That there is Tim Minchin and on Thursday night Chris and I went to see him and the Heritage Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in our nation's capital. I'm not fibbing or exaggerating when I tell you that the show was one of the best things I've ever seen in my whole entire thirty-three-and-a-bit years of life. It was astounding.
I've only ever seen the Royal Albert Hall from the outside and on the television and that magnificent building is a wonder in itself. I snapped a few pictures on my iPhone; the one above shows the Hall from the outside and the one below is inside, looking up.
The following picture was taken before the show started and you can see that we had a good view of Tim and his piano:
If you're familiar with the work of Mister Minchin you'll know that he combines comedy with his own music. If you've not seen him or heard his songs, here is his YouTube channel but be warned - there will be swears. Minchin really is quite the musical genius and his lyrics and wordplay are amazing. His songs cover a wide range of subjects - social satire and religion (Minchin is an atheist) are two favourites. Tim also writes the most beautiful love songs. The wonderful Heritage Orchestra added another dimension to Tim's already excellent songs and I had quite a few hairs-on-the-back-of-my-neck moments. I laughed and I also cried.
The night was just superb and I cannot wait to see Mister Minchin again. In fact, the show we saw was being recorded for a DVD so we should be able to relive the whole experience again very soon.
Yippee!