6.30am
I’m never happier than when I’m up to see sunrise. My two kids aren’t massive fans of school so it’s a relief knowing I can have my flat white and not fight with Violet, 13.
7.30am
We live in Coogee, a suburb of Sydney. It’s summer so I whack on little running shorts, a Rolling Stones shirt and Asics trainers, tie my hair in a man bun, and take our dog, Sonny, for a walk. He’s a groodle – a golden retriever poodle – and needs to be walked a lot because he’s anxious. At home, I’m the opposite of who I am on stage: I’m a middle-aged dad in activewear.
9am
I meet my sisters, Katie and Nel, in a café. I order poached eggs with avocado on sourdough. In New South Wales, we’ve avoided a second lockdown. We’re very lucky.
10.30am
My wife Sarah and I take it in turns to coax Violet out of bed for her singing lesson, and drive Caspar, 11, to basketball. Exercise has always been a huge part of my life, but I’m at the age where I’m just managing my pain. I’ve an injured shoulder and weird knee, so I’m experimenting with long, slow runs.
2pm
Our house has a pool, so my sisters’ families roll in and out. I’m a control freak and work every day, but acknowledge weekends more than I used to. Sarah’s a stay-at-home mum, but that’s an absurd underestimation; she runs the whole crazy show.
4pm
I’ve made a studio album [Apart Together] and practised for the live-streamed launch in the spare room. I’m meant to tour in February but there’s little chance of that. I struggle because I’ve been performing for over 25 years and it’s part of my identity and self-esteem, and that’s not healthy.
5.30pm
Sarah and I often go out to eat. I like a glass of wine at six. I’m abstemious during the day, I save my indulgence for the evening.
7.30pm
We’ve just seen a great new Australian play called Wonnangatta, but Covid rules have made Sydney’s theatres feel Orwellian, like so much of life.
11pm
I read in bed, and have a virtuous book and a potboiler on the go. I’m reading a John Grisham and Humankind by Rutger Bregman, about whether humans are fundamentally kind.
11.30pm
I’m asleep by midnight – after a hydration drink and a Nurofen.
My guilty pleasure is…
Pulp fiction. I’m reading a lot of Lee Child because I’m finding the world quite stressful.
The item I couldn’t live without is…
A piano. If I have five minutes, I choose a key and muck around. I never sit down and play something; I always improvise.
My go-to meal is…
I’m not a great chef but I make fantastic scrambled eggs. If I’m feeding a bunch of people, I do a northern Italian, hearty, quite pungent lasagne that involves spending a long time reducing red wine.
Tim Minchin’s debut album Apart Together is out now. His TV show Upright is also out on DVD & digital.
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