success as it should have done. He won a big award in 2005, and has done some modest work on Radio 4 since. But I can hear you saying “Who?” from here.

If his performance at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff was anything to go by, he’ll be a much more familiar name soon.

He’s a physical comedian, but not quite in the same way as Eddie Izzard or Ross Noble. He hides behind his piano, his clothes and his enormous hair! There’s a bit of shyness there, but it’s hard to tell whether it’s genuine.

His musical ability is really very good indeed. Not only is he a fantastic pianist and an amazing vocalist (think a rougher Damien Rice vocally) but his songwriting is really top notch. A couple of his songs are so well written that they’re funny on stage but could be fairly genuine if heard on the radio.

It’s hard to describe him much more than that, so I’ll just list some of his song titles to give you an idea of what he’s about…

• Inflatable You
• If You Open Your Mind Too Much Your Brain Will Fall Out (Take My Wife)
• Angry (Feet)
• Some People Have It Worse Than Me
• Ten Foot Cock And A Few Hundred Virgins

Oh, and there’s Peace Anthem for Palestine.

He also plays a great song about Islam and Bob The Builder…

He’s great, and if he’s on tour near you, I urge you to go.

Christopher Doidge : 08 Mar 2007 23:36 |  Tags: Comedy Music Tim Minchin |  Comments (2) |  Report a problem