Time Warp marks Brad and Janet’s first exposure to the camp, delightful weirdness of Dr Frank-N-Furter’s mansion, from the pale hunchback Riff-Raff’s (played by writer Richard O’Brien) opening lines, though Magenta’s overly-sexed drawl, right through to Columbia’s energetic tap routine. They have left their idyllic, innocent life and entered into something overtly hedonistic and wild, only a snapshot of the madness to come. This is brilliantly, and hilariously intercut with Charles Grey’s narrator, at first stoically and sensibly delivering instructions on how to perform the dance routine (with diagrams), but later also taken over by Time Warp fever and leaping on to his desk to put his hands on his hips and bend his knees in tight.
There is so much to love about Time Warp, from it’s delightfully bizarre lyrics, to it’s infectious rhythm. The Transylvanians are a diverse bunch of people, all performing the dance routine with various levels of skill but having a rolicking good time doing it. Plus, one of those very Transylvanians is Christopher Biggins, and if that doesn’t convince you of Time Warp’s greatness, nothing will.
The final thing that makes Time Warp so awesome is that we know this is just the start. As the song dies down, we’re ready for Tim Curry to descent in the lift to launch into Sweet Transvestite, and for everything to get even weirder and more fun as we progress. Time Warp serves to get the audience into a party mood, to prepare themselves to just go along with the ride, no matter what strange paths The Rocky Horror Picture Show may lead you down.