Pollinator profile: Martin Matthews

Among the characters Martin plays are:

• Mr Champ, the gentleman DJ who plays the hits of yesteryear and invites you to dance along (see video below).
• Dr Galapagos-Finch, who condenses billions of years of evolution down to half an hour in a Powerpoint presentation with a few bits of bonkers thrown in!
• Douggie Poo, who hosts Manure Couture, a fashion show with a difference that includes hats themed around poo and its many uses.
• Mad Professor: with steam punk clobber and an appealing over-bite, this highly charged character is based on the 70s TV presenter, Magnus Pike, crossed with Doc from Back to the Future! The show is pure energy. What is it? Will it explode? Let's find out! Physics never looked so perilous or got quite so loud!
• Airport Security Officer: go through my metal detector at your peril!

Q and A

What are your favourite pieces (eg stories, songs) that you perform at Eden?

I don't tell stories in the traditional way but my shows are scripted and I try not to go off-piste from the script if I can help it. I imagine that learning a story would be more difficult as it's someone else’s imagination that you have to put into your head.

I enjoyed playing Dr Galapagos-Finch as it meant that I afforded myself time to learn about the theory of evolution. I purchased The Ancestor’s Tale by Richard Dawkins on CD as I thought I might give up if I had to read it in book form. Seven CDs later I think I now have a pretty good understanding. There aren’t many laughs in evolution, so I had to invent a few things to lighten the journey; for example, in the Devonian period, cremetees evolved from earlier life forms: jamonites, cremenoids and sconiforms. Actually evolution is so random that these invented periods could have actually happened!

I love going out with the Daffadubb Sound System and playing cheery tunes all summer long. The trike was inspired by a sound system that I spied at Glastonbury a few years back. The Rinkadink, as it was called, was this enormous chuck wagon with a troupe of cyclists powering its sound. The Daffadubb is much more contemporary. The back end is a Morris Minor that was part of an exhibit at Eden during the first few years and the front is from a scrapped Yamaha motorbike. The look is that of a chopper-trike, which is thegag really. You expect a big V8 engine in the back when, in fact, it's all electric with a solar panel and five derailleur gears. The trunk is filled with DJ tools. I never had a chopper as a child. I think I may have over-compensated?

What does being a Pollinator at Eden mean to you?

I am afforded enormous freedom of expression as a Pollinator. I get bored doing the same thing and yet doing a show three times a day for sometimes six weeks doesn't get boring at all. Funny isn't it? I guess I like the adrenaline and, if I'm honest, a big crowd.

What is your favourite thing about Eden?

I'm a homegrown St Blazey boy. I grew up only a mile away from the former Bodelva clay pit [where Eden was built]. I'm very proud that a world-class visitor attraction with such a heart has sprung up in my home town and I'd feel personally responsible if we hadn't made it work.

Which is your favourite place in Eden?

I created a Balinese-style cabaret bar in the rainforest for our winter season in 2009. Bam Bams transported me to a tropical holiday every night. I love it because it's so nice just to relax in now and again.

Describe your most memorable day at Eden...

I introduced the bands at the Eden Sessions last year, sometimes to a crowd of nearly 7,000. I said I liked crowds and this was great. I got Paolo Nuitini to sign my jacket too. Nice bloke. Likes to party!