MSF 2013- Science Showoff

Hello! The time is upon us, by that I mean the Manchester Science Festival (MSF) 2013 is here! This great city is currently experiencing a flurry of science-related activity, which anyone can get in on. However, there are so many events for you to go to, what happens if you miss some? Don't worry, that's where I come in. Over the period of the festival I will be visiting several events and shortly afterwards, I will be blogging about them. You can then use my blog as a guide to see whether you should visit these events the next time they are town. Anyway, enough chat! Let's get down to business...

Science Showoff

What?

I have to admit, it's quite a jazzy logo.

Science Showoff is an open mic night for scientists, teachers, students or just anyone who wants to talk to an audience about science. Each person gets roughly 8-10 minutes to talk about their topic of choice. They are generally aided by background slides, but don't be mistaken, this isn't a lecture. These talks are humorous, intriguing and relaxed. You get a range of performing styles, from the traditional (person talking to the audience for 8 minutes) to the bizarre (somebody not saying a word). 

Who?

The general set up. The lack of people is because this was
during the intermission, so they are at the bar.

The entire show was comprised of 7 performers, each doing a 10 (ish) piece. Yet the show needed somebody to make sure the show ran smoothly. This role was filled by Steve Cross, a man who prided himself on not knowing any science. This may sound odd, having a scientific novice hosting a show all about science, but it worked extremely well. This was mainly because he was a very laid back and funny individual, who was not above mocking certain members of the audience (chemists) and giving anecdotes.

It would take too much space to list all of the brilliant acts in depth, so I'll try and give a quick overview of my favourite 3 acts:

Katie Steckles- Without saying a single word or using any limbs to control an instrument, she played several tunes using a floppy disk drive. One of my favourite moments was when she played the Eastenders theme using the drive, recreating the opening sequence by using google maps to zoom out over London.

Tom Bishop- Talked all about the behaviour of "weaver ants" in the rainforest. One of the best things I learnt from him was that to form their many nests out of leaves, weaver ants will squeeze their young larvae. This forces a glue out of the larvae, which is used to stick the leaves together.

Yes, those are the lyrics to the chorus.

Chella Quint- "Adventures in Menstruating". An interesting title, I know. Chella took the audience on a journey through the advertising history of period products, as she tried to eliminate the social stigma about periods and make us all "period positive". A highly informative talk, I was unaware that the advertising techniques for period products haven't changed in over 80 years. We're on to you bodyform. Her piece was then rounded off with a song titled "The Crimson Tide", which was designed to explain the menstruation cycle as though it were being done on Sesame Street. A tad strange, but very enjoyable.

When?

Sadly, Science Showoff was only on once during the MSF. They do tours of the country and visit several cities. They are also in London a fair bit. However, I am sure they will be making a reappearance in Manchester very soon. Their website can be found here.

Why?

Why? Because it's fun, that's why.

How?

Now you're just being silly.

Is There Anything Similar?

Luckily for you, there are some similar events happening during the MSF. There is "Punk Science", hosted at MOSI, by two comedic members of the Science Museum. They plan to explain how humans love, laugh and feel pain, using very loose scientific demonstrations. There is also "Bright Club", which I believe aims to be a mixture of comedy, music and anything vaguely related to science. So never fear, the MSF schedule (found here) has you covered!

My day in London.

Hello again! Before you leave, let me tell you this: Just because this post is about London, it doesn't mean I've run out of ideas. On the contrary, in fact I hope to show you somewhere you may not have known about the big (overused) city.

My Location Within London

I started my day early, so I fortunate enough to be in Trafalgar square at 9 AM. At this time of day it isn't too burdened by tourists, so you are able to easy move about and get some decent photographs if you wish. You don't have to worry much about people walking into your pictures, which is always a relief. To prove the lack of people, I took some pictures! Have a look:

Notice the lack of people climbing on the lions.

St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Hahn/Cock. Yes, a giant blue cockerel.

Yes, a giant blue cockerel is occupying the fourth plinth at Trafalgar square at the time of writing. I was confused as well, but it does make an interesting addition. I also went into St Martin-in-the-Fields, a very nice inside, with plenty of the homeless having a nap.

Pub

You've heard it before, you'll hear it again. Drinking in central London is expensive. However, you can save yourself some dough if you use the happy hour, like I did. Happy hour brought a pint down from over £4 to £3. The bar I went to was called Kamique, it was a cocktail bar with a wide range of Mojitos. I would recommend it to anyone in the area who has a lot of cash to spend.

Comedy club

Now, the real reason I'm writing this post isn't to bore you about overused London landmarks. No, in the evening some friends and I went to the Lion's Den Comedy Club. Located in the west end of London, in an underground nightclub. Tuesday night is the open mic night, called the Lion's Den Comedy Car Crash, where anybody can turn up and perform.  The acts had 4 and a half minutes to do their sketch, before they were thrown off the stage. If they didn't finish, well, the MC would make sure they wrapped up abruptly. It might seem brutal, but it worked.  

The Lion's Den in all its glory.

Due to the nature of it being an open mic scenario, there was the risk of there not being a single act who made you laugh. However, I was pleasantly surprised the mixture of talent. There was a person who played guitar, a person who read from their diary, even a person who did some hip-hop! 

The entry price was £4, which was a good deal for the amount of acts that were on. However, the price of drinks in the club was, in my opinion, extortionate. A friend paid £4.85 for a bottle of lager. This boils down to the location (west end of London) and the fact it was a club.

Summary

If you have never been to an open mic night before, then I recommend the Lion's Den (website here- http://www.lionsdencomedy.co.uk/comedycarcrash.html). It was easy to get into and the acts were easy enough to laugh along with. As for the bit about Trafalgar square, well, you knew all that already. I just wanted to show you a few pictures.