Would you spot Pythagoras’ Theorem if you tripped over it in the street? Would it make you laugh? Is it even possible to trip over this Theorem? Or am I not looking at this from quite the right angle?

During the 2012 Fringe Festival, Simon Pampena shared with us his Fame Algorithm: maths for what we really want. Personally, as someone without a background in mathematics, I was definitely pleasantly surprised at just how much I enjoyed this show.

Of course, I can remember wondering what exactly I was doing sitting in a crowd full of mathematicians. However it turned out that, at least in the Fringe crowd, there was only one man willing to confess to being a mathematician. And he did that from one of the darkest corners of the room. Perhaps he too knew some of the secrets of maths, but was not quite ready to share.

However, Simon Pampena was more than willing to share. And all manner of things he shared, too. Did you know, for example, that it is illegal not to know about Pythagoras’ Theorem? Of course, he smiled a lot as he told us these things, so I can’t be sure of that one. Would you trust a mathematician?

Simon’s show, though, isn’t about trust. It’s about how maths is everywhere and how it affects us daily. It can keep you safe. It can make you look better. It can make you rich. And it can, with the right balance, make you famous.

Mind you, it also somehow seems to be about eighties music and singing prime numbers out loud, so possibly, perhaps secretly, it’s also aimed at that lone mathematician in the darkened corner of the room.

And, it turns out, it’s also aimed at the rest of us.

If you are longing for a bit of intelligent entertainment this winter, then you have found the right place. Simon is once more returning to Adelaide and the halls of The Science Exchange. Be sure not to miss him.

Simon will also be performing his shows in Townsville at JCU and The Strand, as well as in Hobart, and Sydney.

Guest post by Rosalie Wodecki, who lives in Adelaide and blogs for RiAus