Uncaged Monkey Madness

This week at the Hammersmith Apollo, thousands of people flocked to watch the sell-out show on the London leg of its UK tour, and they all had one thing on their mind: physics. Yep, you heard us right... In the second installment of ‘Uncaged Monkeys’, Robin Ince, Brian Cox, Simon Singh and Ben Goldacre take it in turns to educate the masses in an entertaining and accessible way. Rock and roll. Perhaps a little different to what the Apollo is used to!

Since the raging success of ‘Wonders of the Solar System’ and ‘Wonders of the Universe’ on television, Brian Cox has become the heart-throb of geeks across the UK; his soft Lancashire and floppy hair made particle physics suddenly seem a lot more interesting for a large number of admirers. These make up a small proportion of the ticket holders at ‘Uncaged Monkeys’, but the majority are those genuinely interested in Science. By combining mini lectures with comedy and music, the three hour show is absolutely riveting. Robin Ince hosts the evening with a great comic tone, and the passion of the speakers comes through clearly.

I took a taxi to Hammersmith for the final night of the tour, and although tickets aren’t cheap at £25 a pop, it really turned out to be good value for money. Not only did my favourite comedian/musican, Tim Minchin, perform a set, but he was also joined by singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran for a song about being ginger. That was a pleasant surprise for the audience! Helen Arney was another to provide some clever, funny tunes, and we even spotted Top Gear’s James May sitting a few rows in front.

It just goes to show that you don’t need a rock concert or a West End show to get bums on seats; this science extravaganza was a brilliant was to spend an evening in London.