BM: Do you find that even with more formalised training that there's still on the job knowledge, things you pick up, tell each other so that people do things their own way. I was wondering if you had an examples you could think of?
JC: Of people doing things in their own way?
BM: Yeah, having gone beyond the initial training and passed on knowledge to other people.
JC: I would say it happens an awful lot in general terms Um - we're encouraged to go and see the other people's shows. And so you you pick up an awful lot in terms of their skills and the way they handle an audience. What - you would learn a lot from what they do do. You can also learn from what they don't do, whether it's positive or negative.
Um - with the planetarium it it tends to inspire planetarium bores. Um - I know so many people read, me included, in fact I know it's me included because my parents would agree that - went out went "wow this is great" I really enjoy this and then started - so the planetarium's particularly, you will find people will do it at home they'll do it in their spare time they'll do it in their lunch hours. They will they will really read up around a subject. They'll then tell any member of the public who happens to come into contact with them and may regret it later and I know - a lot of people, me included who will give impromptu star tours to anybody who happens to say "Oh look the stars are out tonight." And I'll "yeah, that's so and so." and half an hour later they're all standing there shivering hating you. That really, that one really does seem to inspire it. People like going in the shows they'll pick up ideas - and pick up things from questions.
Um - the science theatre - the scripts are more prescriptive in the science theatre so you're not encouraged so much to go off on your own. Actually the show writing these days isn't so - when I started presenting it was pre-PowerPoint and so - you could adapt the show. You could do it, if you had a really good audience you might take it up a level. If it was a - poorer audience you might take it down. You might get it in the wrong order but that didn't matter. The show I'm doing at the moment you you can't. There's no room for you to change the show at all because the PowerPoint leads you through it all. So what I suppose you pick up are just ways of doing things. I - this one's got a lot of mime in it. So if you sit in on other people you'll pick a lot up about the way way they do this bit or - I can't think of very specific ideas in it but there's things like - trying to sort of show off jewellery or pointing things out or - show a hot saucepan with a hole in it. And all these sorts of things. And different people do it different ways so you pick up an awful lot just by watching what they're doing. And on the whole that, yeah that is encouraged.