Can scientists communicate better with comedy?

An astrobiologist, two comedians and an urge to communicate science to the public walked into a bar… well actually, they met up for dinner. And the result? A sell-out Sydney Comedy Festival show uniting scientists and comedians in front of rapturous audiences.

The Steam Room concept was created by Luke Steller, a PhD student in the Australian Centre of Astrobiology at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the co-founder of the Praxical science communication and creative collective.

Steller was inspired to create the Steam Room while watching friends working in comedy. ‘I saw them be brilliant communicators on stage and within a few seconds [they could] engage an audience and have them hooked and interested and wanting to know more,’ he says. ‘And I thought, why can’t scientists be this engaging? Why can’t scientists have fun on stage?’