From magazine articles on the next technology trend to our favourite scifi  films, we share a lot of influences on how we think about the future. Nesta and Science ShowOff have teamed up to bring you two evenings of comedy that poke fun at these common visions of the future.

Each night, four pairs of show-offs will pick four imaginary futures – from robot companions to living on Mars – to either big up or pull down. Steve Cross will act as the chat show host for the evening, helping the audience decide whether to throw each future into Room 101 or onto Dragon’s Den.

Nesta is ooking for volunteers to take on specific futures. You might be an economist who wants to pull apart the hype around Bitcoin, a cultural theorist who wants to champion experimenting with the Hunger Games or a closet virtual reality geek. You’ve got to be willing to stand-up in front of a friendly crowd of up to 100 people to talk about your idea.

In return, you’ll get a couple of training sessions from Steve to help you polish your jokes and delivery style. We’ll help match you up with someone to share the stage with and to design a bird’s eye view of your future world, which will appear on the Nesta website. The top acts from each of the shows will have the chance to perform at FutureFest. 

The final line-up will be chosen based on your level of geekiness and how excited everyone is about your proposed future. You have until 18 January to apply and you’ll know by 20 January 2015 if you have been successful. 

Pitch your idea for My Other Future 

Here are some key dates you’ll need to be around for:

18 February 2015: Training for FutureFest Fringe presenters - half day at Nesta HQ

3 March 2015 or 10 March 2015: Rehearsal - half day at Nesta HQ

4 March 2015 or 11 March 2015: Performance – evening at central London venue