Set sail on an ocean of science, music, comedy and wonder with all-star cast; Robin Ince, Dr Helen Czerski and Steve Backshall.
After the hugely successful 2018’s Space Shambles, the Cosmic Shambles Network announced their return to The Royal Albert Hall in on May 17th 2020.
Sea Shambles is a brand new sea themed spectacular show, destined to be their biggest ever. The main auditorium of the Royal Albert Hall will be transformed into a virtual underwater playground, taking you on a celebratory voyage of discovery of our own blue planet looking at how we are best placed to protect it. A place for people who want to find out more about our universe through science, art, history, philosophy, music, literature.
The show is anchored by co-host of the Rose D’Or winning The Infinite Monkey Cage (R4), Robin Ince, physicist and oceanographer Dr Helen Czerski, naturalist and wildlife presenter Steve Backshall and many very special guests (including famed rock band British Sea Power, award-winning comedian Josie Long and poet Lemn Sissay MBE with many more to be announced).
Multi-award winning comedian Robin Ince is best known for co-hosting the Rose D’Or and Sony Award winning BBC Radio 4 series, The Infinite Monkey Cage, with Professor Brian Cox and the acclaimed Book Shambles podcast with Josie Long.
Ince commented; “ The delight in a child’s eye when it first sees that blobfish really exist is something to behold, in adults’ eyes too. I am sure I am not the only parent who watched Octonauts with their child and thought, “hang on a minute, that creature can’t be real” and went straight to the internet to check up on the cookie cutter shark or snot sea cucumber.
That we know so far more about our Moon than what lies in our oceans means they remain a place of wonder and mystery. They also remain a place for alarm as we monitor the damage done by human activity.
Like every show I get involved with, our aim will be to surprise and delight, to make us all ponder on what it is to be living on a planet with such vitality and such variety in its forms of life, its shapes and structures, its geology and possibilities. I stand ready to be gobsmacked again.”
Dr Helen Czerski is a physicist, first and foremost, but she’s is also an oceanographer, presenter, author and bubble enthusiast. A regular on The Cosmic Shambles Network, she has also presented a number of acclaimed documentaries for the BBC and her first book, Storm in a Teacup, which looked at the physics of everyday things, was a bestseller.
Czerski commented; “Earth’s oceans are the heart of our planet, a giant blue fluid engine that drives our weather, produces half of all the oxygen we breathe, feeds us, and has shaped human travel, trade and adventure for centuries… life is different below the waves, and the creatures that live there have to thrive in conditions that are fundamentally different from those on land. If you want to see alien life, you don’t need to wait for a ride to Europa or a far-off exoplanet. … I find our oceans endlessly fascinating.
They encompass ten metre waves breaking over the bow of a ship in a force 9 gale, giant underwater waterfalls, the extremes of life on a black smoker and the beauty of the fragile single-celled organisations that form the rainforests of the ocean.If you want to understand Earth, you have to understand our oceans.”
Steve Backshall is a BAFTA Award winning naturalist, writer and wildlife presenter best known for his hit BBC series Deadly 60. He has circumnavigated the globe time and again, making natural history films and televisions series that are loved the world over.
Backshall said “Our oceans cover the majority of our planet, and yet still feel like an alien world. It’s a place filled with strange wonders, colourful conundrums, and biological marvels.
Many of its darkest corners are still secret to us, with many great discoveries still out there. And yet we are in danger of killing our oceans before we even understand them.
In the last few months alone I have glided over barren white reefs, bleached by warming waters. And fought to disentangle turtles, seals and seabirds from the cuffs of plastic trash…. It’s time to stop seeing our seas as a foreign land. They, as much as rainforests, are the lungs of our planet. Protect them and they will rebound. Leave it too late, and we will have eternity to rue our mistakes.”
The Cosmic Shambles Network brings together the world’s leading scientists, comedians, writers and performers to create entertaining content fuelled by curiosity.
This show is for people who believe ignorance is not bliss and want to keep on discovering and learning about our wondrous universe and have a laugh while doing it. – science will never be finished and that’s exciting.
Join Robin, Helen and Steve as they set sail with an all-star cast of scientists, comedians, performers and musical guests for a one night only event you’ll never forget. Part proceeds from this event will also be going to support various marine conservation charities.
Venue: The Royal Albert Hall
Dates: Sunday, 17th May 2020
Time: 7.00pm
Box office: 020 7589 8212
Online: royalalberthall.com
www.cosmicshambles.com | cosmicshamblesnetwork | @cosmicshambles
