It’s hard to believe this is the 10th year of Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People, an endearingly shambolic, joyful lucky dip of a show described by its creator, Robin Ince, as what would happen “if the Royal Variety Show was put in a matter-transportation machine with the Royal Institution Christmas lectures”.
If this revival after a three-year hiatus lacks the headline names of its Hammersmith Apollo heyday, when Brian Cox, Richard Dawkins, Dara O’Briain and Jarvis Cocker were regulars on the bill, it still serves up a Christmas feast of eclectic performers, held together by Ince’s scattershot observations and infectious curmudgeonly enthusiasm.
A number of the acts (if that’s an appropriate term for respected research scientists) nod to the season with topical material. Physicist Dr Helen Czerski treats us to an in-depth look at the science of a champagne cork popping, complete with frame-by-frame photography, while mathematician Dr Katie Steckles talks us through the maths of snowflakes, and how to cut out a scientifically accurate one.
While the tone remains defiantly celebratory, there are moments when an undercurrent of political anger bursts through; in a room full of scientists, liberal comedians and protest singers, the surprise is that it doesn’t happen more often. Chemist Prof Andrea Sella explains why 1859 was a great year of scientific revolution – as well as On the Origin of Species, it was the year scientists discovered that CO2 was responsible for absorbing the sun’s heat. A century and a half on, “some assholes still deny this”, he laments, calling for 2018 to be a new year of revolution, to rousing applause. But it’s not all earnest; the academic stuff is leavened by comic interludes, from John Luke Roberts’s daft Morrissey spoof to 81-year-old Arnold Brown’s calm, surreal observations.
If Nine Lessons might be accused of preaching to the choir, there’s still a genuine sense of communion; this is a crowd who don’t need Schrödinger’s cat references explained. And there is – naturally – a secular sermon. In reminding us of the charities supported by the show, Ince repeats the oldest Christmas message of all, by way of Kurt Vonnegut: “God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.” This may not be the slickest Christmas show you’ll see this year, but it’s probably the only one where you’ll find the Higgs boson, hedgehog preservation and the NHS receiving equally enthusiastic applause. Long may it continue to brighten our bleak midwinter with the light of reason and silliness.
- At Conway Hall, London, until 22 December. Box office: 020-7405 1818.
