David Lampard, the genius behind The Alphabet of Awesome Science and You Are A Doughnut, brings a brand new show to the Adelaide Fringe, Splish Splash Science! This one man show teaches kids all about the fascinating properties of water, using songs and science experiments.

Lampard as Rip Tide, a ringmaster type character complete with water pipe cane, is charismatic and energetic, running from one experiment to the next. One element in common with all of Lampard’s shows is that he is not afraid to introduce kids to big words. His dialogue is verbose, but with enough explanation to maintain understanding, which seems to work very well in engaging different age groups. The youngest children find the fun in getting wet (yes, you will probably get wet!), while older ones might grasp more of the science behind cohesion and adhesion. The only downside to some of the wordier moments in the songs was the volume of the backing tracks compared to Lampard’s vocals. At times it was difficult to discern the clever lyrics over the loud and rather dense backings. However, kudos must go to stage manager Amanda Rowe for perfectly timed sound effects throughout the show, really elevating moments of humour.

The performance did have a rather slow start, with an opening number that felt a bit long and started to lose the attention of some of the kids in the audience. However, as soon as Lampard’s water-based experiments began (including some brave child helpers), everyone was hooked for the remainder of the show.

The set was simple but clever, with a huge pyramid of plastic buckets and structures made of pipes and tap fittings (one of the taps even released water at one point!).

For any parent who is looking for something educational and a lot of fun for this Fringe, Splish Splash Science! is an excellent choice for primary aged children.