Tim Minchin on his tour Back and getting off Twitter

Virgin Radio

24 Jun 2021, 15:00

The award winning Aussie joined the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky to talk about coming back to the UK this autumn with his hilarious music and comedy show Back. He said about his drinking habits: "I have a strict half a bottle limit. Sometimes I go out to dinner and I'm more relaxed but if I'm just having a drink at home over dinner, I try to stop at half a bottle but I've actually, for the first time in some years, started taking a few nights off.

"I wouldn't want people to model their drinking on me. I have a medicinal relationship with wine but I do love it."

On his upcoming comedy, he said: “We did the tour a couple of years ago and then we were gonna do an encore tour and then it got shut down during the pandemic. And then we got back on sale and we've done pretty well with selling tickets. 

“We've got some new dates coming out next week, so I'm a little early here but next week there's some Scottish dates coming out and a couple of extra UK dates. People love this show, we love doing it. I've just been desperate to get back to the UK.”

What advice has he got for keeping calm and dealing with any negative thoughts? He said: “I’m afraid I'm quiet macro. For me it's about going for a run, it's about burning energy, getting in the ocean, trying to externalise. 

“My brain goes pretty fast at times, so reading a book, getting into someone else's thoughts instead of your own, getting off the internet.

“I've got off Twitter finally and it's had a real positive effect. Not too much of other people's nonsense, a bit of a book and a run, that's all I got. 

“I physically, several times a week, do something like a run that I'm really pushing, trying to run under a time or whatever. Or I go and do a fitness class and because you're wearing yourself out you sleep better and I think our bodies want to do that. Having said all that, if you're really down, it's not that simple. 

“It's not that easy to just put the running shoes on, so I'm just talking about your average day-to-day blues and the average day-to-day anxieties. I'd hate for people to think I'm preaching to people who have really struggled because it's just not that simple.”