What a great combination – having a relaxing drink while learning and laughing with some of Adelaide’s best scientific minds. The MC David Crisante, who founded the Sydney Comedy School, does a great job of revving up the audience.

First up was Jack Manners, a sleep researcher from Flinders University, with a terrific collection of slides depicting both sleep issues, such as sleep apnoea, and the problems with some of the solutions – such as how attractive one looks in a CPAP mask! I especially liked the images of Barnaby Joyce, and other pollies, catching up on their zzzz’s while sitting in parliament. While being very funny, Manners achieved the major aim of his research which is to raise awareness of sleep problems.

Next up was Stuart Baulk from UniSA, speaking about Digital Media. His selection of real-world websites and publicity material amply demonstrated his thesis that just because there are 1000s of fonts, colours and styles to choose from doesn’t mean one has to use them all, all at the same time! He called such images ‘Toxic Soup’, which clearly resonated with the audience as there were gales of laughter as we recalled examples we had seen of this. Being a newbie to graphic design, I appreciated his hints and tips, and will take his working theory to heart  F**k with stuff until it works!

PhD candidate Jia En Sit, University of Adelaide, spoke of her research into the dairy industry in SA. She is looking into how to get dairy producers to harmonise their labelling with the aim of reducing food waste. Judging from the response of laughter and groans, most of the audience could identify with her wish to be sure milk was OK, before one had poured sour milk into a bowl of cereal. Although Jia En made a joke about dairy producers being unwilling to complete her survey, I recognised the serious point that, despite claims to the contrary, producers don’t necessarily want to change their ways to benefit consumers.   

The final speaker was Natalie Stevens, a researcher at SAHMRI, looking at whether antibiotics which affect the gut biome also influence the efficacy of a vaccination. We all know whether we are 15 or 50, that toilet humour is funny which gives Stevens the perfect platform for comedy in science – studying poo! Equally funny were images of the websites of companies which can organise a delivery of poo for you. She used the famous Muppet characters Bert and Ernie to show the different ways antibiotics and vaccinations affect different people. Concluding on a serious note, Stevens suggested that to improve our gut biome we should try to eat 30 different plant foods each week – fruit, veggies, herbs, nuts, grains – anything at all which originates from the ground. 

All in all, the show is the best of both worlds, making you laugh while making you think.