Well, according to their website "Festival of the Spoken Nerd is where sparkling wit meets fascinating science in a comedy night for the insatiably sci-curious. It’s hosted by award-winning geek songstress Helen Arney, stand-up mathematician Matt Parker and BBC 1 science experiments guy Steve Mould. They are currently on a nationwide tour of the UK with ‘Full Frontal Nerdity’ from January to April 2014."
And I got to see this for myself at the Colchester Arts Centre on Saturday. I've got to admit, I consider myself more of a geek than a nerd, but this group of touring nerds welcomes all levels. If you like your science but are afraid of something too complex and appreciate the thought of humour to lighten the weight of such knowledge, this is the show for you. I did find the formula for toroidal vortices a little long, but apart from that it was fun and informative. Did I learn anything? Sure. I learnt...
How to make a fire tornado with lighter fluid, a wire waste paper basket and a lazy susan. We were positively encouraged to try this at home! I learnt photos are actually made up of spreadsheets - it's true! - magenta only exists inside our heads and is actually negative green, that one in three of our kids will live to be 100, and that you can create a toroidal vortex cannon with a CD, part of a tube of Pringles, some plastic, and a bit of smoke so you can see it. Hubs did that one. We're still trying to figure out the best lighting to show the perfect smoke rings, but here's a picture of the cannon.
And here's what you can expect to see with a bigger scale version.
We also watched a pickle being electrocuted. Trust me, it was for the sake of science and didn't suffer...much. :P
Even if you didn't like science at school and have never remotely considered yourself a nerd, you should go and see this show. And if you need more convincing, go check out their website HERE.
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