What does it really mean to be human? This is the big question posed by award-winning comedian, Ben Clover and Science presenter, Geoff Marsh, during their science comedy show, The naked apes on Thursday 12 March. This is a comedy show that confronts the weighty themes of language, bipedalism, evolution and the future of our species with low, middle and high-brow jokes. Plus some dodgy props and a slide show.
Why are we hairless? Is monogamy natural? Are dolphins really that clever? Together, Geoff and Ben will answer once and for all the big questions about human existence.
Commenting on the show, Ben said: “Geoff and Ben: The Naked Apes is a science-comedy show that explores the evolutionary theories behind what it means to be human.It's a great topic to write about as a comic because there are shed-loads of competing theories about how we lost our fur, when we started to talk, what caused our brains to balloon, etc.And unlike a show about quantum teleportation, it will hopefully resonate with the audience, who need only look down at their thumbs to realise that this show centres on them directly.
"Far from being bound to stuffy facts, in writing a show like this you realise that the field of paleo-anthropology is completely filled with bickering and guesswork and that the origins of the most fundamentally human traits remain obscure. This leaves the whole topic ripe for surreal speculation. It's been a joy and an education to write.”
The science-comedy phenomenon, Festival of the Spoken Nerd returns to the Cambridge Science Festival on Saturday 14 March with their new, raucous, freewheeling chatshow, Festival of the Spoken Nerd: talk nerdy to me. Experiments maestro Steve Mould and geek songstress Helen Arney will subject Science Festival stars to questions, experiments and possibly a peer-reviewed karaoke singalong.
Helen Arney also appears solo at the Science Festival earlier in the day of Saturday 14 March for her show, Helen Arney: in her element. The UK's premiere geek songstress has been working with Cambridge scientists to create collaborative songs about their work. Using her voice of an Angle and trusty ukulele, she'll be In Her Element performing these new songs, together with the scientists who inspired them. With spoken word poetry from FameLab 2014 finalist, Robin Lamboll.
Audiences can expect more science-based inquiry on the evening of Saturday 21 March at the Cambridge Corn Exchange. Sony Gold award winner, three times Chortle award winner, Time Out outstanding achievement award and Host of The Infinite Monkey Cage, Robin Ince will energetically release whatever has been sitting and jiggling about in his mind during his show, Robin Ince’s reality tunnel.
Robin will pick up from his two previous shows about the human mind and will investigate why we believe what we believe and try to learn how we can know what isn’t so. He will ask, ‘Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?’ We like to think we are objective animals, but how much are we really subjective beasts, constantly cherrypicking our evidence to sustain the dogmas we are comfortable with? The show will scrutinise the human mind, propaganda, feuds, and internet nonsense, in an attempt to work out just how much we can trust our instincts. How critically do we really think? Can the scientific method save us all?
Other events with a comedic twist include:
Monday 9 March – The international science communication competition, FameLab Cambridge finals. In front of a panel of judges and an audience of around 200, the finalists will present fascinating snippets of their research without presentations, limited props and perhaps a few puns thrown in. The event is sponsored by TTP Group.
Wednesday 11 March – How is the Universe like a lightbulb?... and what does that tell us? Michael Conterio (Robin Ince's Christmas Ghosts, The Cambridge Impronauts) spends a comedic hour exploring how physics links space stations and roundabouts, street lamps and exoplanets, and ice-cream and jet engines.
Thursday 19 March – Bright Club. Six of Cambridge's bravest academics, post-docs and PhDs get up behind the microphone to have a go at doing stand-up comedy based on their work.
For further information about the Cambridge Science Festival or to browse the full range of events, please visit: www.sciencefestival.cam.ac.uk
You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter: www.facebook.com/Cambridgesciencefestival https://twitter.com/camscience
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Press contact Becky Wieczorek.
T: 01223 761 871 E: [email protected]
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