I should have written about Science Showoff years ago as I like to write about the first time I've been. But I didn't. But I went recently so that's a good excuse to rectify my wrong.
Science Showoff gives real scientists doing real research in the field and in the lab to show off their stand-up chops and their expertise. With some coaching, they get a 10 minute slot to wax lyrical about their chosen subject in a humorous way.
Of course, some are naturals at it and some aren't so much... even with the coaching they receive in advance... but it still really works. This is classic infotainment folks. Be prepared to be amused yet also learn something.
At the last one I went to, we had musings on the bizarre moments within the development of heart transplant surgery and some doctor's willingness to mix man and beast.
We dissected public opinion and stereotypes of scientists and examined how being a doctor in real life measures up to the ones on TV (spoiler alert, it barely does, and that flatline noise you think you know? Means the machine isn't plugged in). Apparently Scrubs comes closest to being the most realistic TV show...
Previous talks have been on such delightful subjects as poop (or rather, what you can understand about society by how much it is reported in neighbourhoods and how wealthy those neighbourhoods are) and clocks (did you know, that it wasn't until the late 1800s that time zones were established to help run the railways [after a particularly nasty accident where two trains running on different times didn't expect the other to be there] and before that there were several different time zones across a country even as small as England?). Fascinating, right? Well actually yes,
So if you want a few bevvies but still want to feel high brow, Science Showoff could be just your solution (bit of a science joke there), or Books Showoff, or History Showoff, or Engineering Showoff...