Tim Minchen Funniest Thing out of Australia Since Boxing Kangaroos

Not to impune the comedic gold that is the phenomena of the impractical uselessness of the boomerang, nor the clever brilliance of Clarke & Dawe, but Tim Minchin (Wikipedia or TimMinchin.com) is as funny as anyone you’ll see, as musically brilliant as you could ever hope to find, and more entertaining than anyone you’ll never see in the United States.

I first discovered Tim Minchin earlier this year when a friend sent me link to The Pope Song, which at first seemed cute and crude, but upon reading the lyrics and listening to it again, I found that this was more than just a witty musician, this was a comic genius. I thought he was a viral video flash in the pan, but he’s an established musical comedian with a body of work that deserves more attention.

So I hit up the library and requested everything I could get, and checked out the Official Tim Minchin YouTube channel, and I discovered that this guy is smarter and funnier than anything I’ve seen in years, and sadly, that includes even my own best work, for which I have an unusual (some might even rightly say suspicious,) affinity.

Without wasting your whole day with my ramblings I know you’ll never read, let me just jump in here with video clips.

This first one is a song called “Prejudice”, and it’s about how there are certain words one just shouldn’t use. It highlights his comedic gift, but more than that, it really shows off his musical chops.

Tim Minchin has said in interviews that he performs comedic musical numbers because he doesn’t have the skill to be either a comic or a musician alone. I couldn’t disagree more.

The next clip is “Rock & Roll Nerd”, which shows more of the same great stuff.

The last clip I’ll bug you with is “Dark Side”, which is nothing less than more of the same, though this one doesn’t appear on the official channel, so don’t be shocked if it disappears before you can see it.

Tim Minchin has three CDs and three DVDs. The video “Rock n Roll Nerd: The Tim Minchin Story” is the most interesting to me, but “So Live” is a great live performance DVD, if you can find it.

This is the gold you find when you mine outside the states.

Image appears courtesy of TimMinchin.com