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Grrr鈥� Minchin fails to keep a lid on his contempt for dippy hippies (Image: Tim Minchin with DC Turner and Tracy King)

Comedian Tim Minchin鈥檚 graphic novel Storm takes on people who think knowledge is merely opinion misspelled 鈥� but hippies are too easy a target

BE CAREFUL who you invite to your dinner party. Tim Minchin鈥檚 tale begins well enough: 鈥淚nner north London, top floor flat. All white walls, white carpet, white cat.鈥� Then the eponymous Storm arrives, just in from Australia.

Storm is one of those people who thinks knowledge is merely opinion misspelled, that reality is plastic, and that all would be well in the world if only we鈥檇 all join her in wishing it so. Anyone familiar with Minchin鈥檚 work as a comic, songwriter and actor might be able to guess what happens next.

Storm is a 6-year-old piece of stand-up comedy that attracted the attention of animators Tracy King and DC Turner. In 2011, they turned it into that has garnered 3.2 million hits on YouTube. This time they provide visuals for Minchin鈥檚 graphic novel 鈥� this year鈥檚 must-buy Christmas present.

The result is as sharply visualised and vividly coloured as the film on which it is based, and the words as witty and just as devastating. For example, the narrator of the tale observes: 鈥淪cience adjusts its views based on what鈥檚 observed, Faith is the denial of observation so that belief can be preserved.鈥�

In his introduction, Minchin in a rather dazed tone confronts the way his fans have 鈥渢urned a poem about a slightly annoying dinner party into something of a critical thinking anthem鈥�. Storm, with her hippy clothes and butterfly tattoo, is, he worries, a target made to be demolished.

, Minchin鈥檚 wide-eyed delivery and exquisite timing conjure up a particular moment among distinct, tightly drawn people. Storm annoys, but at the same time Minchin makes us aware that by taking her on so forcefully he is, to paraphrase , 鈥渘ot wrong 鈥� just an asshole鈥�.

It鈥檚 hard to play this double game on the page, and it doesn鈥檛 quite come off. Having kicked the new-age puppy (鈥淵ou know what they call alternative medicine that鈥檚 been proved to work? Medicine鈥�) the narrator comforts her with an appeal to appreciate the world: 鈥淚sn鈥檛 this enough? 鈥� Just this beautiful, wonderfully unfathomable, natural world?鈥�

Well, no. To be consistent, his argument must also embrace the world鈥檚 ugliness. If this is his game, then he鈥檒l have to explain pain, torture and death, along with the bunnies and the daisies. Life may be good, but it is patently not fair.

Maybe Minchin should deal with the problem of pain for his next outing. It needs addressing, and he is certainly up to the challenge.

This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淏reaking point鈥�