A little bit of a departure now in this week’s Comedians You Should Know. Rather than a stand-up or comedy actor, this guy’s a musical comedian whose comedy is generally set to music. Unlike Bill Bailey, who uses music to enhance his stand-up, Tim Minchin‘s music is his act. He’s also Australian, though he spends a lot of time in the UK, so there’s another thing that makes him different from the other featured comedians thus far. And one further departure this week – I normally get a hint here or a suggestion there for clips and whatnot from my able British assistant Lady T (who wishes it known that she is a non-ginger and therefore can’t call him ginger), but when I asked for Tim Minchin clips she threw herself into the task wholeheartedly and pretty much wrote this whole feature. All that’s left to me is to arrange it in some semblance of order. So thank you, Lady T. I am indebted.
Tim Minchin, from Telegraph.co.uk
Tim Minchin has made a career of subversive songs with interesting twists. Not M. Night Shyamalan twists, I said interesting twists. Take his song “Prejudice”, for example. You think it’s going one way but then…I may have said too much. Just watch (adult language and concept warnings apply for all videos – just in case):
That kind of twist is pretty typical of Minchin. And now you see why Lady T was so up front about not being ginger. For those who haven’t encountered “ginger” in this context, a ginger is a red-headed person. Think any Weasley from “Harry Potter”, Amy Pond from the new “Doctor Who” or…Carrot Top. And, as Minchin demonstrates, ginger is often a term of abuse. Remember, only a ginger can call another ginger “ginger”.
This next song is called “If I Didn’t Have You”. It’s a very Minchin-esque (if it’s not a word, it should be and if it’s not apparent by now, it will be) love song. It also showcases not only his bare feet (which he started doing to overcome stage fright by making him think he was playing in his living room) and his guyliner, but his really pretty eyes. It’s not just me saying that, many people (especially men) have remarked on how pretty his eyes are. Anyway, here’s “If I Didn’t Have You”:
In this next clip, Minchin goes on to explain that last song, the one I just told you was his idea of a love song, isn’t actually about love after all! See? He’s even messing with my feature! (Particularly strong warnings for this video, but if you skip it, you are so missing out!)
It’s well known (by those who know of him) that Tim Minchin is an atheist and skeptic. Here he is, turning his verbal skills to the argument of evolution vs. creation. His now-iconic character of Tony the Fish features prominently and the clip ends with a short little ditty called “If You Open Your Mind Too Much Your Brain Will Fall Out (Take My Wife!)”.
Believe it or not, this next clip actually aired on Australian broadcast TV! It’s funny, but may cross the line for some people. Don’t let the fact that it aired on the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) lull you into a false sense of security. Lady T said this was actually the cleanest version she could find, as it gets downright raunchy live in concert! Of course, now that I’ve talked up how NSFW it is, you just have to watch it, don’t you?
The next two clips show he’s not averse to serenading men with his subversive love songs. The first clip shows another upcoming Comedian You Should Know in Adam Hills (don’t you love how these all tie in together?) from an Australian show called “Spicks and Specks”. And no, that word does not have the same connotation in Australia as it does in the US:
This one is my favorite Minchin song but it requires a bit of an explanation for the uninitiated. He performed this song on “Friday Night With Jonathan Ross”, where the house band was called “4 Poofs and a Piano” because…well, they were three flamboyantly gay men who sang and one who played piano and sang. Truth in advertising, see? 50 Cent was supposed to be on the show that night, which is why he’s mentioned. Jamie Cullum also appeared and performed on the show. One last note: Jonathan Ross has a speech impediment where he pronounces Rs like Ws (rather unfortunate for someone whose name begins with an R) which has led to him being (semi-)affectionately nicknamed “Wossy”, as you’ll hear.
If all this has whetted your appetite and you live in the US, I’m afraid the only Tim Minchin stuff on offer are MP3 versions of the songs on “Ready For This?”. The only DVDs I’ve seen for sale are either Region 2 (Europe) or Region 4 (Australia). So if you don’t have a region-free DVD player, you’re out of luck. Good thing he has a respectable presence on YouTube and even has his own channel.
Some additional links:
- Twitter: @timminchin
- Official website: TimMinchin.com
- Video: Darkside - A pastiche of different rock genres which also shows off some fancy fingerings. [waggles eyebrows]
- Video: The Song For Phil Daoust – He didn’t take criticism well to begin with so he wrote this song to forgive the critic…kinda?
- Video: Some People Have It Worse Than I – As Lady T said, “It’s funny. Sometimes that’s all you need.”
- Video: Inflatable You – My second favorite song after “5 Poofs”, though it’s very, very wrong. :D
- Video: Canvas Bags – A full-on video for his Environmental Anthem. I sing the chorus every time I go to the supermarket.
WereGeek
WereGeek is reading 5-7 books at any given time, none of them very fast. These can range from alternative universe fiction to historical non-fiction and from theoretical physics to Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader. You can argue with her all you want, but Dirk Benedict will always be her Starbuck. Her ringtone is the theme from Airwolf and she believes that there's nothing that can't be improved by the judicious application of werewolves. Or bacon. Or werewolves with bacon. She can be contacted at werewolf17 @ gmail.com and followed on Twitter @weregeek.
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