BS: . . . could you tell me a little about those spaces [in which you work] perhaps how they differentiate from each other.
JC: I have to say with the discovery room, I loathe doing it in Techniquest. Mainly because I don't like the room. It's hot and it's noisy and it's very difficult to sort of settle with it. I thoroughly enjoy taking it out to schools because there - you go to the space - and you - y ou work much more closely with the children and they get a lot more out of it because they focus on what they're doing. So you've got - sort of small activities and games and - and a much more personal sort of aspect of it.
The planetarium - the planetarium I've done - almost all the age groups we would have in there. I started with public shows - and I found it somewhere - it's something people will come to - specifically for - people will come and they'll pay the entrance price and they'll do everything else and what they really want to do is go into the planetarium, and it generates a lot of - a lot of interest in - you know you get everything from which star is my grandmother through to the much more, which are horrendous to answer to the really technical questions. It's just a really - I find it a really inspiring space.
Um - I don't, it just sort of motivates you to go out. It's something you can see all around you. I find it amazing you can go out and the constellations I could point out actually existed. And it - it creates so much enthusiasm specially among children.
Um - the science theatre - to me depends very very much on what we're doing. Um - I think we do, I don't think we do any - really bad shows but I think we do some that miss their targets. Um - the most enjoyable ones are the ones that have got the most element - I'm going back to the word fun again, but the most element where the audience laughs along with you. Where you get the sort of oohs and aahs. So the shows, the materials madness I was doing today is great because the kids think it's so much fun. And they just go along with it and - yes you do the do the sort of school teachery bits as well but it - that's almost in spite of it and it keeps moving and we've got um Bubbles and Bangs coming up in the science theatre which is - in my opinion the best show we do. Because you can't do a bad show. There's so much in it that people just sit there and go "This is really this is great." But - it's you come out with a real buzz off it as a presenter and as a member of the audience I think.
Um - if you don't have that in there, because - there can be 100 people in there you can't - sort of - connect - particularly personally with every member of the audience, there's got to be something beyond you, so. - The presenter will make it but you have to have something beyond just the person standing lecturing, as well. So - the best, the best shows have got that element in them.