Doktor Kaboom Finds the Fun Side of Science

With a bright orange lab coat, biker gloves and goggles, Doktor Kaboom! is quick to engage his audience in his science lesson that focuses as much on fun as it does on learning. Scientist David Epley will be the first to admit that his alter ego is a bit cheesy and stereotypical, but all the more fun when he can use this to get the laughter going and engage families in exploring the fascinating world of science.

“After twenty years of [performing] interactive comedy, I knew that what I could bring to the table that would be different was a comic character that brings scientific concepts across in a funny, entertaining way,” Epley says. “My audiences are always an active part of the show. I think this interplay between Doktor K and his audiences makes for more exciting performances, more memorable performances and gets kids invested in the event right from the start of the show.”

Amid the fun is a message, Epley says, and that is that science is for everyone, not just the people who find it easy.

“I hope to teach kids that and remind their parents of it. They’ll all go home excited about doing some science together, and I will teach them some very cool things to do together.” Doktor Kaboom! explores scientific method and application with some hilarious antics like air cannons, banana catapults and the creation of “elephant toothpaste.”

A full blown science “geek” himself, Epley was spotted early for his abilities and attended the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, a two-year residential high school for students gifted in science and math.
“We had to take the SAT as part of the application process,” David relates, “had our own electron microscope and a campus wide internet before the Internet. Heaven for us geeks, but it was also there that I discovered my love for performing.”

He then went to the University of North Carolina but had difficulty deciding whether to pursue chemistry or theatre. In the end theatre won, and he took his BFA in Acting and Directing. He spent twenty years working as an actor, first in children’s theatre performances in North Carolina and West Virginia, then as part of a three-man comedy team for Renaissance Fairs that performed ancient literature like Beowulf and Dante’s Inferno with a comedic twist. He decided to create his own one-man show and thought involving his great interest in science might offer some great possibilities. Doktor Kaboom! was the result.

David thinks that people do have some misconceptions about math and science.

“Most people in this country will say they hate math. This is because they find numbers confusing, and I get that,” he says, “but math is not about numbers, math is about patterns. Numbers are just how we describe those patterns; they are the alphabet for math.”

So, what are some practical ways to enjoy the wonders of scientific exploration?

“Science is like Shakespeare; it is not meant to be read, it is meant to be done,” David says. “Every parent should take their kid to a hands-on science museum and play with them. Then, go home and make a habit of doing science together. Parents will sometimes say, ‘I don’t know science. I can’t teach it to my kids.’ I say, you don’t have to. Learn it with them. It’s fun stuff, and it really is pretty straightforward stuff, as well.

Doktor Kaboom! will be performing in Loeb Playhouse, Stewart Center on the Purdue campus on Sunday, November 20th at 3 p.m. Come early! Beginning at 2:00 p.m. in the Stewart Center West Lobby Purdue’s Network for Earthquake Engineering and Simulation (NEES) will have activities and information relating to earthquakes and tsunamis. Patrons will get to see how engineering helps minimize damage from natural disaster through design and construction techniques. They will also have a Make Your Own Earthquake station where children will be able to jump on a board with a sensor that transmits the “shake” to a computer program seismograph.

“We will be able to personalize the seismographs, and the students will be able to take with them a printed copy of the earthquake they created,” says Pamela McClure, NEEScomm Instructional Designer for NEES.

For more information on Doktor Kaboom! please visit the Convocations website at www.convocations.org.

Laura Clavio, Assistant Director

CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS

There are two often ignored facts that the music of Genuine Negro Jig, the Grammy winning recording by the Carolina Chocolate Drops addresses. First, African-Americans had a string band music tradition, and, second, that tradition had roots in the Piedmont region of North and South Carolina. A forerunner of bluegrass and country music, the string band was instrumented by banjo, fiddle in the late 19th century. Guitar, snare drum, jug, kazoo and harmonica, bones, washboard and mandolin were added later. Most African-American bands played the old time music of the region, and the Choc Drops have revitalized many of the foot-stomping songs with a dash of their own modern flair. Additionally they dropped into their recording original compositions and even a cover or two.

The original band met in 2005 at The Black Banjo Gathering in North Carolina. All three were trained in Piedmont banjo and fiddle music by 90-year-old Joe Thompson, believed to be the last living performer from the Piedmont string band era. The group freely interchanges instruments, but a lion’s portion of the vocal work goes to classically trained vocalist Rhiannon Giddens as it is so beautifully demonstrated in here electrifying rendition of Reynadine.

This fourth album for the group was awarded a 2010 Grammy as best traditional folk album and begins with Peace Behind the Bridge, a song written by legendary Piedmont guitarist Etta Baker. Other selections include such traditional gems as Trouble in Your Mind, Snowden’s Jig and Cindy Gal. While honoring tradition, the band does not feel bound to it and handily mixes it with modern musical sensibilities and mountain instrument arrangements, even a version of Blu Cantrells’s Hit ‘em Up Style, an urban classic.

Since its release Justin Robinson has left the group. Banjo player, jug bassist, and Arizona native Dom Flemons remains with Giddens,and New York City musicians, beatboxer Adam Matta and multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Hubby Jenkins have joined to now make a quartet. The band believes in pushing into new territory, honoring traitiona but not being bound by it. So, the music evolves from it roots with fresh perspectives, instrumentation and interpretation.

Laura Clavio, Purdue Convocations Assistant Director