A quick word with: Tim Minchin

Tim Minchin. Photo / Supplied

Thanks for taking time out from your dinner party - was it a good one?

I've become more well-behaved at dinner parties since I became a comedian because now I've got my outlet and I don't have to get angry about stuff.

So you get pretty angry on stage then?

A vast majority of the show is about rationalism and people believing in nonsense. It bangs on a f*** load about science and people being dickheads really. Because that's what I think about, so that's what I write about.

And where does the music come from - you were playing in bands before this?

I was doing loads of things, composing for theatre, played in loads of bands - cover bands and wedding bands - just to keep the bills paid. Although I didn't quite manage that, my wife always had a proper job. I'm an actor - but I'm a reasonably unsuccessful actor. I didn't write very serious music, that's what led me to comedy. In my head I'm still writing songs for theatre. It just happens that I've cast myself in the only role.

And it turns out it's hilarious...

Well, yeah, I'm funnier than I thought I was, that's for sure. But it's interesting because I still struggle with the identification of myself as a comedian.It must be even more weird to be a celebrity comedian then...Well yeah, I was brought up in a family where it wasn't like you said, 'I want to be an artist when I grow up'. It was a reasonably conservative family - my dad was a doctor, his dad was a doctor - it took me a long time to realise that I could be a muso or a songwriter for a job.

Would you say this is your dream job?

I spent a lot of years trying to be what I thought record or theatre companies would like and not being successful. Then one day I turned around and sang satirical songs and hogged the stage ... and got smoke machines and wore tight jeans and got a whole lot of coloured lights and did exactly what I wanted.

Having said that, doing 45 dates in eight weeks when you've got two young babies is not the easiest thing in the world. [He has a four-month-old called Casper, Violet is three].

Do your children feature in your shows?

I've never done domestic-based comedy, even though I find it funny and everything. But I tend to do this slightly philosophical, wanky - I always describe it as sex, death and God - comedy and I don't want to be the sort of person who, you know, has a baby and suddenly goes, 'Oh aren't nappies funny and how funny is poo' - it doesn't really suit my style.

I tend to get my ideas from books and from anger, and my children don't make me angry.

You have quite an angsty rock star look. Where did that start?

Yeah, my f***ing rock star look. When I started out I would have enough wine as I could drink before going on stage, and take off my shoes - it made me feel relaxed. Being behind a piano I realised how important it was that people saw my face, so I started wearing a bit of face makeup.

It's quite funny to dress like a rockstar and play the f*** out of a piano and then stand up and start talking about logical fallacies. There is a clash between my content and my look.


Quite the walking oxymoron. Some reviewers are calling you one of the top five comedians in the world. How do you become that?

Do you know what? I'm pretty shocked that I'm a comedian and I'm pretty surprised at how well my career's going. I mean it's not so many years ago that if someone said 'would you ever do stand-up?' I'd be like 'f*** off', you know.

But in a way I feel like I have arrived at what I'm supposed to do.

* Tim Minchin performs at the SkyCity Theatre on December 12.