Lou Wall is bringing their one-hour stand-up/deranged PowerPoint presentation to Geelong next week, sensibly titled ‘That One Time I Joined The Illuminati’.
Multi-award winning comedian Lou Wall “pretty much spent the last six months of lockdown trolling the Illuminati… trying to join them in every single way possible as a bit of a lol.” After a month of messaging these conspiracists, notably the beloved Debbie who rejected Lou’s request, Lou decided that this was comedic gold and began documenting these interactions; later devising ‘That One Time I joined The Illuminati’, coming to Geelong next Wednesday and Thursday, December 1 and 2.
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The Melbourne Fringe Festival celebrates “freedom of artistic expression” and empowers artists to explore their creative potential. This year, the festival has teamed up with the Geelong Arts Centre and their gorgeously refurbished and revitalised facilities to produce three, “eclectically exceptional” performances of theatrical solo storytelling, titled ‘Kerosense’; experimental theatre with Blake Everett and Oliver Coleman’s ‘Dig Their Own Graves’; and comedic gold with Lou Wall and ‘That One Time I Joined The Illuminati’. As well as the main acts, fantastic emerging local DJ Honey Sweet (AKA Scarlett Bronte) will keep the vibe alive all night long by pumping minimal, deep tech throughout the Ryrie Street building in between each show.
Lou says that they have been to Geelong before and “really love regional audiences” because of how “super receptive they are to really crazy stuff” which is what Lou’s set it all about. After receiving a spam message and rather than ignoring it as we all do, Lou “wondered what happens if you just keep following it, what if you reply and build up a relationship with this person” before building what they describe as “comedic gold too perfect to not develop into a show”.
Reflecting on the devastating effects of the lockdowns, Lou was “lucky enough to be able to produce and write a couple of films as comedy specials” such as ‘Lousical the Musical’ and ‘That One Time I Joined The Illuminati’, as well as producing the sensational, heartfelt ‘I Trolled The Illuminati’ gospel song. Comedies such as these come out of both Lou’s personal experiences, but also their deep love for comedy and engaging with such content that “I just try and make stuff that I find really funny and trust that if I find it funny, [the comedy] will naturally find it’s audience” says Lou.
Being “wildly excited and wildly nervous” to return to the stage, Lou spoke about how keen they are to be doing what they love again, knowing that “once [they] get back onto the stage, it will all fall back into place”. After having performed for a range of regional audiences such as the oldies in a retirement home, or on a wine tour, Lou likes to make their comedy “accessible to everyone as [they] think comedy is such a great unifier; everyone can be brought together with good comedy”.
Lou’s knack for comedy was accidentally discovered at the age of 17 whilst living in a small regional town in New South Wales. They reflected on a comedy workshop and performed a set on her own alongside 10 farmer blokes before discovering that they “really enjoyed making people laugh”, particularly in more rural locations where there is not a large culture for art.
“It feels nice to punch down a spammer, no one likes a spammer,” Lou says as they reflected on the wider inspiration and content of their show. Alongside putting her feelers into the world of conspiracists and the Illuminati throughout lockdown, Lou has “always wanted to do a show that is super music-heavy” and compose a comedy show “almost entirely told through song”. The show boasts pre-recorded tracks in which Lou will be working with, alongside their best friend and music producer in order to combine “the best of both worlds” and the two things they love; music and comedy.
Since their attempts to join the Illuminati, Lou has received a call from the infamous Debbie, our Illuminati recruiter from Lou’s song, however was on stage performing and missed her call. Lou says “I definitely tried calling her back and haven’t had contact since, but it’s never off the table”.
You can catch Lou and ‘That One Time I Joined The Illuminati’, alongside ‘Kerosense’ and ‘Dig Their Own Graves’ from 6 pm next Wednesday and Thursday, December 1 and 2 at the Geelong Arts Centre. For more info and to book tickets to the Geelong Arts Centre x Melbourne Fringe Festival, head here.
