Off the Top: Neuroscience with Attitude

A good demonstration of how you can bring neuroscience and performance together.

Off the Top: Neuroscience with Attitude

You're treated to slides with interesting facts accompanied by good visuals whilst the audience settles in. It's a small venue but perfectly comfortable. Easily accessible with nice food and drink upstairs. A decent crowd was attracted to the show, and it's easy to see why.

Light hearted entertainment seekers won't want to make this a top choice. But if you can appreciate some decent rap and a great chemistry between a (unlikely it seems) husband and wife - a neuroscientist and a comedy rapper. There is plenty of banter and humour throughout which keeps your attention. There's also a clear story arc, so it's not just a barrage of facts. The facts and story build together. You get a decent understanding of the subject matter because it is excellently delivered - with slides, with jokes, with raps, and with audience participation!

The audience really got behind the show, and the science at times was more like magic.

This is a spoiler, but something I found fascinating: our perception isn't reality! We literally think we see something, but there is every chance it didn't actually exist. If you attend - you'll also discover why rappers (and musicians and other artists) need to lose their sense of self to freestyle at their best.

The live experiments beautifully combined scientific adventure with the arts. A creative experiment with control subjects and all. It brought alive the topic, really unearthed the mystery of the brain, and lead to a deeper understanding of how a rap artist works!

A lovely touch to the show was how they bring in a guest comedian each day. At my show it was Markus Birdman. He told a very fitting story unfortunately of having a stroke last year. He delivered it with great comedic timing. He helped exemplify some of what we'd been seeing about the mystery of the brain. He's here with us. He was funny. And he was a great compliment to the show as a whole.

This show is a bit of a 'thinker'. But a great example of the power of performance opportunities. It's a unique opportunity. And I would highly recommend seeing it. After all it's on at 1pm underneath a lovely restaurant. It's simple. It's free. Just go.


For tickets and more information visit the Ed Fringe website.

Author

Emrys Green

Emrys Green Voice Team

Emrys is the Business & Projects manager at Upstart who runs Voice.

Alongside managing Voice and its related programmes of work Emrys manages web builds and live events through his own pursuits - with a wide encapsulation of the arts sector. Theatre, Dance, Circus, Spoken Word and a combination of contemporary and shakespearean work would all be in his wheelhouse.

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