Episodes
Australian Story: Tim Minchin (ABC TV Monday 7 November 2022)
Tim Minchin, actor, composer, and musician, once intended to give up and find a real job. The biological clock was ticking for him and his breadwinner wife Sarah, who had been together since they were just 17 years old, as he approached 30.
He was relying on playing piano for entertainers like Eddie Perfect and Todd McKenney and producing cabaret shows in small clubs despite his ability to compose, perform, and make people laugh.
Then, one final, must-win performance turned into an unexpected smash at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and he left. He transitioned from playing in clubs to arenas, and Matilda: The Musical’s success made him a well-known composer all over the world.
He experienced fame, fortune, and the kind of adulation he had previously only ever dreamed of as his career took off.
Tim and Sarah Minchin reflect on the difficulties that fame and admiration brought to their lives and relationship in a candid Australian Story.
“It’s all about me, me, me, me, me,”
“The audience is laughing at me and they love me and it screws with your ego. This is what makes stars into wankers – you can’t help it.”
“Learning to manage jealousy is kind of interesting when you’ve got a partner who has had some interest over the years,” Sarah says. “But I knew there was going to be no changing that.”
When Tim and his family moved to LA, his career looked set to continue its remarkable upward trajectory but then came a series of setbacks.
“Having had all my dreams come true, I had this big, big reality check,”
Returning with his family to live in Australia, Tim Minchin now finds himself at a crossroads. He has re-assessed his priorities, focusing on family and meaningful work and how his satire fits in a rapidly changing world.
“I am a straight white dude with a huge microphone speaking in a time that is at the end of hundreds of years of straight white dudes with microphones imposing their unchecked privilege,”
“So, it is not so bad that people like me feel like we need to shut the f**k up for a little bit.”
Introduced by actor Toby Schmitz.
Producers: Kristine Taylor and Greg Hassall.
Airdate: Monday 7 November 2022 at 8.00pm on ABC TV.
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