Tim Minchin’s new TV show, Upright, is available for US consumers on the Sundance channel. The show is a modern, Australian, take on John Hughes’s Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Although I am only one episode in, I highly recommend the series. Within the first few scenes, it’s clear that Minchin’s character is starting a transformative journey.
The casting of Minchin as Lucky Flynn, the protagonist, wasn’t an immediately obvious choice. Minchin has never been known as a series-leading actor. However, Minchin’s career has been defined by transformation.
Do you agree that the magic of
About TimeKate MossTim Minchin lies in her history…the informality of her early shots compared to this stuff, so you just always know that, despite the high fashion, she’s still just that cheeky normal naked girl on the beach
Minchin first made a name for himself as a musical comedian specializing in bleak humor and dark satire. His comedy is critical of conservative religion, hypocrisy, and idealistic views of romance, and is rarely suitable for children.
Minchin has, at least, four recorded comedy specials (two currently on Netflix) full of his critical wit. As his comedy career was approaching his Zenith, Minchin co-wrote Matilda the Musical. The show was nominated for 12 Tony awards and toured on Broadway for 4 years.
The move from Broadway to musicals suited for young audiences was actually a return to Minchin’s original career aspirations. After college, Minchin planned to write “serious” music and act on stage.
If a successful comedy career afforded Minchin the ability to write Broadway musicals, then the success of his Broadway musicals (Minchin co-adapted Groundhog Day as well) afforded him the notoriety to make the “serious” songs he initially planned.
At 45, Minchin is set to debut his first studio album in November of this year. Like his comedy, the singles he released deal with the darker aspects of human existence. Still he rejects the idea of an idyllic relationship, although he approaches the subject with more vulnerability:
Maybe Minchin was the obvious choice. From “serious” songwriter, to comedian, to Broadway, back to singer, and now to starring in a TV series, Minchin had his own Planes, Trains and Automobiles journey. Who better to portray an adaptation on TV?
Polly Wanna Math 