If you’ve ever had to baby sit a toddler, you’ll know that bubbles exercise an almost supernatural ability to enthral children. If regular, ordinary, round bubbles are so fascinating, surely a vast array of myriad specialist bubbles – volcanoes, flying saucers, square bubbles, giant bubbles – can only be even more impressive? Yes and no; there’s no denying that Louis Pearl – the Bubble Man himself – is an engaging presence and skilled in making bubbles, but in a large venue like The Assembly Rooms, some of the intimacy of his show is lost, leading to a few children getting bored and distracted. I did appreciate the “science bits” he added to keep adults interested, too; overall we were definitely entertained, if not amazed.

The Assembly Rooms, until 25 Aug, 11.05pm.
tw rating 4/5 | [Andrew Leask]