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" Following headline slots from the likes of Arcade Fire, The Libertines and McBusted, the Barclaycard British Summer Time concert series in Hyde Park took a left turn last night (July 10), branching out like the resplendent trees that decorate its stage with a night of comedy. But rather than putting together a bill consisting entirely of stand-up, organisers wisely turned to the one man who is now as much of a rock star as he is a comic - Tim Minchin.  In a slightly incongruous fit, the evening proceedings were overseen by veteran funnyman Jasper Carrott. Although the British Comedy Awards Lifetime Achievement winner was better known to large sections of the crowd for splitting and stealing Golden Balls than for his TV output in the &amp;#039;80s and &amp;#039;90s, the 69-year-old did enough to suggest he can still cut it on the circuit, even winning the dubious honour of the night&amp;#039;s most questionable joke concerning recent sex abuse allegations, which didn&amp;#039;t sit all that well alongside the comic&amp;#039;s other more mature subject matter these days.  Gina Yashere was well-suited to her task of warming the crowd up. While the giant screens behind the stage had the curious habit of cutting to members of the crowd winking and gurning during each performer&amp;#039;s set, Yashere turned this to her advantage as a means of crowd interaction, rather than the unfortunate distraction it might have otherwise been. US comedy duo The Pajama Men battled manfully in the type of wide-open, bright-daylight setting that doesn&amp;#039;t suit their physical character comedy and showed enough flashes of inspiration to justify their burgeoning collection of comedy awards. Nina Conti, however, hit the ground running with a set that was as fantastically funny as it was physically impressive. The ventriloquist&amp;#039;s rapport with her companion Monkey is so well-honed and free-flowing that it&amp;#039;s easy to miss the skill in the art form. An operatic set-piece earned the kind of rapturous applause usually reserved for the Royal Albert Hall, while Conti&amp;#039;s regular human puppet segment still feels fresh and genuinely joyous. The same applies to Milton Jones, whose comedy stylings are difficult to resist. The Mock the Week regular has cornered the market in absurdist one-liners; more unpredictable than Tim Vine, more whimsical than Stewart Francis, he - like Conti - makes something very, very difficult look effortless. But there was little doubt who the majority of the crowd was here to see. &amp;quot;I hope you weren&amp;#039;t expecting new material,&amp;quot; Tim Minchin smiled as he launched into &amp;#039;Rock N Roll Nerd&amp;#039;, and the audience was more than happy to sing along every step of the way. The British-born Aussie even had to jokingly plead with the crowd not to spoil the twist of &amp;#039;Prejudice&amp;#039; for anyone who didn&amp;#039;t know his songs - not that it appeared anyone was in that position.  Minchin&amp;#039;s physicality is also something to behold, throwing himself around the stage for &amp;#039;Cheese&amp;#039; and marshalling his band under the &amp;quot;Satanic&amp;quot; red lights of &amp;#039;Dark Side&amp;#039; like a crazed virtuoso conductor. Indeed not too long into his set, he&amp;#039;d whipped the crowd up into a frenzy of dancing and hand-claps, proof if ever it were needed that he has long since transcended the traditional confines of a stage comedian. Feeding off their energy, he performed with all the knowing showmanship of someone having the time of their life. Brevity may be the soul of wit, but some fans weren&amp;#039;t laughing when the concert wrapped up around 20 minutes before the 10pm curfew. Not Minchin&amp;#039;s fault - the event&amp;#039;s app had listed the incorrect set time and the performer even took to Twitter to explain that he had played for longer than he was booked - but to see the man who had been billed as the main event leave the stage before the sun had fully set left more than a tinge of disappointment, when there really shouldn&amp;#039;t have been any. Nevertheless, what there was was stellar. Most intriguing of all was a solo encore performance of a song from his potential Groundhog Day musical. Along with closing number &amp;#039;When I Grow Up&amp;#039; from Matilda, it served as a reminder that Minchin&amp;#039;s immediate future may lie away from live tour dates. But whatever he chooses to immerse himself in - theatre, comedy, acting or somewhere in between - this short but sweet Hyde Park gig suggested that there will be plenty of people ready to listen.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/comedy/review/a583613/tim-minchin-live-in-hyde-park-review-as-much-a-rock-star-as-a-comic/>