Tim Minchin is an Australian musician, actor, comedian and writer.
Originally from Perth, he completed a Bachelor of Arts in English and Theatre at the University of Western Australia in 1995, then an Advanced Diploma in Contemporary Music at the Conservatorium of WA – part of the WA Academy of Performing Arts – in 1998.
In 2002, he moved to Melbourne, where he began to develop the solo comedy shows which have gained him public and critical acclaim in the last three years. He developed his unique style during an 18-month period when he played regularly in the famous 40-seat cabaret room of The Butterfly Club in South Melbourne, before producing his break out show, Dark Side, at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2005. This show won the inaugural Festival Directors’ Award and was picked up by legendary Edinburgh producer, Karen Koren, matriarch of the Gilded Balloon .
At the Edinburgh Fringe, Tim became one of the most successful ever debut acts, selling out the 300-seat Debating Hall and winning the Perrier Award for Best Newcomer. He subsequently went on to perform Dark Side at the Soho Theare and the Lyric Theatre in London’s West End, and also appeared on a bill with Mariah Carey and Westlife at the Royal Albert Hall.
He appeared at the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival in 2006 and the HBO US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado in January 2007, where he won the award for Best Alternative Comedian. In November that year, he performed at the HBO Comedy Festival in Las Vegas and sold out short seasons at Ars Nova in New York and the ACME Comedy Theatre in LA. He is booked for a six-week run at the New World Stages in New York in March 2008.
In Australia, he has performed sellout shows at the Sydney Opera House, the Brisbane Powerhouse and His Majesty’s Theatre in Perth, and has performed at the Adelaide Fringe, the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Big Laugh Festival in Sydney.
Television credits include Comedy Shuffle (BBC), Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC), The World Stands Up (Paramount Comedy), Comedy Cuts (ITV), Spicks and Specks (ABC) and The Sideshow (ABC).
He has appeared on British and Australian radio and has recorded two specials for BBC Radio 2: “Tim Minchin and Friends” and “Tim Minchin’s Loving and Peaceful Yuletide Half Hour” .
He has released three live comedy albums, Dark Side(2005), So Rock (2006) and Ready For This?(2009). His debut DVD, So Live, was recorded at the Sydney Opera House in May 2007 and was released by Madman Entertainment in November that year.
Tim has played the title roles in Hamlet and Amadeus (Perth Theatre Co), Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar and the writer in Reg Cribb’s The Return. In late 2007 he made his feature debut in Two Fists, One Heart, a drama filmed and set in Perth, WA. He also contributed to the script and soundtrack of the film.
He has written a musical play, Pop – a Tragically Musical Romantic Black Comedy, and in 2001 recorded an album, Sit, with his band, Timmy the Dog. He has composed and written songs for theatre and documentary, most recently This Blasted Earth (Tamarama Rock Surfers), Somewhere (Q Theatre) and the soundtrack for The Kindness of Strangers (Prospero)– an award-winning documentary by Rhian Skirving.
