Science-ology Rocks! Ben McKenzie uses the analogy of Rock & Roll to explain his enthusiasm for science. Like Rock & Roll, true Science ‘Sticks it to the Man’ (in the words of Jack Black in School of Rock), it rocks our world and changes our perceptions of it.
Ben is angry that science is often misrepresented by forces trying to undermine it. They present an agenda of science when it is not science at all. He spends a great deal of the show joyfully tearing apart pseudo science, which he equates to pop music. Mock – science is manufactured by corporations who are threatened by ‘the real thing’ that doesn’t agree with their agenda. These ‘corporations’ include: advertising, religion (He mostly berates the Scientologists and Intelligent Designers), Science Fiction creators (he bravely dissed Star Trek in a room full of geeks!) and conservative governments. He later went on to celebrate some positive presentations of science on television such as Mythbusters, the sadly defunct Curiosity Show, and the sadly dead Julius Sumner Miller to whom he paid tribute at the end with a dangerous live experiment right on stage.
If you are a science geek, this is a must, but even if you only have a passing interest this show is heaps of fun and full of lovely laughs. Ben is an experienced confident performer and a great storyteller. He dealt with the technical difficulties of opening night with great aplomb, “Just ‘cause I love science, doesn’t mean I love technology”. Highly recommended.