There are few plaudits that haven’t been thrown Tim Minchin’s way. The wizard of wordsmithery has found his way into every corner of live performance, whether that be composing and writing for award winning musicals, taking to the stage and screen as an actor or touring his own extensive back catalogue of music. Simply put, within the performing arts bubble he’s done it all. And now he's graced the stage of our city's own Royal Concert Hall...
As the lights dimmed to signal the start of the show, a mysterious mob of jumpsuit clad minions flooded the darkened stage with LED sunglasses glaring the word “turn”. The ensemble broke into an eerie song that built up to the tagline: “turn off your motherf***ing phones”. It was with this that the main man sprung onto stage to fortify the message in rockstar fashion, generously allowing the audience a minute to dispose of their handsets as he departed the stage again in the earliest encore I have witnessed.
At the end of the countdown, and the start of the show proper, a familiar face was projected onto the screen. Through the vintage lens of an early noughties camcorder, we saw a young Tim Minchin performing one of his earliest shows in 2004. It was this breakout tour that lashed accolades upon Minchin’s name and propelled him to stardom, as he won the Directors Choice Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2005. The video cycled through the years, across venues such as the O2 Arena and events including the Edinburgh Fringe, as the artist performed Rock ‘n’ Roll Nerd, a fitting title for our enigmatic host.
The erratic career and genre-bending styles that have become synonymous with the artist began to make perfect sense, as the singer’s brain unraveled before us in a chaotic yet perfectly coherent ramble along any thread that may jump into his peripheral vision. We had barely heard a full song before receiving a tangential dissertation of the long lost sixth meaning of the word "Mole". Of course this mad waffling on the meaning of moles - from Avogadro's number to espionage - inevitably led to a love song equal parts hilarious and heartfelt. Minchin has this frustrating power to make you feel like you have absolutely no agency over your own emotions. There is no world where my logical brain believes a song about tumours could be either funny or romantic yet here I am, giggling and charmed by this devious master lyricist.
The following song gave us a taste of some of Minchin’s newer releases; however, the performer admitted it was written some time ago in response to a friend’s relationship to their family. The reason for the sudden release of this old song is a result of the artist’s ever evolving understanding of family, that parents are not some infallible authority figure but just a child of another. It is with this wisdom that Minchin targeted some of the most youthful members of the crowd - Connor, Beaux and Morgan - insisting they should be kind to their parents, additionally chastising the parents for bringing them to such a profanity-filled event.
The singer's empathetic approach to parents may, in part, come from his own experience over the past 20 years as he has gone from childless to a father of two, both rapidly approaching adulthood. There is plenty to empathise with in the tenure of a first and second time parent, but none more so than the sleepless nights that prevail in the early years. It’s easy to fall into the socially acceptable trap of glamorising the newborn experience - Minchin however, does not. The song Lullaby is a no holds barred exploration of the frustrated thoughts of a sleep deprived parent, a feeling that most parents could relate though many would never express out loud for fear of judgement or even potentially social services intervention.
Another of the topics that Minchin does not shy away from is religion. The musician reeled off his back catalogue of songs dealing with such subjects that have been retired for some reason or other, such as Peace Anthem For Palestine which Minchin boasts he retired as it fixed the problem…
The song on religion which he did make it into the show was previously retired due to his use of unfavourable American stereotypes; however, on account of his touring party including an American, and the nation's catastrophic political performance, he has deemed The Good Book fair game once more.
Minchin has countless songs themed around love and romance yet consistently evades the tired cliches usually associated with the topic. The lyricist foregoes ideas of love at first sight or glamorous professions of undying loyalty for much more grounded depictions in a way that evokes a much more relatable and intimate response. I’ll Take Lonely Tonight shares the idea of simply not sleeping with other people in favour of a long-term partner whereas Apart Together is an expression of the beauty of decaying together, allowing one another to age in each other's arms.
Before the intermission, Minchin was sure to celebrate those in the audience who had paid upwards of £150 to be in attendance. This was not a story of the infamous dynamic pricing model rearing its ugly head again, but a demonstration of charity. The inflated tickets were purchased in accordance with the artists commitment to donate £5000 per night to local charitable causes, a credit to the unwavering support and kindness of those who took part.
In the second act we had the opportunity to celebrate the artist's theatrical composition success as he reeled off songs from both Matilda and Groundhog Day - Revolting Children, I Know Everything and Seeing You - showcasing the breadth of his creative reach and success.
With the musician taking to the stage for the final time with an encore, he gave us the final few flourishes of his expansive range that even includes a beautiful Christmas song by the name of White Wine in the Sun; what could be more appropriate in the blazing heat of a June evening?
The show was brought to a close with a cover of Dionne Warwick’s hit That’s What Friends Are For, gesturing with appreciation to his ‘friends’ on stage. The performing ensemble took to stage centre to take their bows amongst a standing ovation, finally leaving and allowing the audience to spill into the twilight of the Nottingham evening.
The show was a joyous reflection on the human experience, warts and all. It truly exhibited, first and foremost, Tim Minchin’s ability to capture the magic of the unnoteworthy and celebrate the beautiful idiosyncrasies that make life so fascinating. The performance felt surprisingly un-pretentious despite the obtuse and insistent use of complex ideas and confusing multi-syllabic words. I left this show with an appreciation for the moment that I was existing in and the beauty of the world around me, and for that I am thankful.
Tim Minchin performed at the Royal Concert Hall on 16th June 2025.
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