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Here’s a useless fact for you. Did you know that the original planned name of the Royal Albert Hall was The Central Hall of Arts and Sciences? It’s true; it’s on Wikipedia.

Why do I mention this? Well, the arts and science will be meeting (kind of) at this prestigious venue when Tim performs there on the 28th April 2011 with The Heritage Orchestra!

Yes, you read that right. Tim’s performing at the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences Royal Albert Hall. Sure, he’s performed there before, but this time it’ll be all about him, his silly songs and his 55-piece symphony orchestra!

Tickets go on sale on Friday at 9am.

Tickets

Thought we ought to show this to you people who either haven’t been able to see Conan or haven’t looked this up on YouTube already. It’s the official video of Tim making his US telly debut with the oldie (but goodie), ‘Inflatable You’, which was correctly predicted by eight of you on the last blog about Conan. Enjoy!

Tim’s added two futher dates, in May, to his 2011 UK orchestra tour:

10th May 2011, SHEFFIELD Motorpoint Arena
Tickets available online here 9am Friday 14th January

11th May 2011, LIVERPOOL Echo Arena
Tickets on general sale here 10am Friday 14th January

Although, if you take a peek at Tim’s official fansite and forum Angry (Feet) you may learn something to your   advantage…

Tickets are priced at £35, plus booking fee and will also be available from Ticketmaster from 9am tomorrow.

“If you’re going to play big spaces, this is the way to do it; with a 55-piece orchestra and a juggernaut full of showmanship, making this a big show in every sense…a superlative night out.” (Chortle)

“Minchin…the insanely gifted Australian is rounding off the year with an audacious show that sees him accompanied on stage by the 55-piece Heritage Orchestra…Taken all in all, a thing of jaw-dropping wonder.” (Daily Telegraph, London)

For all the news posts we’ve done about TV appearances, this one’s definitely a first! That’s to say, it’s the first time that it’s been for the USA!

So, your exciting news is that Tim will be providing the entertainment on Wednesday night’s Conan, alongside interviews with Ice Cube and Dennis Leary! You’ll be wanting to tune your TV into tbs at 11/10c to catch him in all his glory.

Aussies, you too can see this as it’s being shown on GEM on Friday at 11:30pm.

Despite the pair being fellow gingers, Tim has already tweeted that he won’t be performing Prejudice due to ‘ginger’ not being a well-known enough phrase for a red-head in America so what do you reckon he’ll play instead?

Tim and Robert by kind permission of UKTV

Tim joins Robert Llewellyn on Carpool on the 12th January 2011, 8:30pm on Dave. The other guest that episode is David Baddiel.

Robert Llewellyn, who you’ll probably know from Red Dwarf and Scrapheap Challenge, started Carpool, a very successful video podcast, some time ago. Uniquely, he interviews people of interest and celebrities as he picks them up and drives them to their destination. It was picked up by the UK digital TV channel, Dave.

The series started last year, with guests including: Chris Addison, Ross Noble, Rufus Hound and Rob Brydon, had a brief winter break over Christmas and will be back on our screens with Tim on the 12th January.

You can find more information on the show and watch a few preview snippets of Tim (being a nerd) and David from the upcoming show here. The page talking about Tim on the show, and with that photo of Tim and Robert can be found here.

Where do you reckon Robert will be driving Tim then?

Another year and another set of Chortle Award nominations, only this time Tim’s up for three, which is more than any of the other nominees!

He’s up for ‘Best Tour‘ with his orchestra show, ‘Best DVD‘ with ‘Ready For This?’ and, once again, ‘Best Musical/Variety Act‘

Last year, Tim had a 100% success rate, being nominated for, and subsequently winning, the ‘Best Musical/Variety Act Award’. Can he do it again this year? Well that’s all up to you, the lovely public! Voting is open now until 5pm on Sunday 16th January.

You’re still here? Oh, you want a link? Well then click here to vote!

(don’t forget, you don’t have to vote for Tim, just if you’re that way inclined)

If you fancy rocking in the UK New Year in an irreverent, hilarious and at the last gorgeously sentimental manner with a mischievous Australian musician, then you’ll be pleased to hear that Tim’s going to be on E4 at 23.35 on New Year’s Eve.

The show is billed as Tim Minchin: Live and seems to include inaccurate listings information giving details of his ‘Ready For This?’ show.  It is described as a repeat, so it is more likely to be a re-showing of ‘So F**king Rock’: a 2 hour performance recorded at The Bloomsbury Theatre in London in 2008. It contains material from ‘Dark Side’ and ‘So Rock’ including Inflatable You, Rock n Roll Nerd, Canvas Bags, Dark Side, Angry (Feet), You Grew On Me, Peace Anthem for Palestine, Mitsubishi Colt and lots more.

Witness Tim obsess about shoes and get stuck up a comedy alley…
Think “Gee, that guy’s deep…”
Enjoy.

Happy New Year!
xx

Tim’s added a second date in sunny Los Angeles, on the 11th January, at the Largo.

Tickets are on sale now, priced at $20. The box office details and online booking link can be found on the gigs page.

The first LA date sold out in less than 24 hours so if you want to go get clicking!

Think you can handle a second date with Tim?

I’m on my couch. This year has involved very little time on couches for me, due to activities requiring a more upright posture than that which couches encourage. But the work year is over and the inevitable post-tour flu has arrived so the couch is suddenly ideal.

Sofa. The English call it a sofa. Sofa. So good.

I’d love to write a witty Christmas blog, but I think I’ve said all I could possibly hope to say already this year, in various forms, about various things, and I’m too snotty and shivery to think anyway. If you want to read the sort of thing I might write if I were feeling less knackered, here’s a column I wrote some years ago about Christmas.

But what I really want to do is acknowledge debt. I feel ridiculously grateful for the cool opportunities I’ve had this year and the support I’ve received in trying not to bugger them up. I have met and worked with dozens of people who have taught me so much and with whom I’ve had large measures of fun. It would be absurd to name everyone, but the entire companies of both “Matilda” and the Heritage Orchestra Tour are the objects of a great deal of my particular brand of love.

The only names I do want to name are those of Linzy and Shell, who run my online life. Linz started up Angry (Feet).com a few years ago, and has gone on to run my Facebook page and my Myspace page (RIP) and a lot of the content on this site. And Shell appeared in my life a couple of years ago and started doing incredible work to keep on top of it all too. They are incredibly good to me.

And thank you to you too. (< – cool sentence). If you are reading this, you are probably one of the insane, lovely people who keep tabs on what I get up to and do crazy shit like watch my shows and buy my DVDs and generally be enthusiastic and nice so that I can keep making stuff I want to make. I’m sorry that I haven’t got to meet so many of you this year, but I never take for granted how lucky I am to have such cool, thoughtful supporters.

That’s all I guess. My daughter has the flu too – I’d better go stick some drugs in her face.

If you’re interested in an overview of the status of the various things I’ve been beavering away at, read below.

Otherwise. Thank you thank you thank you. Merry Christmas. Peace be with you.

xtim

(more…)

A second Orchestra Tour date has been added in Edinburgh on Saturday 16th April 2011, at the Edinburgh Playhouse.

Tickets are available from Ticketmaster here.

Further information and ticket links for the other three dates in Scotland: Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen can be found by clicking the GIGS tab above or here.

Ah…springtime in Scotland with a somewhat springy musician!

Tim will be flying across the Atlantic at least four times next year (there and back, twice) as we can confirm two appearances in America. Yes, you read that correctly!

The first appearance is in a matter of weeks, on the 12th January at the Largo in LA. Tickets are on sale now, priced at a mere $20, which is a bit of a bargain if you ask me. The box office details and online booking link can be found on the gigs page.

The second appearance will be in May at The Bamboozle Festival in New Jersey. Weekend tickets are on sale now and day tickets will go on sale on the 4th Jan. Again, links can be found on the gigs page.

Yes, this is all that’s confirmed and no, we don’t know if or when other dates will be added. By all means though, do “demand” Tim to play in your area on Eventful.com as it’ll help prove that you guys want to see Tim as much as the rest of the world!

Can’t wait a couple of months to see Tim playing with you local symphony orchestra? Well fear not because ABC2 are showing ‘Ready For This?‘ tomorrow night, 21st December, at 8:30pm!

I know you probably all have the DVD but this is the perfect time to grab your grannies, aunts, uncles and favourite pastor and introduce them to the world of Tim. Who could ask for a better Christmas present than that? I know I certainly can’t think of anything I’d like more!

You will be watching, right?

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!