Hey! All November, December and January proceeds from Tim’s sentimental Christmas song White Wine In The Sun will be going to Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) again this year, a charity that supports Australian children and adults on the spectrum.
If you already have the song, you might like to gift it via iTunes or donate directly here.
Tim’s 2017 performance of the song, on The Late Late Show with James Corden, has a beautiful strings arrangement by Iain Grandage and a great many twinkly candles:
Tim joined Lorraine yesterday morning to talk about his brand new comedy drama UPRIGHT and more. Here are the edited highlights of the interview:
Then on Friday he went on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show, on Virgin Radio to reveal a little more about UPRIGHT.
You can listen to him on The Best of the Chris Evans Breakfast Show Podcast here on Acast or on Apple Podcasts. Tim’s interview segment starts at 28:10.
Chris Evans, Ben Miller, Tom Walker, Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Tim
The Verb on BBC Radio 3 this evening, 8th November, at 10pm.
Tim joins presenter Ian McMillan and fellow guests Kit De Waal, Elif Shafak and Geoff Dyer to talk about novels that have inspired them. Tim will be discussing Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut and he’ll perform an unreleased song.
If you’re not able to catch it live, the programme will be available shortly after it airs on BBC Sounds.
So, if you’re not able to make it to a show this time or you missed the merch’ stand at a venue (prioritising beer or a glass of red or a wee instead…) or maybe you only considered the possibility that you might like a tour souvenir afterwards, you’re all set.
There are 16 items including: Tim’s mug on a Mug, T-Shirts (check out skull-Tim), Hoodies, a Beanie, Posters, tour Programme and of course Canvas Bags (if you want to do something drastic…)! The only thing missing is a plushie Tim – maybe next tour.
If you live outside Europe you’ll find that International Shipping has been made available for Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, following some charming requests from fans not in the ‘local area’.
As a gift to the city, to mark the Adelaide Festival’s 60th anniversary, they are welcoming Tim and his band to the Elder Park stage for a fabulous open-air-open-to-all show!
There’s no registration for the event. All you need to know about the free opening concert can be found on the 2020 Adelaide Festival website FAQ, so you can plan your meet-ups and ensure you get there in good time to secure a prime patch of Torrens-side grass for your picnic and concert viewing.
UPDATE (06/02/20): Adelaide Festival: “The Adelaide Festival shares in the outpouring of grief and compassion for those impacted by the recent bushfires, the loss of native fauna and the impact on the environment. The Festival will join the many community organisations, companies and individuals who are raising funds to support the communities on Kangaroo Island and in the Adelaide Hills. The Festival will run a fund-raising appeal at its 60th Birthday Concert featuring Tim Minchin as well as donating profits from the Compagnie Carabosse installation Fire Gardens to the Lobethal Bushfire Recovery Fund, the KI Mayoral Relief & Recovery Bushfire Fund and the RSPCA KI Wildlife Appeal.” More details here.
UK: Sky Atlantic and NOW TV (from Thursday 28th November, 2019) Now available on DVD and digital platforms in the UK too – see below. Australia: FOXTEL (from Sunday 1st December, 2019), BINGE (from Saturday 26th December 2020) Now available on DVD and digital platforms in Australia too – see below. Canada: Super Channel Fuse – now ended. (from Sunday 19th January 2020 until December 2021).
Canada can now stream UPRIGHT for free on CBC Gem. (from Jan 2021) Russia: Fox Russia (from Tuesday 3rd March 2020). Belgium: Telenet – now ended (from Wednesday July 1st 2020). US: Sundance Now (from Thursday 6th August 2020).
(Join Sundance Now with the promo code ‘UPRIGHT’ for a 30-day-free-trial). Germany, Austria and Switzerland: Universal TV (from Tuesday 11th August 2020). Spain: Sundance TV (from Monday 7th September 2020). Netherlands: Ziggo TV – now ended. (from Thursday 10th September 2020). New Zealand : TVNZ (from Friday 18th September 2020). Lithuania: Telia Play (from Wednesday 23rd December 2020) South Korea: Wavve (from Wednesday 10th February 2021) Latvia: TET+ (from Thursday 1st April 2021) Germany – WDR (Free TV) ARD Channel One – now ended. (from Tuesday 15th June 2021).
This list is not exhaustive. It’s worth searching for UPRIGHT on streaming services in your country.
Co-written and starring Tim, UPRIGHT follows two misfits thrown together by chance in the middle of the Australian desert, who forge the unlikeliest of bonds in their quest to get a precious piano from one side of the country to the other.
Tim: “Making Upright was a complete joy and a massive privilege. After living overseas for more than a decade, I couldn’t have hoped to come home to a more fun and inspiring project: an original Australian outback adventure story, full of heart and laughter, made by some of most talented and dedicated creatives in the country. It’s a unique but universal story about family, resilience, music, forgiveness, and learning how to find a moment to breath out. And it’s full of silliness, action, and wonderful performances, and will make you want to go to the beach and/or ring your mum”.
Hey Australia! Earlier this year Tim’s long-awaited national tour BACK sold out in record time, received rave audience reviews and won the prestigious Helpmann Award for Best Australian Contemporary Concert.
In March 2020, Tim’s going back on tour with encore performances of BACK. He’ll make two new stops in Hobart and Newcastle and return to Perth, Sydney and Melbourne.
So, if you missed out last time or want to go back-to-BACK, here’s your chance.
As in 2019, all profits from the Premium priced tickets, available for each show, will be donated to a local charity of Tim’s choice.
Tim: “We’re not sure yet where our charity dollars are going to go on this leg of the tour, but are looking at spreading some love in the direction of some of the independent theatres I feel passionate about”.
Tim Minchin – BACK – Australia 2020
PERTH Crown Theatre – Friday 6th March – SOLD OUT PERTH Crown Theatre – Saturday 7th March – SOLD OUT HOBART Wrest Point Entertainment Centre – Thursday 12th March HOBART Wrest Point Entertainment Centre – Friday 13th March HOBART Wrest Point Entertainment Centre – Sat 14th March – SOLD OUT SYDNEY Enmore Theatre – Tue 17th March – POSTPONED SYDNEY Enmore Theatre – Wed 18th March – POSTPONED SYDNEY Enmore Theatre – Thursday 19th March – POSTPONED SYDNEY Enmore Theatre – Friday 20th March – POSTPONED SYDNEY Enmore Theatre – Saturday 21st March – POSTPONED NEWCASTLE Civic Theatre – Monday 23rd March – POSTPONED NEWCASTLE Civic Theatre – Tuesday 24th March – POSTPONED MELBOURNE Hamer Hall – Thursday 26th March – POSTPONED MELBOURNE Hamer Hall – Friday 27th March – POSTPONED MELBOURNE Hamer Hall – Saturday 28th March – POSTPONED BRISBANE Fortitude Music Hall – Tuesday 31st March – POSTPONED BRISBANE Fortitude Music Hall – Wednesday 1st April – POSTPONED BRISBANE Fortitude Music Hall – Thursday 2nd April – POSTPONED BRISBANE Fortitude Music Hall – Friday 3rd April – POSTPONED
Onsale times are local unless otherwise stated.
The use of strong language, strobe lights and loud music occurs throughout the show. Parental discretion is advised for children under 16 years of age.
Tim won the AWGIE for Comedy – Situation or Narrative for ‘Day Eight’ of his upcoming series UPRIGHT. The Australian Writers’ Guild held their 52nd Annual AWGIE Awards ceremony last night at the City Recital Hall in Sydney.
Tim stars in, co-produced, wrote the music and co-wrote the script for the eight-part series. You can read more about UPRIGHT and the stellar team behind it along with some of Tim’s thoughts on it here.
The prestigious AWGIE Awards celebrate the very best in Australian stage and screen writing, recognising and rewarding the outstanding achievements of Australian storytellers and their contribution to Australia’s cultural landscape. They are the only industry awards given by fellow writers to writers judged exclusively on the basis of the writer’s own vision, the written script.
We’ll be announcing when and where you can watch the series soon.
If you missed out or have tickets to spare for the BACK UK tour, Tim has appointed Twickets as his official ticket resale partner in the UK.
Twickets is a ticket marketplace that enables fans to trade tickets at FACE VALUE. It protects its users with a guarantee against fraud and overpricing and offers an alternative to the exploitative secondary ticketing platforms and ticket touts that Tim is keen for his fans to avoid. More details and you can download the App here.
Note: It’s always worth trying the venues first, in case they have any stray tickets, although they may just be individual seats dotted around. Keep an eye on your local venue social media accounts too.
Tim’s new landmark series UPRIGHT has received two AWGIE Award Nominations in the COMEDY – SITUATION OR NARRATIVE category. One for ‘Day Eight’ written by Tim and the other for ‘Day Six’ by Leon Ford.
The prestigious AWGIE Awards celebrate the very best in Australian stage and screen writing, recognising and rewarding the outstanding achievements of Australian storytellers and their contribution to Australia’s cultural landscape. They are the only industry awards given by fellow writers to writers judged exclusively on the basis of the writer’s own vision, the written script.
Tim stars in, co-produced, wrote the music and co-wrote the script for the eight-part series. You can read more about UPRIGHT and the stellar team behind it along with some of Tim’s thoughts on it here.
We’ll announce when and where you can watch the series soon.
The Australian Writers’ Guild will present the 52nd annual AWGIE Awards on Thursday August 22nd at the City Recital Hall, Sydney. The full list of nominees can be found here.
Last week, the nominees for the prestigious 2019 Helpmann Awards were announced with BACK nominated for Best Australian Contemporary Concert.
The winners will be announced at a red carpet event on Monday 15th July at the Arts Centre Melbourne.
Tim toured BACK, in Australia and New Zealand, earlier this year and the UK tour kicks off in October. All UK dates have now SOLD OUT so if you have no luck looking for stray tickets at the venues (or if you have any to sell) please try Twickets Tim’s only official ticket resale partner in the UK.
In February, Tim announced this year’s competition for the Yamaha Great Start Grant, with the prize including 34 brand new Yamaha instruments, specialist training to help to get a school band program going, AND an in-school concert with Tim.
Ravenshoe State School in Tablelands, Queensland, Australia won the grant and yesterday Tim rocked up to the school to present the prize and perform for them.
Tim: “It was really gorgeous! I chatted about why music is important and fun, and I played:
Not Perfect
F Sharp
Naughty
Carry You.”
Ravenshoe are excited to now be able to get a band started and to develop the music program at the school. (more…)
It’s taken me 4 weeks to figure out whether to tell this sad story, but I think I should because I think some of you may want to help out.
My Australian tour finished a month ago. After 12 weeks of working together, we landed in Sydney, struggled past the assholes standing too close to the carousel to gather our bags and instruments, and hugged each other goodbye.
There were 18 of us in the tour party, and I think we all agreed it had been one of the best tours we’d worked on; beautiful theatres, wonderful audiences, no big issues or illnesses, and an amazing team of people utterly dedicated to the pursuit of silliness and excellence.
The last person I said farewell to was the person to whom we all owed the biggest debt: Greg Weaver, tour manager and sound engineer extraordinaire. He handed me my guitar and we agreed we’d talk the following day to dig into planning the UK tour. He pointed me to my driver, gave me a brief and perfectly unsentimental hug… and that was that. Five hours later I was calling my bandmates to tell them that our Greg had died of a heart attack just a couple of hours after delivering us all home. No warnings, no prior problems… just one of those things.
It is hard to explain the genius of Greg. He was a quiet, extremely hard-working, deeply ironic, funny, unique, talented man. I’d only known him for 4 years, but I’ve been hugely saddened by his sudden passing, and I’m furious that I will no longer benefit from his brilliance!
And I’m a new-comer! He was Sound-God and Tour-Guru to some of Australia’s greatest artists. Paul Kelly and his mob have been working with Greg for 20 years. The Whitlams for almost as long. Sarah Blasko, Phil Jamieson, Boy and Bear, The Clouds and many others. We’re all shattered.
Many, many people commented that our “Back” tour sounded as good as any concert they’ve ever been to. The excellent quality was because Greg Weaver was obsessively, unrelentingly dedicated to his craft. We would soundcheck for over an hour every night, and he would wander around the theatre sitting in dozens of seats to make sure the mix was sounding good. He loved his work, and cared deeply about words and music. The last song he mixed was Carry You (for those who’ve seen it).
If you enjoyed our tour and would like to pay a small tribute to the unsung hero of “Back”, I wonder if you’d drop a few dollars to help out his fantastic wife and boy here: https://supportact.org.au/greg-weaver-appeal/. They need us.
Farewell to the Dream Weaver. This post does no justice to you.
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