He may have presented and helped further develop the hit show Brainiac Live! for more than 15 years, but Andy Joyce is the first to admit he’s no science boffin. But, he says, that is the whole point of the show, which is aimed less at child Einsteins and more at families who enjoy a good time.

Brainiac Live!, which first hit theatres in 2008 and comes to Birmingham’s Town Hall late this month, is family fun with a few bangs, wallops and flashes thrown in.

“When we’re developing the show,” explains Andy, who’s Brainiac Live!’s creative director, “what we’re looking for is a ‘Wow!’ moment; something that either makes a noise, has a huge effect or creates a bang. It needs to have that pay-off, but it also has to be interesting.

“What I’ve learnt from doing the show, and now writing it, is that if it interested me and I thought it was fun, then I wanted to learn more about it. And not understanding the science myself almost made it easier for me to learn it and then deliver it in that simple way for children.

“We learn about something from the scientists and then put our little spin on it. So my role has been about being in labs, watching things go whizz bang bok, and then asking the scientists: how big can we go on stage in a way that’s safe?”

Originally based on the Sky TV show, now owned by ITV Studios, and aimed largely at children aged between seven and 11, Brainiac Live! features a whole range of science experiments, explanations and thrills. Over the years, the team has also developed new storylines and effects.

And, says Andy, the show brings science alive not just for the audience but also for the team: “When I was at school, I went to my science classes because I had to. But when I started to write this and really got involved in the creative side, I started to learn with the audience. The show has brought me to a place where I now love science.

“The whole point of Brainiac Live! is to entertain the audience, and they will learn something along the way. I think people of all ages, even adults, will learn certain things in the show.”

And that learning can spark a new fascination, says Andy: “Over the years, we’ve had many kids come up to us at the end of the show and say that they will enjoy science now; that it’s fun. Hopefully, they can take that [new enthusiasm] back into school, and perhaps the next time they go into a science lesson it will help them enjoy it a bit more and understand it in a different way. That’s what we as performers take away from the show.”

The idea for Brainiac Live! was conceived by family theatre producer Dan Colman more than 20 years ago. The show first went on tour in 2008 and has since travelled the globe. It will embark on its first full UK tour for 17 years in 2026.

“Brainiac Live! is really about creating a popular family entertainment science show,” explains Dan. “It’s entertainment and a theatrical piece first and foremost - but underpinned with good science. When we first created the show, that was a quite unusual approach [to take]. It was when the sort-of Brian Cox effect was beginning to kick in, so science was moving from that very niche market to a much more popular market.

“And, at the same time, something which I’ve been very keen on throughout my career is creating experiences where basically parents or carers are enjoying the fact that kids are learning something, and critically the kids tend to know more than the parents!”

As a father of four, Dan knows only too well how difficult it can be to create family-focused experiences which can entertain both children and adults alike. But he found the ideal blueprint in the television series: “Originally, we looked very closely at the format of the television show - that was the starting point. It was a comedy sketch show, and we’ve retained that idea, but those sketches can be on different themes or topics. So it might be electricity, it might be forces, it might be something else.

“And now, as we’ve progressed over the years, we’ve looked at introducing new material, looked at the topics and the themes that we think are interesting, or which form part of the school curriculum. It’s a careful balance of going with what we know works while at the same time trying to keep it fresh and updated.”

The show also has a very definite structure, explains Dan: “It’s peaks and troughs. So alongside some of those spectacle moments, there are also quieter moments. Then there are bits that are quite intense with learning. And there are elements which are 100 per cent voiceover or onscreen content, and then moments when there’s so much going on that you don’t know where to look.”

Although the team set out to produce a show that’s entertaining, Dan believes its timing has coincided with, and even contributed to, a greater understanding of the importance of science: “I think audiences have developed over the past 20 years, and there’s a recognition that science is a fundamental part of everyday life. I like to think we’ve been a small part of that journey.

“Probably the most rewarding thing for us is that the show has continued to engage its audience throughout the decades, and that we’ve only seen that broaden and become more universal. It’s fantastic to see audiences enjoy it as much today as when we started.”

Unable to resist the obvious pun, Dan adds: “We’ve all been blown away by it. Who would’ve thought we would still be producing the same show after all these years? But we do it because it still works. It’s very satisfying when you know a show is working. And when you talk to the actors, you hear how much they enjoy delivering it.”

The format has proved to be a winner worldwide, from Dubai’s Expo 2020 to Butlins Holiday Resorts, London’s West End and P&O Cruises. And, in 2025, Brainiac Live! won the Olivier Award for Best Family Show.

“We’re really proud of the breadth of different types of venue it’s been to,” says Dan. “So in 2008, we closed the show after a very successful run at Sydney Opera House, and about eight days later opened in Skegness! We like doing those different venues.

“We now have a full dual English/Arabic show, and this summer we were in the Middle East, which was fascinating. I think any good family entertainment show, if you get the show right, has a universal language, and kids engage globally with the same shows in the same way.”

Dan is looking forward to bringing Brainiac Live! to Birmingham this month. It’s a destination he knows well, having produced family shows including The Tweenies and Thomas The Tank Engine at the city’s Utilita Arena for five years between 2000 and 2005.

“Birmingham is a really large, diverse and broad city, and that’s important to us in the show. One of the things we’re keen on is that Brainiac Live! plays to a popular audience.

“For me personally it’s been 20 years since I was working in Birmingham, and it’s great to bring a show back to this important city with an important audience.”

Brainiac Live! shows at Birmingham Town Hall on  Sunday 28 & Monday 29 December. It then returns to the region in 2026, showing at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre on Tuesday 31 March.

By Diane Parkes