Tim Minchin - Are You Ready?

Last night I had one of the most enjoyable evenings I have had in a long time. While I may moan that I have moved to a town suffering some kind og culture-crunch, Maidenhead does have a rather nice Arts Center, thanks to £10 bagillion of lottery money it was awarded in 1999. The Arts Center was built in a set of old farm buildings next to the Sixth Form college I went to, and I used to do volunteer work there in the evenings. Now that I'm back in town, I'm back at the farm. Its a good place to work, having two theatre spaces and a cinema.

So last night Tim Minchin was performing his Edinburgh show "Ready for This?" in the big theatre down the farm. Tims show sold out across its Edinburgh run, and had some great reviews. My parents went to see it and loved it, but they laugh at everything. I'm not even sure if I like comedy, and I really don't make as much effort to go to stand-up stuff as I could. I'm generally worried that the pressure of expecting something to be funny will be too much for me, and I'll crack under said pressure and end up dissecting every joke, or, due to the fact that I sometimes find the oddest things funny beyond belief, I will end up laughing myself to near asphyxiation at, well, nothing really. Like when I nearly died at Kings Cross because Sam said "smelly mess" in a sentence.

I've not seen that much comedy, as a direct result of these two factors. The only comedian I have actively made an effort to go and see in the past was Dylan Moran, and while hes probably not the funniest chap in the world, hes just the kind of person I really enjoy spending time with. Working in Edinburgh the past two summers has put my comedy watching numbers through the roof (compared to the pre-Edinburgh count of (1). David O'Doherty is wonderful, Rick Shaperio is crazed, I've seen some mental Canadian comedian leap off stage and punch a cellist in the head, Jim Jeffries made me laugh a fair bit. I don't think I've ever seen a female comedian live, apart from at work (the supremely awful Marisa, and the quite funny-ish Judy Batalion, who was Jewish).

But Minchin... whats the deal with him? The deal is he's wonderful, and if you get a chance then certainly go and sit in his audience for a few hours. His comedy is full of whimsy, puns and digs at the things it feels good to dislike, like war, crooked politics and aromatherapy. Hes a reasonably talented musician, his comedy songs are glorious, and he has a wonderful singing voice. I think he shines in his stand-up moments, but the whole thing is like watching a wonderful mix of Rufus Wainwright and a well-medicated Bill Hicks.

You can watch some of his songs here on the youtube, and there isn't a mix-tape in the world that should be considered complete without his masterful musical work "If I Didn't have You" or his spoken work epic "Storm" or, my personal favorite (because I really bears) "Bears Don't Dig on Dancing". Don't be put off by his hair, its part of the game.

Thank you very much Mr Minchin. You're welcome round for a pot of tea anytime.