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Tim Minchin

Composer, actor and pianist Tim Minchin lept into the British comedy scene in 2005, with his Perrier-best-newcomer-winning Edinburgh show Dark Side.

It was a show he had debuted at the Sydney Big Laugh Comedy Festival earlier that year, and performed to critical acclaim at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, where it won the Festival Directors' Award.

His follow-up show, So Rock, was nominated for the Barry award for the most outstanding show in his native Melbourne in 2006 before returning to Edinburgh. That year he also appeared at the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal.

He performed his first show, Navel, in Australia in 2003 and was a Victoria state finalist in the Raw competition for new comedians the following year.

As an actor, he has played Amadeus in Peter Schaffer's play, and Hamlet, both for the Perth Theatre Company, and has appeared with the Australian Shakespeare Company.

Winner of the best music and variety act at the Chortle awards in 2009, 2010 and 2011, where his show with a full orchestra was also named best tour.

In 2010, he wrote the music for the Royal Shakespeare Company's adaptation of Roald Dahl's Matilda.

Official Website

Tim Minchin to star in new Sky drama

...about transporting a piano across the Australian desert

Tim Minchin is to make a new ‘sharp-tongued and touching’ drama series for Sky.

In Upright, the comic and musician plays a gifted but self-destructive pianist trying to transport a battered upright piano 2,500 miles across the Australian desert to bid farewell to his dying mother.

And on his journey he pairs up with Meg (Milly Alcock), described as ‘a hilarious, tough-as-nails teenager who has plenty of scars and secrets of her own’.

Minchin wrote the eight-part series with its creator Chris Taylor, a member of The Chaser comedy team, as well as Kate Mulvany and Leon Ford. The comic will also write the music and act as one of the executive producers.

He said: ‘From the moment I heard about the idea for Upright, I knew it was the show I’d been waiting to make. I like stories that make me laugh and think and cry, I adore the landscapes of outback Australia, and I love music, and homecomings, and characters full of flaws.

‘It’s awesome to be writing with this extraordinary team, and I’m looking forward to acting alongside Milly Alcock, who I think is a really special talent.’

The show, which will air next year, is being made in conjunction with Sky’s Australian sister company Foxtel, Lingo Pictures and Screen Australia, whose head of production Sally Caplan said: Upright is a project that will appeal in Australia and to the international market, with the hugely talented Tim Minchin on board.

‘What attracted us to this series was the well-crafted young female protagonist and the work of the strong writing team. I have no doubt this moving and quirky comedy will resonate with audiences.’

Production will begin in South Australia and Western Australia in October and the series will be directed by Matthew Saville, whose credits include the Josh Thomas comedy series Please Like Me.

Published: 23 Jul 2018