Subversive Thinking
I was unaware until yesterday that Cambridge had a Fringe festival, which starts this week. This year, the Fringe included a science comedy cabaret last night at Footlights, and all the hip scientists from the region were there.
The evening started with Mark Stevenson, who did some traditional standup with a vaguely scientific spin. Lots of sex and a small amount of monkeys. (Photos are the traditionally bad mobile phone camera in bar style, I'm afraid!)
Harry Witchel was up next, "you can see me on Big Brother, but you're better off not". He eschewed straight standup in favour of a lecturing style, well-suited to his audience, and presented some scientific analysis of dating and body language. It was a great act, only slightly let down by his audio-visual aids (movies are not best shown on a laptop screen, picked up by a CCTV camera, and relayed to an LCD panel!).
Finally, we heard from Ron Laskey, the creator of Songs for Cynical Scientists, and the man who wrote a song about the day his bicycle disappeared from Cambridge train station, and sent it to the Chief Constable of the British Transport Police by way of a complaint.
Ron (&friends) were terrific, and a superb way of ending the evening. They sang of the joys of flying from Heathrow, of how committees and commitments eat into an academic's days, and of being a post-doc.
Footlights was packed throughout, so perhaps there is an untapped market for scientific comedy in Cambridge. I'd certainly go to any similar events - as long as the publicity reaches me in time!
The evening started with Mark Stevenson, who did some traditional standup with a vaguely scientific spin. Lots of sex and a small amount of monkeys. (Photos are the traditionally bad mobile phone camera in bar style, I'm afraid!)
Harry Witchel was up next, "you can see me on Big Brother, but you're better off not". He eschewed straight standup in favour of a lecturing style, well-suited to his audience, and presented some scientific analysis of dating and body language. It was a great act, only slightly let down by his audio-visual aids (movies are not best shown on a laptop screen, picked up by a CCTV camera, and relayed to an LCD panel!).
Finally, we heard from Ron Laskey, the creator of Songs for Cynical Scientists, and the man who wrote a song about the day his bicycle disappeared from Cambridge train station, and sent it to the Chief Constable of the British Transport Police by way of a complaint.
Ron (&friends) were terrific, and a superb way of ending the evening. They sang of the joys of flying from Heathrow, of how committees and commitments eat into an academic's days, and of being a post-doc.
Footlights was packed throughout, so perhaps there is an untapped market for scientific comedy in Cambridge. I'd certainly go to any similar events - as long as the publicity reaches me in time!