Interview: 'It's All About Entertainment First': Creative Director Andy Joyce On Experiments, Theories, and Bringing BRAINIAC LIVE To The West End

In 2025 Brainiac Live won an Olivier Award for Best family Show. Christiana Rose caught up with Andy Joyce, Creative Director of Brainiac, ahead of the Brainiac Live run at the Garrick Theatre to delve into his love of science experiments, how he authentically lives and breathes the Brainiac family ethos and how the unpredictability of the fun and chaos of the experiments is nothing short of astonishing.

Huge congratulations on winning the Olivier Award. How has Brainiac Live changed since?

Yes! What a night that was to get a Olivier award. We are all so pleased. We've been a very close family on the show, and I think most of us have been part of it from almost from the beginning when we started Brainiac Live back in 2008. It's really nice that we were able to collect an Olivier Award, it was one of the best things to happen to the show. And since then, it's just been excitement. Every time we've been out on stage or on the road, there's just that little bit of extra sparkle been added to it. I think it’s so special for a family show to be recognised. All I can say is we had a great night out that night, we've all got an Olivier sat on our mantelpiece and we still can't believe it.

Are you doing anything differently in the show for this West End run?

We constantly update the show. The beauty of Brainiac Live is that it's all about entertainment first. We added a few science experiments which explode, we also use screen content for scene changes, which keeps the audience engaged with brain burners that we do. There's always something happening on the stage, even when we're turning around from one scene to another. There are a few updates and tweaks that people will notice for this run, definitely.

What first inspired you to bring Brainiac Live to the stage?

I joined the show maybe 18 months after it first opened. The idea was that it's based on the original TV show, Brainiac, and Dan Colman, the producer, had the idea to put the show on stage [...] Then the whole journey's been about how we make things that potentially shouldn't happen on stage, happen on stage, one in a safe manner, but also in a way that still entertains audiences. To be able to capture that from the original TV show and put that on stage was the most important thing for us.

How do you balance the science with visual entertainment?

The scale of the show allows us to do live science experiments with technical effects, comedy, audience interaction and theatre in a chaotic comedy way, but everything science wise is absolutely correct. For us the most important thing is that everything we're doing is live and real. There are times in the show where things go wrong, not necessarily in a bad way, but things don't work because sometimes science is unpredictable. Occasionally, if we don't put the right amounts in, we actually make a completely different reaction, or no reaction. The challenge of a live show is making sure the science is accurate and real.

What's one experiment which makes adults gasp and makes children excited?

We have an iconic scene in the stage show which ticks both boxes. We have a simple office chair, an office chair could spin round so that you can turn around, pick something off a shelf and go back to your work. And we decided to try and make that chair move as fast we could make that chair spin. We use varied items to test it, the kids in the audience absolutely love it. We've tested it a million times, but I can tell you from experience, it makes you feel a little bit dizzy, but the kids go crazy for it [...]The adults will be scared when they're sat in an office chair that their kids might try and spin them around. So there's definitely a strong reaction from the adults on that one!

Do you have a personal favourite experiment?

It's difficult for me to pick a favourite one, we have lots of brain burners on the screen that sort of mess with your head a little bit. You've got to work them out and see how your brain works. I enjoy seeing people trying to work that out.

We have a scene in the show where we test the properties of things that you can find around the house and whether or not you can run through them, which again is very, very important to see if you can run through this door frame covered with cling film. Can you, or can't you? I'm not going to give you the answer, but we will absolutely test that. I think that's my favourite, doing something live, something that happens in your house, something that's real. We'll test the properties, but we obviously try it on stage in a safe manner, so you don't have to. We'll answer that question for you.

What's the funniest thing that's ever happened on stage at Brainiac?

The things that go wrong! The experiments where we use liquid nitrogen. Liquid nitrogen is cold, it's minus 196 degrees and it constantly boils, but it boils cold instead of boiling hot. The funniest thing we've ever did was go to a science lab to learn how to do stuff with liquid nitrogen, but do it safely and learn what it does. And then on stage, we had a moment with liquid nitrogen where we put it inside a bottle and we close the lid, contained it and tried to make it explode. So usually there's a huge explosion with liquid nitrogen. Now, the funniest thing is that it doesn't always work. Most of the time, 99% of the time, it'll work, but sometimes it just doesn't work. And when it doesn't work, I think the audience gets sort of a live moment of, sorry, guys, this is live science, this hasn't worked. But then there's a certain process where our stage management will take it off stage and put it in a safe environment. But the funniest thing is that it probably will go bang at some point, but we don't know when. But it once did go bang in the middle of a scene and it threw us all completely.

What's the biggest challenge in directing a science show for children?

I direct, write and get to be in Brainiac. It's quite intense wearing all three hats. As the director and the writer of it, I want to know how the audience feel in every moment. I say to the team, especially at the times I'm not in it, that I want the audience to feel what they feel. I want the audience to relate to them. What's really rewarding is when I see the audience react in real time to an experiment and it keeps the audience alive and the energy alive. I'm really lucky to be able to wear three hats as creatively. But the hardest thing of directing is to make sure that the message gets across of a fun, chaotic journey together. I think all of us as a team, we live and breathe the show. We really have for many years and I think that's really important to us all.

Which part of the show makes you feel like a child again every time you see it?

Every explosion, there are multiple explosions in varied ways. Every time something goes bang, then they all go bang in different ways. We're able to misbehave on stage a little bit and that's brilliant.

How do you choose the brainiacs who perform? Do they need to be great science communicators, great comedians or a bit of both?

With Brainiac it's all about personality, you don't need to be a science communicator, absolutely not. It's great if you've got some science background, but like myself, I didn't. So some experience in theatre and performing in live theatre. But it's down to personality. When we audition people, I can pick somebody from the first sentence they say to us from the script, I'll know 100% then whether they've got the personality to be a brainiac.

It's all about personality and connection with a family audience. There’s a magic you need to see straight away because you've got to connect with lots of ages of children and their adults. There's some nostalgia to this brand that people might go, I remember that from the TV. So it's really important to connect to them as well as some forty-year-old adults who remembers the TV show, so it's all about personality.

If you could add a dream element to the show with no limits on budget, what would it be?

The iconic scenes from the Brainiac TV show was when they blew up a caravan in the middle of a field every single show. The TV show was synonymous for blowing up a caravan. We've tried multiple times to work out a way of trying to do that on stage, but unfortunately just the sheer size of it and danger that comes with that means it hasn’t happened. If I could add a moment to the show and there were no limits, no restrictions, forgetting budgets and that we are in a theatre, it’d definitely be blowing up a caravan.

What makes the West End the perfect place for families to experience Brainiac Live this summer?

We’re bringing our show to the Garrick Theatre, it’s an iconic venue. Bringing Brainiac to the West End hopefully stands out from a traditional summer theatre experience. It's something different, something you may not have seen before. We're really excited that we get to perform to amazing audiences from all different backgrounds. We love the venue as we did four weeks at the Garrick in 2019. So, it's a return to that theatre, it's a great, great space for our show.

What do you hope families talk about on the way home after seeing the show?

I hope they leave smiling, laughing and feeling like they've seen something that's genuinely different. I think entertainment or theatre should feel exciting and Brainiac Live absolutely does that.

Is there anything you’d like our little readers to know about?

Brainiac is a live entertainment show. It absolutely ticks every box for science as well. You're going to take learnings of science away with you. Hopefully you'll be genuinely surprised at some slightly dangerous, loud and funny things that happen on stage. Plus, audience participation is fully encouraged.