Utter! Lutonia Presents: Robin Ince

Robin Ince is many things. A comedian, an author, a broadcaster and a populariser of scientific ideas. The Guardian once declared him a ‘becardiganed polymath’ which seems about right.

He is probably best known as the co-host of the Sony Gold Award winning BBC Radio 4 series The Infinite Monkey Cage with Professor Brian Cox. He has also co-hosted a number of other successful podcasts including They’ve Made Us with Dr Helen Czerski, Book Shambles with Josie Long and An Uncanny Hour, all three of which are a part of the science and culture entertainment network, The Cosmic Shambles Network, which he also co-created.

As a stand up he has toured the world and won three Chortle Awards, the Time Out Outstanding Achievement Award and was nominated for the British Comedy Awards Best Live show. The Guardian once wrote that, ‘When someone writes a history of modern comedy, they should make room for Robin Ince’ and of his latest show The Scotsman described it as an ‘alchemic mix of enthusiasm, knowledge and observation’.

Robin has written four acclaimed books, Robin Ince’s Bad Book Club ('Beautiful and terrifying at the same time' - The Independent), I’m a Joke and So Are You ('Joyfully entertaining. Full of warmth, wisdom and affectionate delight in the wonder and absurdity of being human’ - Observer), The Importance of Being Interested ('A delightful and scintillating hymn to science’ - Professor Carlo Rovelli) and Bibliomaniac (Mixing inquisitiveness and wit, his latest book is a tonic’ - The Times). He has twice been featured as a Waterstones Pick of the Year and in 2022 he was awarded the Booksellers Association Author of the Year award.

He has created, curated, pioneered and hosted numerous nights mixing science, music and comedy at some of the most celebrated venues around the world from the Hammersmith Apollo and the Royal Albert Hall in London to the Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto and The Opera House in Wellington. His brainchild Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People continues to sell out theatres every year, almost twenty years after its first appearance, and has done several world arena tours with Professor Brian Cox.

He has received an Honorary Fellowship of UCL, an honorary doctorate from Royal Holloway College (University of London), and is a fellow of the British Science Association.

In the words of Stewart Lee, ‘Robin is like a piece of a Jenga puzzle - pull him out and a lot of things would collapse. Without Robin, comedy would be a very different shape and a generation is grateful’.

Chella Quint OBE is a bloody funny New Yorkshire lass who can’t stop talking about periods and the menopause.

Through her art and comedy, which she began with her zine and 5-star Edinburgh Fringe show Adventures in Menstruating and continued by founding the Period Positive campaign, she deconstructs menstrual product adverts with wit, irony and brute force when necessary.

When she’s not cracking wise or doing craftivism about vintage menstrual product adverts, she can be found performing science communication or improv comedy, or serving as a perpetual podcast guest.

Forever on brand as a promotor of all kinds of cycles, Chella usually travels by trike.

Since her last appearance at Utter Lutonia, Chella has become a best selling author in Europe and a banned author in the US.

Her books Own Your Period and Be Period Positive are out now.