⭐️⭐️⭐️ and a half
The Quest for the Coolest Animals In The World sounds like a magical variety show. Described as a science-music-comedy-game show full of unique animal facts it sounds like a chaotic grab bag.
As I feared, it leaned towards being too chaotic for me, which is a shame because it has the potential to be an amazing show.
Robyn Perkins is a marine biologist turned comedian. She is a fountain of knowledge and clearly, a passionate zoologist. I was worried that she would only feature “mainstream” animals in order to appeal to the masses. So I was pleasantly suprised to hear her talk about more obscure creatures.
However, as fascinating as it was to hear Robyn talk about these animals, I feel that the beginning of the show was a bit too wordy for and fast paced for kids to follow. As someone who volunteered at a zoo in her youth, I was naturally interested in every word. However, younger minds with shorter attention spans might have trouble sitting still.
Thankfully, the show does ramp up with the introduction of fun crowd games. This immediately drew the kids in and soon they were enthusiastically responding to prompts.
There were also some ridiculously quirky ditties courtesy of Robyn and her co-host, Elaine Fellows. I had a good giggle and sing along to their version of Bruno Mars’ “Marry you”. Similarly, Elaine might have had a bit too much pun with dung beetles… which as I lover of wordplay, I dig.
The show is aided by a pop up screen, which flashes a mix of photographs and illustations by Robyn. It was great to be able to see what the animal Robyn was talking about looked like. This was especially helpful for more obscure creatures.
The problem is that The Parlour, one of the smaller round venues in The Pleasure Garden, does not accommodate a screen well. The people near the entrance and technically closest to the screen, were close to being aligned with it. Consequently, they would have had to turn their head nearly ninety degrees to see it.
Additionally, because of the size of the venue, the hosts had to stand directly in front of the screen while they were talking. Even though I was bang on centre with the best sightline, there were times when I had to shift to see the pictures because my view was obstructed.
A venue with a built in theatre style screen would have been a better fit. Studio Underground comes to mind as the large screen would allow the hosts to move freely with minimal obstruction to the visuals. Alternatively, a square or rectangular room with a set up that allows the host sto stand to the side of the screen would work. The Laugh Resort perhaps, would have been a good option here.
So let me reiterate – The Quest for the Coolest Animal is not a bad show. The hosts were engaging and there were some fun moments.
If you have a mini zoologist in your midst, it’s one to consider. However, it needs refinement to push it up to must watch status.