Bruce Fummey: The Greek the Apple and the Time Mac

Note: This review is from 2005

Review by Steve Bennett

Bruce Fummey calls himself Afro-Celtic but has the looks of James Bond's Oddjob and the voice of Billy Connolly. He works as a physics teacher and this show is about what the title says: the work of Aristotle, Newton and Einstein, with a bit of Galileo thrown in for free.

Bruce must inspire the laziest and thickest pupils in the roughest schools because he is, in style, one of those mad TV experts in the David Bellamy mode.

He has four selling points: He knows hissubject backwards, is is wildly and entertainingly enthusiastic, can explain difficult concepts clearly (though I've heard relativity better explained twice before), has a sharp stand-up brain

Thumpingly well-delivered, this superbly-crafted script explains complex theories in easy-to-understand similes and tops off each explanation with beautifully-timed comic punchlines.

His successful intention is to enthuse, entertain and awe. This show - a serious lecture so integrated and impregnated with comedy that it is impossible to separate the two - and Bruce's performance come highly recommended. Although whether he can replicate his performance on another subject or other subjects is another matter.

The ‘rival’ physics show in Edinburgh this year - The Albert Einstein Experience" at the Gilded Balloon - is entertaining too, though it is not really a comedy show, more Theatre in Education.

Bruce Fummey is a considerably talented comedian. BBC Science Features should snap him up.

Review date: 1 Jan 2005
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett

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