Tim Minchin
So Rock

The Umbrella Revolution - The Garden Of Unearthly Delights
Sat 24 March
until Sat 31 March


Being unfamiliar with the work of musical comedian Tim Minchin, I didn't know what to expect of his show 'So Rock'. I certainly didn't expect the queue to get in to be long enough to be seen from space, but I took this as a good sign. And indeed it was, forecasting a night of high energy entertainment.

You certainly wouldn't mistake Minchin for any other comedian. Wild-haired, barefoot, wearing a long black coat and heavy mascara, he makes a distinct impression before he even opens his mouth, which is appropriate as his opener is a mime show set to music. While this got some laughs, the first round of applause came when, in a very rock-star move, he jumped on and broke his piano stool. From here on in the laughs just keep coming.

Minchin performs a bunch of songs on a variety of topics as disparate as fetishism and the Middle East peace process. These ditties have a strange blend of vulgarity and whimsy that makes them far more charming than they have any right to be, and Minchin belts them out with the style of a devilish lounge singer. Amid the frivolity, there is a song about childhood obesity that is less funny then a strident rally call, and worth hearing for that.

The songs are good, and Minchin's patter between them is intelligent and delivered to deadpan perfection. By the end of his encore song I got the feeling he was losing the audience a little, but we still left happy, and you will too.

Henry Nicholls