WATCH | Much more to bubbly show than just fun

Many performers of things magical use smoke and mirrors of sorts, but would you believe giant smoking bubbles also work – ones big enough to fit people inside.

Maxwell the bubbleologist is doing just that at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda – making your regular bubble bath look yawningly boring in comparison.

But there is also a very different, serious dimension to his bubbly entertainment – that of helping children, particularly those with special needs, to understand how science works and to not fear failure.

And though he is presenting a highly comical, extravagant and witty over-the-top art show, Graham Maxwell is also very emotional at being able to perform at Makhanda in 2019.

The former St Andrew’s College pupil is happy to be back at home seven years after he left SA with the little money he made doing odd jobs at the National Arts Festival.

Maxwell returns this year as a bubbleologist – someone who has studied and is well versed in bubble science – with 18 different shows.

He uses bubbles to create three-dimensional spheres using just his bare hands – with some being big enough to fit two people inside.

Maxwell also makes smoke-filled bubbles and uses props to create up to thousands of bubbles at a time.

“Every year, working at the festival’s Cue [newspaper], I used to take photos for about five shows every day and I have always wanted to be a performer,” he said.

“Bubble science gave me a platform to do that.

“This is how I can use my energy and my heart.”

Maxwell says his main aim with his shows is to get the youth interested in science and to understand how life works, using “edutainment”.

“I don’t aim to teach science in my science shows. I aim to inspire curiosity about science to understand the natural world,” he said.

“Because of bubbles, I understand how liquid and water move.

“I understand cell structure and I even understand the greater cosmos, because bubbles are like the microcosm and macrocosm.”

Maxwell runs three different types of programme internationally.

One is for entertainment where he performs tricks.

Another is as a science lesson where he teaches the basis of life and mathematics behind things.

And thirdly, there is a therapeutic class for children living with autism.

“I work with a lot of children with autism and the intellectually disadvantaged in India, [and] in England as well.

“It’s just so sensory for them. It’s a magical bullet. It’s the colours’ shape. It’s the fact that it’s here; it’s not there.

“So I do workshops with them, depending on their abilities,” he said, adding that it was his most rewarding work.

Maxwell also includes inspirational messages in between tricks, especially about not fearing failure.

“I want them to remember something – positive thoughts and positive vibrations when they think of [the show].

“I want children to see that ‘oh, he failed at making a particular bubble’ or ‘he had no problem with it’.

“I add the inspirational messages because these people will remember this experience.”

The Bubble Show is on at Kingswood Theatre in Makhanda on Monday and Tuesday at 10am and noon, and then from Wednesday to Sunday at 10am.