By Diane Parkes.
He may have presented and helped develop the hit show Brainiac Live! for more than 15 years but Andy Joyce is the first to admit he’s no science boffin. But, he says, that is the whole point of the show which is aimed less at child Einsteins and more at families who enjoy a good time.
Brainiac Live! which first hit theatres in 2008, and comes to Southampton on 26 May, is family fun with a few bangs, wallops and flashes thrown in.
“When we are developing the show, what we are looking for is a ‘wow’ moment, something that either makes a noise, has a huge effect or creates a bang. It needs to have that pay off but it also has to be interesting,” says Andy who began presenting the production in 2009 and is now creative director.
“What I’ve learnt from doing the show and now writing it is that if it interested me and I thought it was fun then I wanted to learn more about it. And not understanding the science myself almost made it easier for me to learn it and then deliver it in that simple way for children.
“We’ve learnt it from the beginning as well, we learn about something from the scientists and then put our little spin on it. So, my role has been a lot of being in labs watching things go whizz bang bok and then asking the scientists – how big can we go on stage in a way that’s safe.”
Originally based on the hit Sky TV show, now owned by ITV Studios, Brainiac Live! is aimed largely at children aged between 7-11 and features a whole range of science experiments, explanations and thrills. Over the years the team have also developed new storylines and effects.
And, Andy says, it brings science alive not just to the audiences but also to the team.
“When I was at school, I went to my science classes because I had to. But when I started to write this and really got involved in the creative side I started to learn with the audience as we went on through the years. And it has brought me now to where I love science.
“The whole point is to entertain the audience, and they will learn something along the way. I think people from all ages, even adults, will learn certain things in the show.”
And that learning can spark a new fascination, Andy says.
“Over the years we have had many kids come up to us at the end of the show and say that they will enjoy science now, that it’s fun.
“Hopefully they can take that back into school and perhaps the next time they go into a science lesson it helps them enjoy it a bit more and understand it in a different way. That is what we as performers take away from the show.”
The idea for Brainiac Live! was conceived by family theatre producer Dan Colman more than 20 years ago. The show first went on tour in 2008 and has since travelled across the globe and is now embarking on its first full UK tour for 17 years.
“Brainiac Live! is really about creating a popular family entertainment science show,” Dan says. “It is entertainment and a theatrical piece first and foremost but underpinned with good science.
“When we first created the show that was an unusual approach. It was when the sort of Brian Cox effect was beginning to kick in so science was moving from that very niche market to a much more popular market.
“And, at the same time, something which I’ve been very keen on throughout my career is creating experiences where basically parents or carers are enjoying the fact that kids are learning something and critically the kids tend to know more than the parents.”
As a father of four, Dan knows only too well how difficult it can be to see these family-type experiences which can entertain both children and adults alike. But he found the ideal blueprint in the television series.
“Originally, we looked very closely at the format of the television show, that was the starting point. It was a comedy sketch show, and we’ve retained that idea, but those sketches can be different themes or topics. So, it might be electricity, it might be forces, it might be something else.
“And now as we have progressed over the years, we’ve looked at introducing new material, looked at the topics and the themes that we think are interesting, or form part of the schools curriculum. And it is a careful balance of going with what we know works and at the same time trying to keep it fresh and updated.”
The show also has a very definite structure, Dan explains.
“It’s peaks and troughs. So alongside some of those spectacle moments there are also quieter moments. Then there are bits that are quite intense with learning. And there are elements which are 100 per cent voiceover or onscreen content and then moments when there is so much going on you don’t know where to look.”
Although the team set out to produce a show of entertainment, Dan believes its timing has coincided and even contributed to a greater understanding of the importance of science.
“I think audiences have developed over the past 20 years and there’s a recognition that science is a fundamental part of everyday life in the way that perhaps we wouldn’t have seen then and I like to think we have been a small part of that journey.
“Probably the most rewarding thing for us is that the show has continued to engage its audience throughout the decades and that we have only seen that broaden and become more universal. It is fantastic to see audiences enjoy it as much today as when we started.”
Unable to resist the obvious pun, Dan adds: “We’ve all been blown away by it. Who would have thought we would still be producing the same show after all these years and we do that because it still works. It’s very satisfying when you know a show is working and when you talk to the actors you hear how much they enjoy delivering it.”
The format has proved to be a winner for families worldwide from Dubai’s Expo 2020 to Butlins Holiday Resorts, London’s West End and P&O Cruises. And in 2025, Brainiac Live won the Olivier Award for Best Family Show.
“We’re really proud of the breadth of different types of venue it has been to,” says Dan. “So in 2008 we closed the show after a very successful run at Sydney Opera House and about eight days later opened in Skegness. We like doing those different venues.
“We now have a full dual English/Arabic show and this summer we were in the Middle East, which was fascinating. I think any good family entertainment show, if you get the show right, there is a universal language, and kids engage globally with the same shows in the same way.”
Tickets for Brainiac Live! (26 May 2026) are on sale at mayflower.org.uk or 02380 711811.
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