Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People

A variety night like no other, Cosmic Shambles Network's legendary annual celebration of all things curious and creative returns to Manchester for 2023.

Hosted by comedian Robin Ince and featuring a plethora of incredible (often secret!) guests, expect a night of science, comedy, music and mayhem.

From physics to folk, maths to mirth, Christmas to chemistry, and everything else in between. As ever, all profits will go to charity. Previous guests have included Brian Cox, Jim Al-Khalili, Helen Czerski, Josie Long, Sara Pascoe, Chris Jackson, Grace Petrie and Robyn Hitchcock. Who might show up this year....?

Robin Ince's groundbreaking creation was born in 2007 and this much-loved end-of-year tradition plays annually to sold-out live audiences each year, pandemics permitting.

The aim of the show is to promote curiosity and wonder of the world, and Universe, around us. There is a delight to be found in everything from quantum physics to puppetry to folk music to mathematics to absurdist comedy to poetry to biology to jazz to, well, to everything. The only prerequisite for Nine Lessons is an inquiring mind. As Robin says, ‘If you show people interesting things, they will be interested’.