Colganology: The World's Most Improbable Event

Monday, 1 October 2012

The World's Most Improbable Event

Yesterday afternoon I took part in The World's Most Improbable Event at the Conway Hall in London. The event was part of the book launch and tour for Marc Abrahams' new book This is Improbable. Here's Marc explaining it:

But it was also a great excuse to meet up with some wonderful people and to read some extraordinary 'science that makes you laugh, then think'. Contained among the research papers we all read from were such subjects as skipping in undergraduates, the palatability of tadpoles, the effect on sleepers of sonic booms, mosquito attraction to Limburger cheese (and cheesy feet) and emergency bras. These were all real papers that had won an Ig Nobel Prize. Here's Stephen Fry and an Ig Nobel laureate explaining the 'Igs' on Series 9 of QI:

Marc began by explaining the Ig Nobels and by selecting two members of the audience to be timekeeper and gong person; they would ensure that none of us speakers went over two minutes ...

Then on came the speakers, one by one ...

Neuroscientist, author and Guardian columnist Mo Costandi ...

Alom Shaha, physics teacher and author of the Young Atheist's Handbook ...

Head of media relations at the Natural History Museum, Chloe Kembery ...

Neil Denny of the Little Atoms podcast ...

Comedian and writer/presenter of Radio 4's It is Rocket Science! Helen Keen ...

James Harkin, head of research at QI ...

Dr Alice Bell, Guardian columnist and science communicator ...

Some fat old ex-cop ...

Marine Biologist and Naked Scientist Dr Helen Scales ...

Astronomer and writer Dr Stu Clark ...

The elder statesman of science journalists Tim Radford ...

Writer, speaker and podcaster Helen Zaltzman ...

Co-creator of The Museum of Curiosity and comedian Dan Schreiber ...

Comedian and contributor to the Atheists' Guide to Christmas, Nick Doody ...

Comedy science songstress Helen Arney ...

... and biologist, writer and broadcaster Dr Aarathi Prasad.

Marc then wrapped up the day with the now traditional spirited audience reading of some horrible poetry by William McGonagal.

A very funny show that I was proud to be a part of. And now it's on the move with shows in Edinburgh (2nd October, The Jam House), Cambridge (3rd October, Mill Lane Lecture Rooms), Bristol (October 4th, @Bristol) and Oxford (October 5th, Mathematical Institute, 24-29 St Giles St). There will be different readers, of course, but it will be just as entertaining as the London event.

And buy Marc's book!

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Praise for Joined-Up Thinking

'I found myself fascinated and somewhat dizzy. Most impressive' - Stephen Fry

'Dizzily intriguing' - The Bookseller

'The book that nails that odd, slightly unnerving feeling that everything really is connected' - John Mitchinson (Co-author of QI: The Book of General Ignorance)

'This is not a stocking filler - this is a real book. Buy several copies and keep one' - Daily Telegraph

'Quite simply the best way to spend time when not shopping, sleeping or preparing food' - Tony Hawks (author of Around Ireland with a Fridge)

'Can I recommend a book? It’s Joined-Up Thinking by Stevyn Colgan. The book’s packed with great info, from the derivation of the phrase ‘letting the cat out of the bag’ to the name for the thin bits of a cricket bail. Spigots, since you ask' - Mark Mason (author of The Importance of being Trivial)

'If you've ever looked at the Eiffel Tower and wondered how it's related to Dracula, then Stevyn Colgan is your man. Yes, it's trivia porn' - London Lite

'He connects each piece of his trivia puzzle in a concise, chatty, easy to follow, even logical, manner. This free-flowing style does not, thankfully, lend itself to pause and evaluation, but does allow for a great deal of chuckling and chin-stroking. He is the master of the trivial, the collector and cataloguer of the forgotten and inane - but no matter how worthless and unnecessary the information, Colgan has the knack of making it all sound intensely fascinating' - New Zealand Herald

'Stevyn Colgan has a theory; everything in the world can be connected through 'six degrees of information'. Trying to prove it takes us up some strange alleys but his engaging style means we don't get stuck down the road of intellectual whimsy' - Maxim

'It's a very smart style to a trivia book, and will I am sure be one of the hits of the forthcoming season' - The Bookbag

‘Stevyn Colgan's book, 'Joined-Up Thinking', could well be turned into a pub quiz or even a TV show. The latter could be even more of a possibility as Colgan has connections to the 'QI' BBC TV show. You're going to walk away from this book knowing a lot more than when you started.’ - SF Crows Nest

'How Colgan manages to find all these connections, unravel them and create something coherent and entertaining out of them is beyond me. But I'm glad he took the time, as the result is vastly fascinating and had my mind whirring round after itself for hours - immense fun!' - Falmouth People

Praise for Henhwedhlow

‘All power to Stevyn Colgan and his project to preserve Cornish myth, legend and song. Who knows; as a result some Penzance Wagner may write the Cornish Ring Cycle and won’t the world be pleased? There’s more to Cornwall than Padstow, pasties and ‘Piss off you grockles’ and Colgan is doing the ancient kingdom a great service.’ - Stephen Fry

‘Jumping from the 19th to the 21st century, Stevyn is taking an essential element of our Cornish culture and bringing it bang up-to-date. With the aid of the very clever artwork he aims to do this in a way that even kids sitting their exams will be tempted to bring the book to school so as to take an occasional peek under the desk for a spot of well-deserved humour.’ - Howard Curnow (Cornish bard and storyteller)

'The best book I've ever seen for helping you to learn the Cornish language or practice reading it. Brilliant fun too' - Cornish Voice