Do comedy and entomology mix? Saturday night’s show, part of the South Bank’s weekend celebrating all things insect-related, suggested that they are decidedly itchy bedfellows. If ever there was an evening for which the phrase “curate’s egg” was appropriate it was The Von Frisch Cabinet of Peculiarities.

Though “curate’s larva” would be more apt. Robin Ince hosted with his usual high-brow flair but the mix of performers never gelled. Norman Lovett rambled on about pulling legs off a daddy long legs and replacing them with wheels, Toby Hadoke delivered a geeky lecture on bugs in Dr Who, Harry Hill provided a filmette about bees set to the music of Jane Birkin. But Charles Darwin’s great-great granddaughter Ruth Padel read some barely relevant poetry and Jo Neary’s balletic clowning had little thematic connection.

Things picked up when musician Martin White and orchestra offered excerpts from his flea-based musical, climaxing with the declaration of “one nation on a dog” before Waen Shepherd closed things with his rock-opera Dawn of the Maggots.

Von Frisch was apparently the zoologist who discovered that bees dance. It would have taken a whole hive doing Flamenco to get this buzzing.