Tim Minchin - Ready for This

Like Russell Brand, Tim Minchin sports wild hair, eyeliner and elegant diction – but that's where the comparisons end. Unlike Brand, Minchin is a piano virtuoso and a one-lady man. He's not keen on shoes either.

Minchin is all about musical comedy. After opening Ready for This with an epilepsy-inducing synth racket, Minchin materialises on piano diddling a cautionary song titled 'Prejudice'. His wife also takes the brunt of several of his jokes, namely in the cosmologically objective love song 'If I Didn't Have You (Somebody Else Would Do)'.

Songs aside, Minchin's stand-up, crowd interaction and witty observations help diversify his euphonic performance. Also, he mixes up his musical repertoire with a brilliant nine-minute beat poem where he annihilates a tea-leaf reading hippy, assailing her with acerbic rationality. Richard Dawkins would be proud.

Like many of Minchin's songs, Ready for This plods on a bit longer than necessary, but after 100-odd minutes you'll agree that Minchin is one of Australia's brightest and most talented comedians.

Extras Songbook.

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