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If you missed it last time or once was not enough, you’re in luck, as there’s another chance to hear ‘Strings‘ the brand new comedy Tim wrote and starred in, for BBC Radio 2. It was first aired in May this year and will be broadcast again this Saturday 18 December 2010 at 22:30 on BBC Radio 2.

The BBC blurb describes it thusly and can be found here:

Another chance to hear Tim Minchin play Jonny, lead singer of rock band Perspex…

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 was part of Radio 2’s ongoing Comedy Showcase series…

——

It should also be available to listen again via iPlayer here for 7 days once it airs.

So set up that reminder on your phone or prominently place that post-it note… Who’s gonna be listening to this for the first time then?

Yep, it’s as exciting as it seems! Tim will be recording a new CD at his gig on Tuesday at the o2 in London, featuring the 55-piece Heritage Orchestra and a couple of others.

The deluxe double CD is available to pre-order online, as well as being available to buy immediately after the o2 gig itself! Yes, you did read that correctly.

The CD will hopefully also be available to buy on the subsequent UK tour dates as well, if you don’t want to wait for it to be posted. That said though, there will also be a digital download version available, which will also cut out your postage time too!

And for those not in the UK, yes it can be shipped internationally.

While all this is very exciting, if you are going to a forthcoming show, I’d hold off buying this CD until you’ve seen it as, in my experience, the songs are always better seen live!

Update: The o2 live recording was a limited run and has now sold out.

A new tour means new merch! If you’re in the UK, you can now order the new merchandise online. If you missed out at the show, you’ve got no excuse now!

Products include a large selection of new t-shirts, a hoodie, badges, yes, a canvas bag, a mug and, the perfect stocking filler for your aunt, a tea towel.

To get a look at what’s on offer, click through to the shop page and take a gander to see what tempts you!

The tour’s starting soon (tickets are still available). For those wondering the best place to discuss it excitedly with others, may I suggest the excellent fan site, Angry (Feet)?

It’s another website all about Tim, except it’s a place to revel in the company of other Tim fans! What better place could there be to talk about the tour, post your reviews and share your memories? I can’t think of any, that’s for sure.

Obviously, there are other benefits to joining up – though why you need them, I don’t know – such as the obligatory free virtual food upon your introduction and oh, the exclusive mp3s and on top of that, if you contribute enough you’ll have access to exclusive Tim news before anyone else (recent examples include pre-sale info for ‘A Conversation With’ and the two Cambridge warm up dates)!

What, you’re still here? Head on over there now and sign up!

Linzy
x

Are you in Australia and sick of all the UK press announcements? Well here’s a little something for you. Well, if you live in or around Sydney anyway.

A fourth date has been added to the run with The Sydney Symphony!

The extra show will be on the 27th March 2011 at the Sydney Opera House. Tickets will be available tomorrow from the Opera House website.

What’s your excuse for not going?

Photo from the BBC

Have you had enough of Tim on your television and radio sets yet? No? Well this will be a bit of good news for you!

If you have a fancy DAB radio (or digital TV or the Internet) you can hear Tim curating BBC Radio 7‘s Comedy Club tonight and Sunday, 10pm – midnight, with Tom Wrigglesworth. Look at the photo of them together; I think they’re having a hair-off.

Tomorrow, Saturday, Tim will be interviewed on T4 (Channel 4). This will be aired in two parts at 10:45am and 11:50am so if you don’t want to watch the Hollyoaks omnibus then you don’t have to!

Tim will also be on the radio tomorrow, on BBC Radio 4‘s Loose Ends at 6:15pm alongside John Waters, Lisa Jardine, and Carl Davis.

The proceeds from the December 2010 sales of ‘White Wine in the Sun’ are going to The National Autistic Society.

Tim is delighted to be supporting this charity again this year, because he feels it is a poorly funded area, with its causes and treatment still not well understood.

This is a captivating song and a beautiful and intelligent exploration of why Christmas can still be meaningful even without religious beliefs. There’s just the right amount of sentiment and some very gentle humour illustrating Tim’s feelings about Christmas and the importance of family and home. It is a heart-warming song and may make you a little bright eyed.

You can download it from iTunes here.

The song can also be viewed on Tim’s YouTube Channel and this week he performed it live on Richard Bacon’s BBC 5 Live show. You can see that video here.

Emotional huh?

EDIT: In answer to some queries we’ve received: The proceeds from ALL legitimate downloads go to the NAS, including Amazon here.

The RSC has a limited allocation of tickets for the official opening night of Matilda, A Musical which they would like to offer to Tim Minchin fans.

Best available seats for just £10 (max of 2 tickets per transaction).

The performance takes place on Thursday 9 December at 5pm at The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Please note that some seats may have a slightly restricted view at certain times during the performance.

To book please call the RSC Ticket Hotline on 0844 800 1114 and quote: “Matilda Opening Night Offer”.

This is the press night performance and the official opening night of the show, so a very exciting night to attend and this is a great opportunity to see the show at a fantastic price.

This offer requires that you phone the Ticket Hotline number above but you can book tickets for other shows online at the Matilda, A Musical website, where you’ll find lots of information, rehearsal blogs, games, videos and much more. Videos are also available through the RSC’s YouTube channel or the ‘Favourites’ section of Tim’s own YouTube channel.

Which character are you most looking forward to seeing brought to life before your very eyes?

Tomorrow morning, Tim will be valiantly encasing himself in warm, yet sheddable layers (studios can be very warm) and struggling through up to an inch of snow to appear on BBC Breakfast.

That’s BBC1, Thursday 2nd December 2010.

Despite it being the huskies day off  and too early for the reindeer he should be on your screens, all snug on the couch, some time after 8.15am.

This is one of those occasions where it’s not too kinky to wonder what the handsome comedy rock superstar/fashion icon will be wearing first thing in the morning…

EDIT: If you missed this, the full interview has gone up on the BBC site here.

Erm, wait, hang on a mo; that doesn’t sound right…

Tomorrow Tim will be appearing on two radio shows for you to all listen in to.

Steve Wright in the Afternoon
BBC Radio 2 – 14:00 – 17:00
Listen live

Richard Bacon
BBC Radio 5 Live  – 14:00 – 16:00
Listen live

Now, the eagle-eyed amongst you might have noticed that both shows are on at the same time but considering they’re both broadcast from different places, how do you think Tim’s getting between the two? I like to imagine it’ll be on a sledge pulled by huskies…

Tim’s second, live UK DVD, Ready For This? is available on DVD, Blu-ray and iTunes from the 29^th November 2010. That’s TODAY! Just in time to add it to your Christmas wish list or maybe you’re gifting it to someone you quite like, in some glittery wrapping paper. Oo shiny…

Ready For This? is now available to order or download, via various online retailers: Amazon, Play and iTunes. Angry (Feet), the official fansite, have compiled a handy list with the links for you. It can also be purchased from HMV, all major supermarkets and any half-decent high street retailer.

Many of you will already have the details below, from a previous blog, so what follows is a repeat for any new visitors today. We’ve put out the guest soap and towels too…

The DVD 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 The Big 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.

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, it will be available from this site and other retailers who ship worldwide, at some point.

DVDs will also be available from venues during the UK Orchestra Tour, December 2010.
Please note that although some ticketing websites have been stating that Tim’s magnificent UK orchestra arena tour this December is sold out, that is just their allocation. Tickets are still available via the links here and if you need further information and advice regarding ticket availability please see this earlier blog.

So who will you be buying this DVD for? Yourself, your gran, the local vicar…?

Last week Tim recorded an episode of The Infinite Monkey Cage a radio programme which takes a “witty and irreverent look at the world according to science”.

Episode 3: ‘Randomness’ airs on Monday, 16:30 on BBC Radio 4

Robin and Tim: Intense debate

Alex and Brian

The BBC blurb says:

“Physicist Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince are joined by the Australian comedian and musician Tim Minchin and mathematician Alex Bellos to discuss randomness, probability and chance. They look at whether coincidences are far more common than one might think and how a mathematical approach can make even the most unpredictable situations… well, predictable.”

Tim and Sasha Feachem, Producer of The Infinite Monkey Cage

Previous episodes of the programme are available as podcasts here.

Monday’s show will also become available as a podcast and on iPlayer here, once it airs, should you miss it.

The photos were taken, at the recording, at the Drill Hall, London by Vincent Connare. (http://twitter.com/VincentConnare) I only wish there was one of Tim putting a friendly headlock on Brian when they had a ‘difference of opinion’… A friendly hug for Sasha will have to suffice.

and there’s more:

Tim will be on The Chris Moyles Show, BBC Radio 1, Monday 29th November. The show is 06.30 – 10.00.  Click here for the photo of Chris and Tim taken when Tim was last on the show in October 2009.

and

Richard Bacon , BBC Radio 5 Live, Tuesday 30th November. This show is 14:00 – 16:00.

Both will be available on BBC iPlayer shortly after they air.

Look out for more radio interviews coming up soon.

Who’ll be listening then?

Those who follow Tim on Twitter will already know that he’s recorded an episode for the new series of Never Mind The Buzzcocks as a guest host!

The time has now come for us to give you details of when you’ll be able to see it on your tellybox!

25th November 2010
22:00 – BBC 2 (England, Wales and Scotland only)
23:25 – BBC 2 (Northern Ireland only)

28th November 2010
23:30 – BBC 2 (England and Northern Ireland only)

29th November 2010
00:50 – BBC 2 (Scotland only)

In addition to the regular team captains, Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding, the panelists include Tim Key, Jason Donovan, Paloma Faith and DJ Target.

Will you be watching?

This one’s mainly for the students and the unemployed of the UK!

Tomorrow, Tim will be appearing on The Wright Stuff on Channel Five (and Channel Five HD [yes, it exists]) at 9:15am. If that’s too early for you, well there’s a repeat on Fiver at 11am if you have a fancy digital telly with Freeview.

He will be joined by the week’s panelists Hardeep Singh Kohli (chef and broadcaster) and Tracy-Ann Oberman (her off of the series two Doctor Who finale).

For those not in the know, The Wright Stuff is a ‘topical debate show’ so, just out of curiosity, aside from the royal wedding, what would you like to see discussed on the show?

Tim was interviewed for How Roald Dahl Shaped Pop, a documentary about Roald Dahl’s influence on pop music, narrated by David Tennant, with contributions from Kate Nash and Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics.

It will air at 10pm this evening, 22nd November on Radio 2.

In the meantime here’s Miss Trunchbull *gulp* to tell you about RULES in this wonderful new trailer for Matilda:

Anybody start dancing in their chairs to the last few bars at the end of that? Huh?…oh neither did I… in fact my shoulders and elbows never moved and my head didn’t tilt once…

You can book tickets for the show via the Matilda A Musical website, where you’ll find lots of information, rehearsal blogs, games, videos and much more. This video and more are also available through the RSC’s YouTube channel or the ‘Favourites’ section of Tim’s own YouTube channel.