Put a science podcast for kids together with music, mix in some ocean creatures, a trampoline, and a crowd of Tumble fans on the day before school starts, and what do you get? Tumble's Back-to-School Splash Jam!
On August 19 at the Scottish Rite Theater in Austin, Texas, we performed our first big live show. It was epic!
Lindsay and Marshall did a live version of one of their favorite episodes, "The Surprising Story of Sea Stars' Sticky Feet." (Lindsay's not actually checking her phone, she's holding the clicker!) It's a story about how a simple question overturns 200 years of scientific "fact." Most kids in the audience guessed that sea stars use suction cups to grip onto rocks. Together, we figured out how scientists solved a mystery with a surprising substance.
Local musician/hero SaulPaul and Lil Mike had the whole audience dancing. They called for suggestions of "things you find in the ocean" from the crowd, and made up an original ocean song on the spot. It's the only song we know of that mentions both tubeworms and narwhals.
Austin musician and KUTX DJ Elizabeth McQueen did something INCREDIBLE with her daughters Liesel and Willow. They took Marshall's sea star episode music, used it to write a song based on the episode! You can hear it here.
Our special guest expert was Juli Berwald, author of Spineless: The Art and Science of Growing a Backbone. It's a book for adults, but she wrote jellyfish limericks for kids. Here, self-described "elderly 6 year old" Finn plays her "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me"-style game.
The best part of any live show is meeting fans! These sisters brought us drawings based on our episode, "What If There Was No Moon?"
We were so lucky to have so many talented people come together to make this show happen. We're so excited about how it went, we're looking forward to doing more!
If you're interested in a Tumble event, email us here: tumblepodcast@gmail.com.
If you have photos from the events that you'd like to share, we'd love to see them! You can upload them to our Dropbox via our contact page. (All photos from the event are courtesy of Sara Robberson Lentz.)
Thanks SO MUCH to everyone who came! As well as...
Sara Robberson Lentz: Production and Recording
Michael Lentz: Production, Sound, and Recording
The Scottish Rite: Venue
Media Sponsors: Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child & Austin Family Magazine
Presenting Sponsors: The Headwaters School & Listenwise
Vendor: Springform Trampoline
