Emily Filmer finds the humour in dark matter

By Emily Filmer University of Adelaide

Being part of Future Science Talks: Comedy Edition in the Adelaide Fringe this year was an excellent opportunity to make Dark Matter humorous!

The program consisted of 18 researchers from institutes around Adelaide, all giving a 10-minute presentation of their work to a general audience, through comedy.

We were mentored by David Crisante, of the Sydney Comedy School, and Seaton Kay-Smith, freelance comedian, for three months in the lead up.

We had both group workshops and one-on-one sessions to help us understand how best to construct jokes, present with confidence, and work with an audience very different to what we're used to - I've certainly never had to pause for laughter during a conference talk!

It was absolutely thrilling to present to a sold-out crowd and have them respond to my talk with such amusement! 

This program was an invaluable experience. Not only was I able to develop my presentation skills and confidence for a new kind of audience, but I learnt how to condense my research into the most interesting and accessible key points.

As it turns out, the Large Hadron Collider is a lot like throwing two piñatas together, and Dark Matter is a lot like the lollies that end up under the couch - maybe we'll find them in a few years' time, but they're missing for now!

 This program is running in a number of cities this year, so I'd encourage you to get in touch if you're interested in participating, or at the very least, go and see the show for yourself!