Did you know pickles are great conduits for electricity? Neither did I until I saw That Physics Show created and featuring Dave Maiullo at the Elektra Theatre on 43rd Street.
I took my 7 year old.
“Force equals mass times acceleration.” My daughter came out of the show saying that and feeling rather proud.
You enter the theatre and notice right away the “scientific and not so scientific” looking objects on stage. Lab tables with beakers and metal tubes and contraptions containing soda cans and it all looks like mad scientist meets 13 year old boy who has been taking bits and pieces of hard ware and houseware to retire to his basement lab and see what he can blow up.
The matinee we attended also had in attendance a group of 6th graders, 50 plus 12 year olds on the cusp of teenager-land.
This is audience participation, so Dave’s two assistants, Jack and Kelsey, came out first to clarify our role in the performance. As part of our role we were told that whenever Dave holds something up and asks what it is, we can call out it’s name. As demonstration Jack held up a banana and the kids all yelled,”Banana.” My 7 year old giggled. Then Dave came out jumping right in showing us the everyday and not so everyday objects that he was going to use for the show, and as he held them each up for the audience to “identify” the 6th graders all yelled, of course, “Banana.” For the next few minutes everything was “Banana.” But Dave was never thrown by this because Dave knows eventually he will hook them. He’s got explosions and rainbows and ping pong balls smashing cans, he rides a swivel chair propelled by a bicycle wheel. He knows.
Dave Maiullo is part showman, part circus barker, and all physics enthusiast and keeps the stage in constant motion. He flows from one demonstration/experiment to another all without added theatrics that might be needed if the demonstrations/experiments were not so remarkable. My daughter and I kept doing double takes from the stage to each other and then back again, our mouths agape both saying, “What the what!”
It is tons of fun and ‘What the what” informative and you don’t need a 7 year old or 6th grader to enjoy it, but if you happen to know any take them along.
The performance schedule is: Friday @ 7pm, Saturday @ 3pm & 7pm, and Sunday at 12pm & 3pm. Tickets are $39-$49 and can be purchased online at www.ThatPhysicsShow.com or by calling OvationTix at 866-811-4111. Groups 15+ should call (212) 967-8278 for more information. The show runs approximately 80 minutes.
