The Museum of Comedy is London’s hidden treasure, a shrine to the acts of yesteryear and hands down the best lobby in the capital to wait in before a show. An ideal place to mark the debut performance of Vivien Puppa Kocsis, who blends physics with relatable comedy, in a one-off show as part of this year’s Camden Fringe.
Extrapolated from a TedX Talk (and possibly inspired by some of the comments she received), Puppa Kocsis’s show is called Can You See Me?. Not to be confused with the magic show Now You See Me, Can You See Me? amounts to a multi-experience reality check (perhaps a better title!) – taking in vision and sound and, in a first for me, something to try at home after the show, with your friends.
Coming across as the best physics teacher you ever had, Puppa Kocsis is engaging and charismatic. She is Hungarian and sets the scene with a little story about something that happened to her in Lake Balaton, the so-called ‘Hungarian Sea’ – barring a tackily tasteless reference to the tragic death of Steve Irwin – she reels us in and delivers punchline after punchline. It is very funny. What did she see that day?
Can You See Me? opens with an innovative demonstration of brain activity, a segment that could have been tripled in length but, disappointingly, was over almost as soon as it began. Puppa Kocsis is a gifted communicator and she explains how the spectrum works – from X-rays to Wi-Fi – leading into a section that asks us to understand when what we see as a glass of water is not a glass of water.
So what exactly do we see when we see her? And when you and I look at something, why don’t I see what you do? The answers are fascinating.
Next Puppa Kocsis moves into how what you see is not always what you get, drawing in a well-known meme or two before showing how sound too can play tricks.
While I’d have preferred a little more time on brain activity and to allow audience interaction – and less of the unneeded proof of her academic prowess and questionable social connections – Can You See Me? is edutainment at its best. Plenty to enjoy during the show and (more importantly) plenty to talk about afterwards!
Review by Louis Mazzini
Award-winning Harvard-educated scientist Vivien Puppa Kocsis will make her theatrical debut at Camden Fringe with Can You See Me?, a live science show that invites audiences to question the very nature of reality.
Part science show, part philosophical journey, Can You See Me? challenges audiences to confront a startling truth: humans perceive less than 1% of the light spectrum, and even that tiny sliver is distorted by our attention, hallucinated by our brain, and edited by our memory. Through live brainwave demonstrations, optical illusions, and the infamous 2015 black-and-blue dress – or was it white and gold? – the show makes the invisible visible live on stage.
The show opens with its title question Can You See Me? delivered live on stage, and ends with audiences questioning just how much of reality they actually perceive. At a time when AI, deepfakes, and misinformation are making us question what we see online, “Can You See Me?” asks a deeper question: can we trust our own senses in the first place?
Vivien collaborates with NASA and Harvard and researches the invisible. She has spoken at international events including United Nations summits, TED Global Idea Search, SXSW, and more. Can You See Me? marks Vivien’s theatrical debut, developed following her solo show training at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where her tutors encouraged her to bring the work to the Fringe.
CAN YOU SEE ME?
Museum of Comedy, 8 August 2026
Presented as part of The Camden Fringe
