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The philosophy of Exploding Custard®
Since I first dreamed it up in 1990 as a semi-serious event at the Edinburgh Science Festival, I've presented a huge number of shows each year. Exploding Custard has taken on an evolutionary life and a philosophy of its own. Here are some principles that have emerged. Attitudes before understanding Science communication is about conveying attitudes as well as facts. Enthusiasm, wonder, self-confidence, "liking science", thoughtful engagement with everyday phenomena… No fancy equipment Exploding Custard is designed to communicate a desire to try this yourself at home (with careful prohibitions and safety warnings). A measurable performance indicator would be the number of messed-up kitchens across the city, the following day… Listening to the audience Communication means receiving as well as transmitting. Child audiences are more eager to transmit than adult audiences! Their readiness to communicate back deserves to be encouraged, not crushed. I try to respond immediately to audience feedback. As a science communication consultant and science centre designer, such experience helps me to get inside the mind of the public. Multi-level It is the phenomena which audiences find appealing, not Ian Russell. Phenomena are universally appealing. I try to avoid being any kind of fancy showman. I am just there to share my enthusiasm with the audience and to show them some neat things… In this environment, some really quite profound statements seem to mix naturally and comfortably with light-hearted entertainment. Adults enjoy rediscovering simple pleasures and children are certainly perceptive enough to appreciate that there's also a fair bit of depth in Exploding Custard. Fast delivery, no pauses Don't be fooled. A child's brain functions approximately ten times faster than an adult's. The only way to stretch their minds is to keep up with them. I have found that the only way I can keep up with them is painstaking practice beforehand. When science shows move too slowly, audience engagement is lost. Empowering children One effective way to empower children, I find, is to tease the adults in the audience. Amazingly, the adults enjoy it. Teachers are often eager to be relieved of their tiresome burden of grown-up omniscience. This is not the only method I use to reinforce children's intellectual self-confidence. Look out for others… "Real" science Some people act as if science is something that belongs exclusively to adults and exists only in classrooms, textbooks and laboratories. I use a deliberate range of illustrations to undermine this. Unanswered questions Exploding Custard communicates with teachers as well. For example, when I raise questions, only to leave them unanswered, I am also saying something important to the teachers. |
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