Writer: Daniel Nicholas
What a very strange experience. Inside the already ghoulish Grant Museum of Zoology, “1000 year old vampire” Daniel Nicholas takes us on a very silly, exceptionally ramshackle and immensely entertaining Halloween tour. Is it too short? Yes. But add a little length and structure, and you’d have a perfect curate’s egg of a tour.
A whistle-stop wander around the museum, Nicholas points out interesting facts alongside the limits of his own research, and much of the comedy is produced from this awkwardness (exacerbated by the seven-person audience.) The actual facts he presents however are both interesting and cased in comedy, from the collection of dinosaur toys with their own entries in the museum catalogue to the wall of animal bones, and Nicholas is a warm, self-deprecating and naturally amusing host who undermines himself for comedic effect at every turn.
He is however one who could benefit from a little more structure/research to make the most of his talents and the unique setting. Similarly, at 35 minutes long the tour feels underpowered, although this could also be due to the very small size of the museum (meaning an extra narrative might be needed to justify spending more than 30 minutes in there without going into detail about every exhibit). It would be easy to spend more time in Nicholas’ company, as by the end of the evening this genial host had us all onside and there’s surely plenty more to be uncovered (although ending on the hilarious jar of moles is a masterstroke).
Endearingly underprepared and silly, this Halloween tour is both informative and hilarious, if perhaps not spooky, well-researched or long enough to justify its existence. But it is much funnier, enjoyable and memorable than you might expect from the low-key premise and as a brief morsel of comedy knowledge it’s the perfect appetiser for hopefully longer tours in the future.
Reviewed on 28 October 2022
The Reviews Hub Score
Funny and informative if much too short
