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Tim Minchin doesn’t scare me. His song about Guardian reviewer Phil Daoust (who gave his show one star for the 2005 Edinburgh Festival)  is disguised as a song of forgiveness and soon becomes a vitriolic attack where Minchin joyfully daydreams about feeding Daoust chunks of “his own face-meat”. Still, at that point I slowly and quietly closed my notebook.

The good news is, Minchin’s show Ready For This? is slick and funny. With its nonstop offbeat cerebral wordiness, Minchin is clearly the thinking man’s comedian, and as always in Australia, the crowd can’t get enough of him. As Minchin comes out in true rock-God style, asking the already amped-up, hands-in-the-air audience “who needs friends when you have yourself?” the irony that’s set to continue for the next hour is abundantly clear. 

Minchin’s opening song is brilliant. It quietly jabs at recent criticisms of political un-correctness, while cleverly disguising one familiar prejudice within another. The entire show is (in what’s clearly become Minchin’s style) attack after attack on his perceptions of current cultural and religious taboos and intolerances. His song The Good Book is a highlight and a great vehicle for showcasing his remarkable skills as a pianist. My only criticism is that, unlike his previous show So F**king Rock, Minchin’s unabashed offensiveness and derision seems to be slipping into a sort of preachy fanaticism of his own. That, coupled with the sheer loquacity of his material, can render some segments too long. His 9 minute Beat poem is superbly performed, and yet the cliché of a hippy called Storm who isn’t given any new twists of character doesn’t particularly merit the 9 minutes devoted to her.

Minchin really is an extraordinary virtuoso performer. His musical genius and comic timing leave you thoroughly satiated, almost, it seems, regardless of the calibre of the material he’s performing. His ability to perform in any musical genre with both incredible skill and comic aplomb, often with a large dose of tenderness thrown in, is truly what stands Minchin apart from the pack. So much so, I wanted less stand-up and more songs that showcase this remarkable musical wordsmith.


Fox In The Snow
Tim Minchin
Ready For This?

Venue: Forum Theatre - Downstairs | Cnr Flinders & Russell Sts, Melbourne (Licensed venue. Under 18s must be accompanied by a Parent or Legal Guardian)
Dates: 14 - 26 April
Times: Tue - Sat 7.15pm, Sun 6.15pm
Duration: 70 minutes
Tickets: Full $33, Concession $28
Bookings: Ticketek 132 849 | at the door