The Wine Science Show is advertised as a blend of wine-related science and stand up comedy. The show certainly has both, but while some of it is executed smoothly with excellent segues, there are other times where it is unclear how the jokes or tangential stories fit with the main topic of the show.

One thing is undeniable — Luke Morris certainly knows his wine, and his wine history. With years of experience in the industry, Luke shares his ample knowledge, taking the audience to 19th Century France and the origins of the Durif grape, named after the mysterious Francis Durif, about whom there are apparently few historical records. The history and information about the wine was fascinating, and I would have loved to have heard even more information about the wine variety and its origins. The story of the grape is peppered with gentle puns, a humour that is conversational and feels natural.

However, interspersed throughout the informative talk were the stand-up comedy moments. Rather than seamlessly blending between informative and funny, the show seems to abruptly shift topic, with comedic stories about scam emails and weird Wikipedia entries. The sidetracks would have been understandable if they had directly related to the wine, but unfortunately they left parts of the show feeling disjointed and confusing.

The other element that sadly let this show down a little was the volume of the music in the bar area of Little Bang Brewing Co., which remained at full volume during the show. 

Unfortunately this made it difficult to hear everything Luke was saying over the music, an issue that I hope Little Bang will rectify for future performances.

Luke Morris is clearly very passionate and knowledgeable about wine, and a talk from him purely about wine would be fascinating. You’ll definitely have a bit of a laugh and learn something new at this show.