And Now for a Nice Evening With Wallan

• Brian Donaldson
• 7 August 2012

This article is from 2012.

How to light up a room with surreal banter

Walking into the venue, one question burns deep: who, what, where and possibly when is Wallan? After 50 minutes in the company of Lou Sanders, you will leave absolutely none the wiser about Wallan, but resting assured that the young comedian is quite possibly totally off her chump.

In the exact same room which Penny Spubbs Party once tore up a surreal storm, Sanders carries on the flame with saucer-eyed relish. Announcing her arrival with an inaudible loudspeaker as a bearded man reads quietly in a nearby paddling pool, Sanders gleefully ticks off the actual jokes in her show one by one. And given that we’ve been plunged into a realm where creepy taste and arch bewilderment is the norm, they’re not bad ones, either.

Having grappled with the logistics of a ladder (it’s not just the mime guys who are into that shit) she goes fishing for compliments (almost literally), oversees a tiny trolley dash and ends with a failed immolation. As for Wallan, he/she/it/them live to fight another crazy old day, identity still intact.

Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 26 Aug (not 15), 9.30pm, £9.50--£10.50 (£8--£9).