Tim Murray will cast a spell on you with his show Witches

Actor/comic Tim Murray is able to bewitch you as he brings his spooky comedy hour Witches to a metropolis close to you beginning this month. The present is a mixture of get up and unique comedy songs about his favourite popular culture witches.

In Witches, Tim makes use of songs and stand-up blended with hilarious private tales about rising up a closeted, but female boy, who tried onerous to go as straight to keep away from being burned on the stake. He could have you howling on the moon, cackling at his jokes, and crying (however hopefully not melting). All through the present, he celebrates well-known sorceresses all through herstory together with The Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus, the teenager coven of The Craft, Angelica Houston’s Grand Excessive Witch from The Witches and, after all, Elphaba from Depraved and makes use of their tales as a parallel to the queer witch hunt.

Witches obtained raves from critics, together with 5-star critiques from Leisure Now, North West Finish, Broadway Child, and Broadway World at The Edinburgh Fringe Pageant in 2023. Murray took the present on a sold-out tour to 18 cities in the US and Canada. Witches was nominated for an Off-West Finish Award for Greatest Fringe present, Murray was shortlisted for the Comic’s Selection Award and WON Greatest Musical Theatre Present of the Fringe from Leisure Now. As well as, Playbill additionally named the present a Choose of the Fringe. Not too long ago, Tim gained The New York Queer Comedy Pageant, which is a year-long competitors in opposition to tons of of different New York comedians. 

Tim is a viral sensation together with his TikTok sketch comedy movies, together with his well-liked sequence “Every Conversation In LA”. He has carried out stand-up all around the U.S., including SF Sketchfest, The Brooklyn Comedy Pageant, and DragCon, and has been a daily on the Bowen Yang & Matt Rogers’ Las Culturistas LIVE podcast episodes and his personal podcast Slumber Get together on iHeart radio.

We chatted with Tim about his bewitching present, his comedy influences, and what’s subsequent for him in our unique interview.  And whereas we didn’t burn him on the stake, we did put him within the scorching seat for the Socialite Seven. Get to know this proficient and wickedly humorous performer.

I did slightly deep dive, and I discovered you hosted my absolute favourite factor that occurred throughout COVID, which was the Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods reunion.

Oh my God, thanks a lot. That was like essentially the most random, wonderful factor I may have ever finished. 

I am an enormous fan of Lena Corridor, so I used to be simply excited to see her. 

She’s every little thing, and enjoyable reality, she’s the rationale that it occurred. I requested all of them to do it, after which within the group chat she actually rallied them and was like, you guys, come on, we’ve to do that.

How did Witches come about?

I’ve all the time been obsessive about witches in popular culture. As slightly homosexual boy, I believe most little queer children watching Wizard of Oz are like, okay, nicely, what is going on on with that inexperienced evil witch? She’s essentially the most enjoyable one. Her and Glinda, you are like, nicely, I have to know them and when Depraved got here out, I used to be 16. And I simply bear in mind being my gayest, most me self as an older child and being like, okay, that is my persona. It’s growing proper now, listening to Wicked.

I began in musical theater and transitioned into get up after which this present actually was my type of amalgamation of every little thing that I do and I used to be like, okay, if I need to do a musical stand-up present, what’s my manner in right here? And I simply obtained the concept to make a Halloween sort of comedy present. And, actually, each time I sat down on my pc, I simply began to put in writing about witches, so all of it simply type of got here collectively like in a short time and fluently.

I wished to ask you about your expertise in Edinburgh on the Fringe Pageant. What was it prefer to take your present there?

So scary.  Particularly for an American, I’d describe it to folks as like, in case you have been going to do a Fringe Pageant in Philadelphia, you’d most likely have some buddies or household or individuals who know folks in Philly or New York Metropolis or D.C. or Pittsburgh, who may prepare in and see you. However within the UK, we do not know anyone. So, you are really exhibiting up, hoping that individuals will come. And for lots of Individuals, folks do not come. A few of my buddies would play to love 4 or 5 folks an evening, typically lower than that.

You actually have to only get on the road and beg folks to return and hope that reviewers come to your present and hope that they prefer it. And that word-of-mouth spreads. I took such an enormous monetary leap going there and doing that – and the truth that folks obtained it and it actually paid off and other people got here to see it was a tremendous, terrifying, unimaginable expertise.

I need to get slightly bit into your background. Who have been your comedic influences? 

Individuals ask this rather a lot, and it is fascinating as a result of there has by no means been a homosexual male humorist as a family title. So, for me, it was like Carol Burnett in Annie. I imply, I am type of a hodgepodge, I would say. I like Norm Macdonald, I like Wanda Sykes I, I cherished Janeane Garofalo as a younger boy, but in addition like Caroline Rhea and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, I simply bear in mind her comedic timing being so enjoyable and humorous to me. And my final is Lisa Kudrow in Buddies, for me it was all about timing. It was like, okay, that’s my my intention in comedy is simply determining the rhythm of issues.

When placing collectively a present like Witches, what was your inventive course of like?

I had been doing a whole lot of stand-up and I simply tried to put in writing as many onerous jokes, I name them, as I may. I’d simply write concerning the homosexual expertise and about witches. Amy Schumer all the time says what I believe could be very true for me too, which is like, she’ll write a full web page of an concept after which of that complete web page, one joke will come out of it. In order that was type of how Witches labored too.

I’d attempt to consider popular culture concepts that I like, just like the film The Craft or Sabrina or Bewitched. After which, I considered what the sport is for every of those popular culture issues. Like for the Sabrina one, it was like, okay, caregiver witches, however their sport is that Aunt Hilda and Aunt Zelda actually need to let their hair down and have intercourse and do medication.

After which, I wrote simply my extra generalized songs that are not about anybody particular popular culture factor. I’d nonetheless consider the sport, like, okay, if I am a witch, what do I’ve in widespread with a witch? For instance, I hate being round youngsters and once they’re on an airplane it is like absolute hell for me and everybody round me and I’ve that in widespread with a witch so there is a track referred to as “I Hate Youngsters.”

You do a whole lot of crowd work and I all the time admire comedians that may do crowd work and pull it off. How can you do such good crowd work?

Oh, thanks. That, I believe, is my one pure reward that I simply have been given in life. And I assume the coaching I had for it, my 10,000 hours, was simply rising up with a really social mother, a really extroverted mother, and like studying from her tips on how to simply discuss to anyone.  And to me, crowd work ought to really feel like how I’m off stage.

So, like the identical manner I’d banter with a barista once I’m getting a espresso or chatting with a good friend is how I need to be up there. I need to make you are feeling such as you’re at lunch with me otherwise you’re in my front room and we’re kiki-ing and partying. And the opposite aspect of that reply is my improv coaching.

I went to UCB and so they actually simply train you and provide you with a extremely nice construction for tips on how to actually hearken to folks and bear in mind what they’ve stated after which flip that into one thing. And so, there’s that aspect of it and I believe I’ve a singular spin on crowd work, which is that I do not actually prefer to roast folks. It is probably not my vibe. I prefer to uplift folks and typically hit on them. I need the viewers to really feel actually good. Properly, realizing that I am in management.