News Archive

Australians, it’s time to get excited!

Back in February we told you that Matilda was heading to Sydney and finally, after months of waiting, you’ll be able to grab yourself some tickets to see this ridiculously brilliant, multi-award-winning musical with your own eyes!

Performances at the Sydney Lyric Theatre start on the 28th July 2015 and you’ll be able to buy tickets from 9am tomorrow morning (15th October 2014) at Ticketmaster.

Tim said: “I am incredibly excited that Matilda is opening in Sydney. Ten years ago this month, I was writing songs for the 2004 Christmas show at the Old Fitz in Woolloomooloo. The first time I straightened my hair and put on thick eye make-up was downstairs at the Seymour Centre. I even wrote songs for the musical that opened the Joan Sutherland centre in Penrith, (the opening song of which I extensively stole from when I wrote the opening number for Matilda).

Last year I fulfilled a dream of acting in a Stoppard at the Sydney Theatre Company. Long before anyone took much notice of my silly tunes, Sydney offered me some of the most edifying and hilarious experiences of my career. The thought that in less than a year, the Lyric’s curtain will be opening on our darling Matilda feels just perfect.”

And if all that wasn’t enough to whip you into a fevered frenzy, here’s a trailer for the production!

Tim will be making an appearance on Australian telly screens this Friday as part of the Friday Night Crack Up!

Friday Night Crack Up is the climax of a week of mental health programming on ABC and will air on ABC on Friday 10th October 2014 at 7:30pm.

The two-hour variety show will be hosted by Eddie Perfect and will feature stars from all of your favourite shows, comedians and musicians, and will showcase major musical numbers, in-studio parlour games, sketches and surprising performances!

Tune in to watch the likes of the X Factor judges, MasterChef’s Matt Preston, Home and Away stars Nic Westaway, Alec Snow and Bonnie Sveen, Missy Higgins and Shaun Micallef doing things you never thought you’d see them do!

Eddie Perfect said, “I can’t lie. I have no idea how a live television variety show in support of Mental Health Week is going to work because none of us have done this before. What I do know is that we have an unprecedented line-up of singers, actors, musicians, comedians and writers joining together despite their conflicting network affiliations, throwing caution to the wind and bringing their considerable gifts to the table in support of mental health. It’s precisely my anarchic idea of a good time, actually. It’s time to talk about mental health; an issue which eventually touches every single one of us. Might as well enjoy ourselves while we’re at it.”

The ABC is working with the Society for Mental Health Research (SMHR) and its President, Professor Patrick McGorry, to help boost funding for mental health research and support the effort in discovering the next breakthroughs in preventing, diagnosing and treating mental ill health. Show your support by making a donation at abc.net.au/mentalas.

Tim will be joining Rhys Darby and Emily Heller on the panel of @midnight on Comedy Central this week! Hosted by Chris Hardwick, the show is an internet-themed improv comedy panel show, where comedians compete to find the funniest take on the day’s social media.

The show will air on Comedy Central on Thursday 2nd October, 2014, 12A/11C. Check your local schedules for further details. Episodes can be found on the Comedy Central @midnight website after they air.

Hulu will also post the show the day after it airs and it will be available for 30 days. For more details check hulu.com/midnight.

Tim will be recording this episode on Wednesday, October 1st, 2014, at 7:15pm, at Hollywood Center Studios, so if you’re in or near LA, you might like to apply for tickets from On Camera Audiences (OCA).

Two beards collide to make beautiful music together! On Tuesday 30th September, 2014, at 9pm (BST) Tim will be special guest producer on Beardyman’s One Album Per Hour – Live.

You may remember Beardyman, who is acclaimed for his extraordinary beatboxing skills and use of live looping technology, appearing with Tim on the 2011 Comedy Prom, where Tim introduced him as “…an oral wizard [and] a lingual freak…”.

They need you to suggest song titles. Tim will be sifting through these and deciding which ones Beardyman must use as inspiration for songs on the album. An album they’ll be creating completely LIVE, from scratch, in real time as we all watch them! That’s an album written, produced, mixed and mastered… in an hour.

So get involved! You can find out more and make your suggestions, on Beardyman’s website, via this link.

Then on Tuesday at 9pm, watch the album come together on Beardyman’s YouTube channel or at
www.beardyman.co.uk. If you can’t watch live the full show will be up on those sites afterwards.

There’s even a countdown to the show:

To get an idea what Tim’s in for, check out the full show with Jack Black as guest producer a couple of weeks ago here.

Do you want to watch Tim launch his lovely new book, Storm, and get yourself a signed limited edition print, available exclusively in connection with this event? Well you’re in luck then! Excellent.

On 6th October 2014, 7pm (BST), Tim will launch the illustrated book version of Storm, at an event live-streamed over the web from Soho House in Los Angeles and you could be watching!

To view the live stream, you’ll need to purchase the special Launch Edition of the book from Bookomi, here, before the book launch. They ship internationally, so you’ll be able to join in wherever you are in the world! (Postage and packing will be calculated for you at checkout).

UPDATE 05/10/2014: If you’re unable watch live as it is streamed (because you’re sleeping, for example) or wish to re-watch your favourite bits, purchasing this special edition from Bookomi will give you access to the video footage for up to six months!

We know many of you will have already pre-ordered a copy of Storm but we reckon you’ll want to get your hands on this version too, as it comes with an exclusive, numbered, high-quality art print. These beautiful prints will be signed by DC Turner and Tracy King and the first 1,000 will bear Tim’s autograph too!

The deluxe hardback collector’s edition, numbered and signed by Tim, has now sold out, so if you missed out on that, this is a chance to get your hands on something exclusive and signed.

You’ll also be able to submit questions to Tim, on Twitter, using a hashtag that’ll be released one hour before the event by @bookomi, who’ll be live-tweeting photos and tasty snippets throughout the launch, from LA and London!

Everyone watching the live stream will be able to submit questions directly on the screen. Do please say where you are in the world too!

More good news! So F**king Rock So F*****g Rock is now available to stream on Hulu right here.

Filmed at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre in May 2008 (in front of a glamorous and clearly intelligent audience, gathered from all over the UK) the show includes such favourite songs as Canvas Bags, Inflatable You, Rock n Roll Nerd, If You Really Loved Me, Not Perfect, Darkside and many more! PLUS hilarious talky-bits in-between songs.

This is some vintage Minchin and a chance to hark back to the days our fashion hero wore a long coat and much roomier trousers.

Only the other day we announced that the full-length version of Tim Minchin and the Heritage Orchestra, Live at the Royal Albert Hall was available on Hulu, on the Comedy Dynamics channel. If you’re subscribed, keep an eye on Netflix as the Heritage Orchestra show will be available on there too, from the 15th October.

Get ready to sing along. All together now: I am so F-asterisk-asterisk-asterisk-asterisk-asterisk-g rock… and breathe…

Have any of you Americans worn out your recording of Tim’s Showtime special, wanted to see the full show, or were otherwise unable to watch it? If so, then today we have some Rather Good News for you!

The full-length version of Tim Minchin and the Heritage Orchestra, Live at the Royal Albert Hall is now available for you to stream over at Hulu, on the Comedy Dynamics channel!

Recorded in 2011, the show features a raft of your favourite Tim songs, fully orchestrated and backed by the incredible 55-piece Heritage Orchestra. Oh, and there are some jokes in there too.

You can watch Tim in all his barefooted, kohl-rimmed glory now, at this very link: http://www.hulu.com/watch/682332

Those of you subscribed to Netflix are also in luck, as the show will be available there next week!

Are you still reading? Get to it and get watching!

As we announced here, a while back, Just For Laughs (JFL42) are hosting a ten day comedy festival, this month, in Toronto and Tim will be performing. Initially there was just one show planned for Thursday 18th September at 9:30pm at an unknown venue. We can now confirm that this will be at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre!

Due to his extreme popularity, JFL42 have given Tim two more shows at the same venue:
Friday 19th September at 7pm and Saturday 20th September at 7pm.

JFL42 is a pass-based festival. There are various passes available, priced from $49. For more information on how the passes work, visit the JFL42 website.

After you Choose Your Pass you can Reserve Act 33: Tim Minchin.

There are six Headline acts: Seth Meyers, Lena Dunham, Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, Joe Rogan and Nick Offerman, while Paul F Tompkins, Deanne Smith, Tig Notaro, Doug Benson and Tim are just some of the other 42 acts. You can check out the full 42 here.

Might want to get a wiggle on! These shows are only two weeks away.

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical will hold a special Gala performance in aid of BBC Children in Need.

Taking place on Tuesday 4th November, 2014, the evening will be hosted by Sir Terry Wogan, with the big furry teddy bear (sorry, not that one) the charity’s mascot Pudsey, also in attendance.

BBC Radio 2 presenters and celebrities will join members of the public for this splendid evening, where at least 50% of the proceeds from the performance will go to the BBC Children in Need Appeal and its work with disadvantaged children and young people across the UK.

Tickets for this magical Gala performance are already on sale via SEE tickets. Prices range from £20 – £100 with tickets priced at £100 including a glass of Rose Champagne, a programme and a limited edition Matilda The Musical tote bag.

Further information can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/radio2

In more marvellous news: There are now performances of Matilda The Musical, at the Cambridge Theatre, through until 20th December, 2015, with tickets for the new booking period on sale Monday 15th September, 2014.

The West End production of Matilda the Musical announced some new cast members yesterday, including a replacement for the terrifying, tyrannical Miss Trunchbull!

Starting in September, Craige Els will take over the role of the formidable headmistress of Crunchem Hall joining existing cast members Haley Flaherty (Miss Honey), Kay Murphy (Mrs Wormwood) and James Clyde (Mr Wormwood).

In addition to the new Trunchbull, Matilda Shapland and Violet Tucker will be joining existing Matildas Tasha Shapple and Lottie Sicilia in the title role, while there will be new additions to the three teams of children that make up Matilda’s classmates too.

Tim took some time out and joined Dennis Kelly in getting to know the new Trunch a bit better and you can watch the video below!

The West End run was recently extended until 24th May 2015 and you can grab yourself some tickets from the Matilda the Musical website.