If you like explosions, or want to know what chemicals make up a fart, then the Rude Science live show may be right up your street. Especially if, like us, you have kids in the 6-14 age bracket.
The Rude Science show came to the Victoria Theatre in Halifax last weekend, and so we took our nine-year-old along. It was hosted as part of this year’s Halifax Comedy Festival, which runs until Sunday.
Rude Science is hosted by Stefan Gates, who has hosted and guested on a number of BBC TV shows, for both kids and adults. He’s also the author of a number of books – we picked up his Rude Science (sponsored link) and Insects: An Edible Field Guide (sponsored link) from the foyer after the show, and had them signed. Oh yes, I should mention that Stefan has a thing for ‘eating the science’ and this includes various substances used during the show.
The show is very well put together, considering that it incorporates highly flammable materials and lots of different cameras (including infrared) and smoke machines. Certainly, there were only one or two minor balloon-related technical hitches. And whilst it wasn’t quite a sell-out crowd, there were very few of the 1500 or so seats remaining empty at the Victoria in the showing that we saw.
Rude Science is well targeted at upper primary and lower secondary school aged kids, and has a good balance of being funny, engaging and educational. Our nine-year-old really enjoyed it. The show remains on tour for the rest of this week, with it being half-term – it’s in Hull tonight, Guildford on Thursday, Chelmsford on Friday and Reading on Sunday. At each venue, there’s usually a lunchtime and afternoon slot, and, with an interval, the show runs for around two hours. It’s then back on the road for February half term.