The tour will run Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 6 PM for the last two weeks of the Festival, which is April 16-18 & 23-25. You’ll be able to buy tickets soon via Ticketmaster and the Festival web site, but they’ll also be available at the door; for more information, keep an eye on labcoatman.com.au.

If you’re wondering what Ben has been up to to cause such a long dark tea-time of the soul here at Shaolin Punk, well he’s been concentrating on The Anarchist Guild Social Committee, the monthly sketch show in which he provides backup to the cast. After their February show – which is this Sunday, February 15 – they’re off to the Adelaide Fringe before returning to Melbourne for the Comedy Festival, showcasing their best sketches of the past year in A Fine Selection. Tickets are on sale now for both seasons!

Set List, Shaolin Punk’s improvised music show, kicks off with a preview season at the Butterfly Club from August 21st to 24th. See the for details.

A Brief History of A Brief History of Time is a new Man in the Lab Coat show, premiering during Science Week at the Royal Society of Victoria. There’s a matinee for schools on the afternoon of Friday, August 22, and then two evening performances on the 23rd and 24th. See labcoatman.com.au for more details about this show and Ben’s other Science Week adventures.

It’s time for a quick update on the state of the punk, and things are hotting up for the next couple of weeks. Ben is going to be a busy man creating and writing everything he has on his plate, but SCIENCE WEEK is fast approaching, so here’s where you can find the Man in the Lab Coat!

First up Ben is reprising his role in the show Not the Nobel Prize at the Melbourne Museum.  Check it out if you can, it will be a barrel of nerdy and not so nerdy laughs as comedians pit their wits against actual scientists (who make science happen for a living) trying to get to the bottom of fact versus fiction.

Get ready everyone! In the same week, Ben is going to take on one of the 20th century’s greatest minds, Stephen Hawking, and attempt to make whatever it is he wrote in that book comprehensible to us mere mortals. Anyway, here is the flyer (as I am lazy and cut and paste is your friend).

Any questions or queries, feel free to comment here or you can get in contact with me, Gail, gail@shaolinpunk.net, and I will do my best to help you out.

A Brief History of A Brief History of Time

A comedic guide to a great unread classic of the 20th century

To coincide with National Science Week (August 17-25) Melbourne-based comedian, scientician and Graeme Garden-lookalike Ben McKenzie will present a new comedy lecture in his guise as “the Man in the Lab Coat”. If you’ve always wanted to read Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time, don’t go in unprepared! For three shows, aimed at secondary students and above, McKenzie will unravel and demystify the book that everyone has heard of – and almost no-one has read.

Venue: Historic Theatre, The Royal Society of Victoria, 9 Victoria Street, Melbourne

When: Friday August 22 – 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm (free matinee for schools)
Saturday August 23 – 8 pm to 9 pm (open to general public) $18 full, $10 concession/RSV members
Sunday August 24 – 7 pm to 8 pm (open to general public) $18 full, $10 concession/RSV members

Tickets: Bookings essential; call 03 9878 3181 or email bookings@shaolinpunk.net