Tim Minchin: The Unromantic Romantic

The Australian artist and comedian on surviving the lockdown, monogamy, maturity and his latest passion project

- Eva Mackevic

ROLLING OUT OF bed at 7am to conduct an interview ten minutes later is not exactly my favourite morning scenario. But the hefty 11-hour time difference between the UK and Australia, where Tim Minchin is based, doesn’t allow either of us much leeway. I wait for him to join the Zoom call slouched in front of my computer, my swollen, sleep-deprived eyelids blinking sheepishly at the webcam. It’s 6pm in Sydney, and, as it turns out, Tim hasn’t had a great day himself. His signature long hair is scraggly and wet (he just got out of the shower) and his eyes are red and puffy, like he was crying just a moment ago.

“Something went wrong with my eyes last night and I ended up in the emergency department of an eye hospital. It’s some sort of infection, so I woke up this morning unable to open my eyes but it’s getting better”, he explains. Despite an eventful night, Tim seems to be in good spirits. He’s calm and buoyant, sitting beside his piano, family pictures hanging on the wall behind him—a comforting composition that makes our conversation feel much more intimate than it actually is. Maintaining this kind of air of composure hasn’t come easily to the Australian artist over the last few COVID-stricken months though, he admits, and a large part of keeping his sanity intact was avoiding the news, he says.