Australia and New Zealand Tour 2017

“A high brow, variety thrill”

NZ Herald

“A compelling evening of fun and fascination”

Stuff NZ

 

The Tour

In March and April of 2017, The Cosmic Shambles Network went on the road to Australia and New Zealand for six very special shows. For over a decade, Robin Ince’s groundbreaking variety nights mashing up science, comedy and music have delighted audiences in the UK and this marked the first time shows like these had ever ventured internationally.

“Fun and Facts to the Power of Five”

The Australian

“An amalgamation of hilarity & cause of thought”

Art Murmurs

 

The Cities

Cosmic Shambles LIVE played six nights, across six major cities. In Australia we headed to the Enmore Theatre in Sydney, the Convention Centre in Melbourne and the Octagon Theatre in Perth. In New Zealand we took the stage at the Aotea Centre in Auckland, the Opera House in Wellington and the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch.

In early 2016 promoters Cerebral Events in New Zealand and the Atheist Foundation of Australia got in touch with Cosmic Shambles producers Trunkman Productions about the possibility of bringing a show down under.  A variety show just like had become an institution in the UK, but with a mixture of UK and local talent.

And so after a year of planning, our UK talent doing multiple interviews to explain why science, comedy and music wasn’t actually as bizarre a mix as they thought it might be, Robin Ince took to the stage in Sydney to tell a curious crowd we’d all really just arrived to try an escape Brexit.

As with the big Xmas variety shows in the UK, part proceeds from the tour would be donated to Doctors Without Borders. 

Tour Podcast

Each night we received far more audience questions than we had time to deal with on stage as part of the show.  So we took the time to record a number of podcasts back stage, going through the rest of them, with the UK cast and a few special guests.

You can listen to them all here or subscribe via RSS or Soundcloud.

Scientists

Comedians

Musicians

Puppets

The Shows

Get a rundown of each show, what happened and who was on the bill.

You’ll also find a gallery of exclusive performance and behind the scenes photos from each show.

Cosmic Shambles LIVE: Sydney

A rundown of the Sydney leg of the 2017 Cosmic Shambles LIVE tour of Aus/NZ

Cosmic Shambles LIVE: Melbourne

A rundown of the Melbourne leg of the 2017 Cosmic Shambles LIVE tour of Aus/NZ

Cosmic Shambles LIVE: Auckland

A rundown of the Auckland leg of the 2017 Cosmic Shambles LIVE tour of Aus/NZ

Cosmic Shambles LIVE: Wellington

A rundown of the Wellington leg of the 2017 Cosmic Shambles LIVE tour of Aus/NZ

Cosmic Shambles LIVE: Christchurch

A rundown of the Christchurch leg of the 2017 Cosmic Shambles LIVE tour of Aus/NZ

Cosmic Shambles LIVE: Perth

A rundown of the Perth leg of the 2017 Cosmic Shambles LIVE tour of Aus/NZ

Gallery Highlights

Take a look at some of our favourite pictures from the tour.  You’ll find full galleries for each gig on the respective show page.

Radio, TV and Interviews 

Ahead of the tour the cast were on the PR trail chatting about the show and their favourite science.  Here’s a selection.

“A celebration of ideas”

Robin Ince on The AM Show on Three TV NZ

“Science has always been sexy”

Robin, Josie, Lucie & Matt on the RI Aus TV channel

“Atmosphere and the oceans”

Dr Karl & Helen Czerski on ABC TV

“Bubbles are the unsung heroes”

Helen Czerski in the SMH

“Solar Flares That Break the Bank”

Lucie Green in Cosmos magazine

“The opposite of a cynical show”

Josie Long chats with Spinoff

“This Much I Know”

Robin Ince in the NZ Herald

“The Conversation Hour”

Helen Czerski on ABC Radio Melbourne

“The delight of discovery”

Lucie Green & Robin Ince on ABC’s The Drawing Room 

“My favourite comedy skits”

Josie Long on NZ’s The Laugh Track

“Robin Ince meets Michelle Dickinson”

NZ Herald interview

“Eating pies at UWA”

Matt Parker on Nova FM

“Science is important for everybody”

Michelle Dickinson on The AM Show

“I wanna see stuff blow up”

James Nokise on The Cafe

“The physics of everyday life”

Helen Czerski on The Morning Show

If you fancy checking out more, including lots of long form podcast appearances from the cast check out the AFA’s media page here.

Tour trailers

There’s more Cosmic Shambles LIVE shows on the horizon in the UK later in 2017, so keep your eyes peeled on the site.

New Zealand Performance Images used with permission and © Alexander Hallag   *   Promotional Photography by Timothy Ginn   *   All other images are © Trunkman Productions  *   Michelle Dickinson appeared via arrangement with Johnson and Laird Management  *   Josie Long appeared in Australia via co-operation with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival  *   The New Zealand leg of the tour was co-presented by The Royal Society of New Zealand